# Benchmark Email > The email marketing blog for busy marketers & business owners. Over 100,000 subscribe for expert email marketing, marketing, & sales advice. --- ## Pages - [NXG - Data Regions](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/nxg-data-regions/): Data Regions Your Data, Your Rules Email marketing built for global reach-with local peace of mind. We believe simplicity shouldn't stop at the inbox. - [NXG - Hospitality](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/nxg-hospitality/): For the hospitality industry, email marketing is an extremely important strategy to use to engage their audience and encourage bookings. - [NXG - Email Editor](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/nxg-email-editor/): Uses Cases Create any type of email before your coffee cools Benchmark Email's drag-and-drop editor makes creating stunning emails tailored to your needs - [Getting Up to Speed: The Latest Marketing Trends You Can’t Miss Webinar Video](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/resource/latest-marketing-trends-webinar-video/): Catch Up on the Latest Marketing Trends - On Your Time - [NXG Reporting](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/nxg-reporting/): Track and measure email marketing metrics to understand how subscribers interact with your emails, and which campaigns are driving results. - [NXG Contact Us](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/nxg-contact/): Let's Get You to the Right Place Need a hand? Whether you're looking for sales info, support help, or just want to say hi, we're ready to chat. Talk to - [Smaller List, Bigger Impact: Why Removing Unengaged Subscribers Boosts Email Performance Video](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/resource/smaller-list-bigger-impact-webinar-video/): 📩 Smaller List, Bigger Impact: Why Removing Unengaged Subscribers Boosts Email Performance   - [NXG Thank You](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/message-received/): Thank You We've received your request and will be reaching out soon! - [Benchmark Beta Terms Of Use](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/benchmark-beta-terms-of-use/): Beta Program Participation Agreement This Beta Program Participation Agreement ('Agreement') is entered into by and between Benchmark Email ('Company'), - [Beyond Opens: The Essential Email Marketing Metrics You Should be Tracking](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/resource/email-marketing-metrics-webinar-video/): Beyond Opens: The Essential Email Marketing Metrics You Should be Tracking   - [Copy of NXG Header Footer](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/nxg-header-footer-copy/): First Name Last Name E-mail* Company* Phone Number - Area Code Phone Number Talk to Sales No. of Contacts Talk to Sales Comment Country from Web IP Submit - [NXG - Talk to Sales India](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/talk-to-india-sales/): Connect with an Email Marketing Expert Learn more about sending as a high volume or enterprise sender with Benchmark Email Trusted by - [NXG - Talk to Sales OMEAA](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/talk-to-omeaa-sales/): Connect with an Email Marketing Expert Learn more about sending as a high volume or enterprise sender with Benchmark Email Trusted by - [NXG - Talk to Sales EU](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/talk-to-europe-sales/): Connect with an Email Marketing Expert Learn more about sending as a high volume or enterprise sender with Benchmark Email Trusted by - [NXG - Talk to Sales US/CA](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/talk-to-sales-us-ca/): Connect with an Email Marketing Expert Learn more about sending as a high volume or enterprise sender with Benchmark Email Trusted by - [Apply for Benchmark Beta](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/beta-free-users/): Shape the future of Benchmark Join our exclusive Beta Program! We're launching a brand-new email marketing platform, built from the ground up to empower - [NXG Header Footer](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/nxg-header-footer/): - [Apply for Benchmark Beta](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/users-apply-for-beta/): Shape the future of Benchmark Join our exclusive Beta Program! We're launching a brand-new email marketing platform, built from the ground up to empower - [Apply for Benchmark Beta](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/apply-for-beta/): Shape the future of Benchmark Join our exclusive Beta Program! We're launching a brand-new email marketing platform, built from the ground up to empower - [Email Marketing Pricing Plans - Benchmark Email](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/pricing/): Affordable email marketing solution. A pricing plan for any list size … all features and support included. - [Ghosted by Subscribers? Learn How to Re-Engage Your Inactive Email List! Video Guide](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/resource/reengage-inactive-email-list-webinar-video/): Ghosted by Subscribers? Learn How to Re-Engage Your Inactive Email List!   - [Middle East Email Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/middle-east-email-marketing/): Reach Your Audience & Grow Sales in the Middle East Insights from the email marketing experts at Benchmark Email, a global email service provider. Why - [Constant Contact vs Mailchimp vs Benchmark Email: Which is Best For Email Marketing In 2025?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/constant-contact-vs-mailchimp/): Constant Contact vs Mailchimp: one is great for DIY marketers, the other's great for large teams. But both get expensive fast at large sending volumes… - [How to Use Social Media to Grow Your Email List](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/resource/social-media-grow-email-list-webinar-video/): Grow Your Email List with Social Media: Free Webinar Download   - [Harnessing the Power of AI in Email Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/resource/ai-email-marketing-webinar-video/): Unlock the Power of AI in Email Marketing Watch Our Webinar On-Demand   - [Free Email Subject Line Generator (AI-powered)](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/email-subject-line-generator/): Our free email subject line generator takes the stress out of crafting headlines that shine in the inbox to drive better email open rates. - [Elevate Your Event Promotions with Our Free Email Templates!](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/resource/elevate-your-event-video/): Watch Our Webinar: Simplifying Email Design for Optimal Deliverability   - [CTA and logo test](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/cta-and-logo-test/): - [The Fundamentals of Email List Management: Tips and Best Practices](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/resource/email-list-management-webinar-video/): The Fundamentals of Email List Management: Tips and Best Practices   - [Celebrating Subscriber Video](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/resource/celebrating-subscriber-video/): Celebrating Subscriber Milestones for Lasting Connections   - [Email List Verification](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/email-list-verification/): Remove Dangerous Addresses From Your Email List Get to the inbox with Benchmark. Your first list verification is free. verify your list Follow These 3 - [Video: Stay Top of Mind with Minimal](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/resource/video-stay-top-of-mind-with-minimal/): Stay Top of Mind with Minimal Effort Exploring RSS Email Automation   - [Moosend vs tinyEmail vs Benchmark Email: What's Better For Email Marketing In 2025?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/moosend-vs-tinyemail/): Moosend is great for personalization and analytics, while tinyEmail is best for Shopify users. But both don’t cater well to high-volume senders… - [Design Engaging Emails with Canva](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/canva/): Easily Send Your Canva Email Design - [Email Deliverability Help](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/email-deliverability-help/): Email Deliverability Experts Get more emails to the inbox with help from Benchmark Email Upgrade Today Easily Authenticate Your Email Domain Step-by-Step - [Free Email List Verification OMEAA](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/free-email-verification-omeaa/): Remove Dangerous Addresses From Your List For Free Free email list verification when you share Benchmark Email Hurry! Ends April 30th Follow These 3 Steps - [The Double Engagement Playbook Video](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/resource/the-double-engagement-playbook-video/): The Double Engagement Playbook   - [Free Email List Verification](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/free-email-verification-uk/): Remove Dangerous Addresses From Your List For Free Free email list verification when you share Benchmark Email Hurry! Ends April 30th Follow These 3 Steps - [Customer](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/customer-2/): - [Thank You - We'll Be In Touch](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/thank-you-submitted/): Thank You for Submitting One of our support agents will be in touch soon. - [Free Email List Verification](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/free-email-verification/): Remove Dangerous Addresses From Your List For Free Free email list verification when you share Benchmark Email Hurry! Ends March 31st Follow These 3 Steps - [Home Nov 2024 - smart design quiet launch](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/mobile-home/): Build beautiful, responsive emails with Benchmark's email marketing platform to engage subscribers, nurture leads, and track results. - [Personalize Your Emails with Ease: What to Personalize and How to Do it With Benchmark Email](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/resource/email-personalization-video/): Personalize Your Emails with Ease: What to Personalize and How to Do it With Benchmark Email   - [Thanks for your feedback](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/thank-you-feedback/): Thanks For Your Feedback! You can close this page or head to our blog for more email marketing goodies. - [Email Marketing Pricing Plans - Benchmark Email](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/pricing-mobile/): Affordable email marketing solution. A pricing plan for any list size … all features and support included. - [Hospitality](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/hospitality/): Marketing Software Guide Table of Contents Table of Contents Understanding Your Audience Building Your Email List Segmenting Your Email List for - [Modern Email Marketing Quiz](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/modern-email-marketing/): Just how good of an email marketer are you? Take our short quiz to determine your email marketing status and get tons of resources! - [Manufacturing Services](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/manufacturing/): A Comprehensive Email Marketing Manual for Manufacturers For manufacturers, there are a myriad of obstacles that come with the territory. Between supply - [Retail](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/retail/): The Retailer's Guide to Email Success Table of Contents Table Contents 1. Email Customer Segmentation 2. Simply Beautiful Email Designs 3. Abandoned Cart - [Smart Design](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/smart-design/): Bring consistency to your email designs with Brand Kit. Effortlessly access your brand assets when designing your email campaigns. - [Brand Kit](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/brand-kit/): Bring consistency to your email designs with Brand Kit. Effortlessly access your brand assets when designing your email campaigns. - [Tactical List Management Video](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/resource/tactical-list-management-video/): A Tactical List Management Guide for Google & Yahoo's Email Policy Update   Video Transcript - [How Email Marketing Fits Into Your Holiday Marketing Campaign](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/resource/marketing-fits-video/): How Email Marketing Fits Into Your Holiday Marketing Campaign   - [Home Nov 2023 - smart design quiet launch](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/): Build beautiful, responsive emails with Benchmark's email marketing platform to engage subscribers, nurture leads, and track results. - [Benchmark Email Gratitude Webinar Video Guide](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/resource/gratitudewebinar-videoguide/): Benchmark Email Mastering Gratitude Webinar   - [Smart support](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/smart-support/): Bot test page - [Trending](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/trending/): - [Archive](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/archive/): - [Blog](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog-023/): - [Financial services - Benchmark Email](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/financial-services/): Financial Services Table of Contents Email Marketing for Financial Services: How to Stand Out in a Crowded Market But first - why should you invest in - [Benchmark Email for Nonprofits - Benchmark Email](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/nonprofits/): Send email. Smile. Repeat. Nonprofits love Benchmark Email's easy-to-use email marketing platform for building a community around their cause. SIGN UP - [Email Marketing Pricing Plans - Benchmark Email - Benchmark Email](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/pricing-single-plan/): Affordable email marketing solution. A pricing plan for any list size … all features and support included. - [Email Marketing Pricing Plans - Benchmark Email](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/pricing-v3-send-based-exp/): Affordable email marketing solution. A pricing plan for any list size … all features and support included. - [Pricing: Large volume senders](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/pricing-large-volume-senders/): Large Volume Senders Need pricing based on email sends? We have you covered. High-Volume Large senders and enterprises love the security of sending at - [test](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/test/): Expand - [Philippine SME Business Network](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/go/): A powerfully simple email marketing platform. Have a minute? Create your first email in a jiff with Smart Design AI✨. CREATE YOUR FIRST EMAIL Design with - [The Email Copywriting Guide](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/email-copywriting/): Get started with your email marketing efforts in less than a week with this guide and the Benchmark Email email marketing platform. - [Email Marketing Pricing Plans - Benchmark Email](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/pricing-june/): Affordable email marketing solution. A pricing plan for any list size … all features and support included. - [MailOptin](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/mailoptin/): Import your Google Docs contacts into your Benchmark email lists with this free integration. Click or dial 1-800-430-4095. Free 30-day trial! - [Marketing Automation Guide](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/marketing-automation-info/): Marketing Automation What Your Small Business Should Know about Leveraging Marketing Automation to Grow Read on for an in-depth guide on what marketing - [QuickEmailVerification Integration for Benchmark Email](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/quickemailverification/): With our QuickEmailVerification integration you will be able to verify email addresses in your Benchmark contact list. - [Simplifying Email Marketing for eCommerce](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/ecommerce/): Sign Up Free LOGIN Simplifying Email Marketing for eCommerce Email marketing is a cost-effective way for eCommerce stores to reach their customers, - [Thank You - Pay as You Go](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/thank-you-vip/): You're on the list! You'll be the first to know when we launch new pricing plans. While most businesses get the best ROI from an ongoing email marketing - [Marketing Software](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/marketing-software/): Table of Contents What is Marketing Automation? Why Your Business Needs Marketing Software What Makes BenchmarkONE's Marketing Software Different The Finally, marketing software that’s easy to use, easy to look at and priced nice. - [Marketing Automation - BenchmarkONE](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/marketing-automation/): Marketing automation that's personal Easily nurture B2B relationships with BenchmarkONE Automation Simplified with BenchmarkONE Email marketing is - [EmailHeatMaps](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/emailheatmaps/): Benchmark Email now allows you to add Groove contacts to your email list(s). - [Marketing CRM - BenchmarkONE](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/marketing-crm/): Relationship Marketing Platform Be the hero with a B2B marketing CRM that turns leads into customers. Meet BenchmarkONE Take email marketing to the next - [Hustle & Bustle Marketing Bundle - Benchmark Email](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/hustle-bustle-marketing-bundle-benchmark-email/): It's a Marketing Miracle! We've wrapped up savings on core marketing tools for small businesses. Start Saving It's the most wonderful time of the year for - [Small Business Sales and Marketing Bundle](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/small-business-sales-and-marketing-bundle/): Help Small Businesses Make a Big Impact this November Let's join forces to amplify our reach and give more small businesses better sales and marketing - [Work Smarter, Not Harder with Smart Content](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/smart-content/): Quickly generate fresh email copy to fuel your email campaigns with the help of Smart Content, email copywriting AI. - [The Email Marketing Guide for Agencies](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/email-marketing-guide-for-agencies/): A successful email marketing strategy takes resources, dedication, and the right email tools. With the best email - [Newsletters](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/email-marketing/newsletters/): Email Marketing Templates: Newsletters Inform, entertain and educate with stunning email newsletters A newsletter is oftentimes the gateway to email - [High Volume Email Solutions](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/high-volume-email/): Send at Scale - Without Compromise High Volume Email Solutions from Benchmark Email SEE PRICING Need a special plan? Chat with Sales The world's leading - [Enterprise Email Solutions](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/enterprise-email-solutions/): Security & Reliability Delivered Enterprise Email Solutions from Benchmark Email SEE PRICING Need a special plan? Chat with Sales The world's leading - [Home V04](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/growth/): Build beautiful, responsive emails with Benchmark's email marketing platform to engage subscribers, nurture leads, and track results. - [Home V03](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/grow/): Build beautiful, responsive emails with Benchmark's email marketing platform to engage subscribers, nurture leads, and track results. - [Benchmark Email vs. Mailchimp](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/benchmark-email-vs-mailchimp/): Sign up free The Best Mailchimp Alternative: Benchmark Email. Choose the best email marketing platform to grow your business. - [Home V02](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/home-v02/): Build beautiful, responsive emails with Benchmark's email marketing platform to engage subscribers, nurture leads, and track results. - [Free templates new](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/free-templates-new/): Free Responsive HTML Email Templates Simple, free HTML email templates for your email marketing campaigns View all email templates Let Benchmark Email - [eCommerce](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/ecommerce/): Easily feature your eCommerce products with email marketing. Integrate with Shopify or add your own products on the fly. - [Testimonials and Reviews](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/testimonials-and-reviews/): Testimonials & Reviews Noel W. Owner/Yoga Instructor in the Health, Wellness and Fitness Industry Link to Full Review "Easy to use email marketing - [Register](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/registers/): EN The simplest way to send emails and grow your subscriber list Since 2004, Benchmark Email is trusted email marketing software used by 500,000+ - [Email Marketing Software](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/email-marketing-software/): Table of Contents What is Email Marketing Software? Why Does Finding the Right Email Marketing Software Matter? Create Efficiencies Simplify Outreach - [Email Design](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/email-design/): What's in a good email design? Everything you need to know about grabbing your reader's attention and getting them to take action. - [Stripo](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/stripo/): Benchmark Email now allows you to import your Freshbooks contacts to your Benchmark account. - [Co-Branded Marketing Opportunities](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/co-branded-marketing-opportunities/): Co-marketing is one of the simplest ways to quickly broaden your reach and more efficiently gain connections - [Email Marketing Benchmarks](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/email-marketing-benchmarks/): See how your email marketing benchmarks, like click-through rate, stack up against others standards in your industry and in your region. - [Loja](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/loja/): Loja Integrada Integration for Benchmark Email Add Loja Integrada contacts to your Benchmark Email list(s) With our Loja Integrada integration, you’ll be - [Status](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/status/): Benchmark Email Status June 12, 2025 3:15 pm PT Benchmark is 100% operational. The image gallery is back to full functionality. June 12, 2025 10:15 am PT - [Landing pages](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/landing-pages/): Drag & drop landing page builder. Grow your email subscriber list, promote your business and optimize email campaigns with landing pages. - [Upgrade](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/upgrade/): Regardless of the industry you are in email marketing will help you grow your business with these premium marketing tools starting at only $13.99. - [Wistia](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/wistia/): Benchmark Email Wistia Integration Videos are engaging, and marketers know it. In fact, 87% of online marketers use video content. And with email being - [Sitemap](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/sitemap/): Benchmark Email Sitemap - [Media Relations](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/about-us/media-relations/): Get in touch with our media relations representative Need info on a press release? Looking to speak with Benchmark's CEO or other staff members? Just - [Agency Partners Sign-Up](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/partners/agencies/sign-up/): Become an Agency Partner Sign Up Today for Exclusive Agency Benefits Recurring Income Exclusive discounts Marketing material to promote this program A - [Careers](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/careers/): Our headquarters is located in Los Alamitos, California and Benchmark proudly boasts local offices across the globe. We also call Bogotá, Guangzhou, - [Help phone](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/help-phone/): Give us a call Contact # International # Days open Hours Time Zone 800.430.4095 213.493.6558 M-F 6:00AM-5:00PM PST 52.55.3300.5177 M-F 9:00AM-6:00PM UTC- - [Servers](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/servers/): Benchmark Email Servers Hello and welcome! You've most likely arrived here because you've researched a link within an opt-in email campaign sent by one of - [Video Tutorials](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/video-tutorials/): Email Marketing Video Library Get the most out of Benchmark with these quick and easy-to-follow video tutorials   Your 1st Email Campaign Getting - [SurveyMonkey](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/surveymonkey/): SurveyMonkey Integration for Benchmark Email Increase the reach of your surveys with email marketing. With our SurveyMonkey template integration, you can - [Cookie Policy](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/cookie-policy/): Site Terms Privacy Policy Cookie Policy Anti-Spam Policy Terms Of Use Bug Bounty Terms Spam Free Zone User Pledge Cookie Policy This cookie policy only - [Sender Pricing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/sender-pricing/): Email Pricing Plans For Large Senders Safely and reliably send at high volumes Email plan Emails sends per month Price / Overage price per email Contact - [LinkedIn](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/linkedin/): LinkedIn Integration for Benchmark Email Share Recent LinkedIn Updates with Your Subscribers Turn your subscribers into LinkedIn followers by sharing - [Ebay](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/ebay/): Ebay Integration for Benchmark Email Easily Promote Ebay Items for Sale Bring more attention to your items for sale on eBay thanks to the Benchmark Email - [Spam Free Zone](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/spam-free-zone/): Site Terms Privacy Policy Cookie Policy Anti-Spam Policy Terms Of Use Bug Bounty Terms Spam Free Zone User Pledge Spam Free Zone Defeating spam one email - [YesInsights](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/yesinsights/): YesInsights Integration for Benchmark Email Add YesInsights surveys to your Benchmark Email campaigns With our YesInsights integration, you can - [Woocommerce](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/woocommerce/): WooCommerce Integration For Benchmark Email Do you own an eCommerce store? Did you set up the store using WooCommerce? If you answered yes to both - [Wishpond](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/wishpond/): Wishpond Integration for Benchmark Email Send leads you've captured with Wishpond to your Benchmark Email lists. With our Wishpond integration, you can - [ViralSweep](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/viralsweep/): ViralSweep Integration for Benchmark Email Send leads you've captured with ViralSweep contests to your Benchmark Email lists. With our ViralSweep - [Privy](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/privy/): Privy Integration for Benchmark Email Send leads you've captured with Privy forms and pop-ups to your Benchmark Email lists. With Privy's integration with - [Kickbox](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/kickbox/): Benchmark Email Kickbox Integration As a marketer, you know the importance of having a clean email list. You are always tracking your sender reputation, - [Get Site Control](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/getsitecontrol/): Getsitecontrol Integration for Benchmark Email Add contacts from forms and popups to your Benchmark Email lists. With our Getsitecontrol integration you - [Screenshots](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/about-us/brand-assets/screenshots/): Screenshots Guidelines Downloads Screenshots Downloads Automation PRO Download screenshots Benchmark Email Download screenshots Sign Up For Your - [Downloads](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/about-us/brand-assets/downloads/): Downloads Guidelines Downloads Screenshots Logos AI EPS PNG AI EPS PNG AI EPS PNG Sign Up For Your Absolutely Free Account No Credit Card - [Thank You](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/resource/thank-you/): Thanks for Downloading Your resource is on its way! We're sending it to the email address you provided, so keep any eye on your inbox. - [Thank You - General](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/thank-you-general/): Thank You for Reaching Out We look forward to helping you and will be in touch with you soon. - [PipelineDeals](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/pipelinedeals/): Pipeline Integration Do you care about accelerating and optimizing your sales pipeline? For most sales team members, this is their biggest goal. After - [Wufoo](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/wufoo/): Build your contact lists using Wufoo forms with a simple integration from Benchmark Email. - [Vcita](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/vcita/): Benchmark Email now allows you to add vCita contacts to your email list(s). - [Smartsheet](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/smartsheet/): Benchmark Email now allows you to add Smartsheet contacts to your email list(s). - [Recurly](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/recurly/): Benchmark Email now allows you to add Recurly contacts to your email list(s). - [Livechat](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/livechat/): Grow your contact list(s) when customers and leads engage with you via LiveChat with this integration from Benchmark Email. - [Email Builder](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/email-builder/): Create Engaging Emails That Get Results You don't need to be an email marketing expert or design whiz to create email campaigns that spark interest. - [Slack](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/slack/): Benchmark Email now allows you to add Slack contacts to your contact list(s). - [Google Contacts](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/google-contacts/): Benchmark Email Google Contacts Integration Google Contacts is a tremendous tool for managing contact data. It allows you to keep track of your contacts' - [Groove](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/groove/): Benchmark Email now allows you to add Groove contacts to your email list(s). - [Freshdesk](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/freshdesk/): Benchmark Email now allows you to add Freshdesk contacts to your email list(s). - [Cratejoy](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/cratejoy/): Benchmark Email now allows you to add Cratejoy customers to your email list(s). - [Contactually](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/contactually/): Benchmark Email now allows you to add Contactually contacts to your email list(s). - [Zoho](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/zoho/): Connect Zoho to your Benchmark Email account and send custom newsletters to your Zoho contacts. Email marketing has never been easier. Click or dial 1-800-430-4095. Free 30-day trial! - [Zapier](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/zapier/): Integrate with 900+ other web services like Gmail, Evernote, Facebook and Google Docs with our Zapier integration. - [Shopify](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/shopify-email-integration/): Benchmark Email now allows you to add customers to your mailing list when they buy products from you through Shopify store. - [Google Sheets](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/google-sheets/): Import your Google Docs contacts into your Benchmark email lists with this free integration. Click or dial 1-800-430-4095. Free 30-day trial! - [WordPress Plugin](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/wordpress-plugin/): WordPress Email Plugin As a marketer, you're constantly hearing about and looking into various marketing solutions. Solutions to help you increase your - [Glossary](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/resources/email-glossary/): Email Marketing Glossary 50+ must-know terms to help you master email marketing Above-the-Fold Affirmative Consent API (Application Programming Interface) - [Author](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/author/): - [Affiliate Partners](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/partners/affiliates/): Become a Benchmark Affiliate You're passionate about sharing your expertise to help businesses and entrepreneurs grow. Recommend our email marketing - [Become a Benchmark Email Agency Partner](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/partners/agencies/): Offer your clients the email marketing and automation tool that best fits their needs, boosting your agency's success. - [Integration Partners](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/partners/integrations/): Integrate with Benchmark Integrating with Benchmark means much more than a simple collaboration. It means partnering with an incredible company (if we say - [Developers](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/developers/): BENCHMARK EMAIL DEVELOPER Save Time With our Robust RESTful API With billions of emails sent monthly all around the world, our RESTful API provides you - [Lead Generation](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/lead-generation/): Publish online forms, pop-ups, polls and surveys to grow your subscriber list and engage your contacts. - [Terms of Use](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/terms-of-use/): Site Terms Privacy Policy Cookie Policy Anti-Spam Policy Terms Of Use Bug Bounty Terms Spam Free Zone User Pledge BENCHMARK TERMS OF USE PLEASE READ THIS - [Anti-Spam Policy](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/anti-spam-policy/): Site Terms Privacy Policy Cookie Policy Anti-Spam Policy Terms Of Use Bug Bounty Terms Spam Free Zone User Pledge Anti-Spam Policy Where Benchmark stands - [Partners](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/partners/): Partner program for marketing agencies and affiliates. Free to join. Earn commission for every email marketing account you sign. - [Contact Us](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/contact/): Contact Us Have a question? Drop us a line and a friendly Benchmark specialist will respond in no time.   Polaris Software LLC 3636 S. Geyer Road, - [Brand Assets](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/about-us/brand-assets/): Benchmark Brand Assets Thank you for your interest in the Benchmark brand, feel free to navigate through our guidelines and downloads Guidelines Downloads - [About](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/about-us/): Since Day One We help businesses thrive with online sales and marketing solutions. Our tools help you grow your audience, engagement and sales. Benchmark - [Updates](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/product-updates/): What's new in email marketing? Check out the latest product updates from Benchmark Email. - [Customers](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/customers/): Over 500,000 users - from small businesses to global brands use - our email marketing tools to connect with their audience. - [Email Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/email-marketing/): Get started with your email marketing efforts in less than a week with this guide and the Benchmark Email email marketing platform. - [Resources](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/resources/): Learn Email Marketing Our free email marketing resources cover frequent mistakes as well as best practices in email marketing. - [Integrations](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/): Improve your email marketing workflow by integrating with your favorite apps and services, like Zapier, Wordpress, Facebook and more. - [Reporting](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/reporting/): Track and measure email marketing metrics to understand how subscribers interact with your emails, and which campaigns are driving results. - [Email Automation](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/email-automation/): Our marketing automation builder - Automation Pro - makes it simple to build email campaigns and workflows that personalize the experience for prospects and customers. - [Features](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/): Design professional emails. Grow your subscriber list. Automate campaigns. Build beautiful landing pages. Track your email marketing metrics. - [Blog](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/): The email marketing blog for busy marketers & business owners. Over 100,000 subscribe for expert email marketing, marketing, & sales advice. - [Privacy Policy](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/privacy-policy/): Site Terms Privacy Policy Cookie Policy Anti-Spam Policy Terms Of Use Bug Bounty Terms Spam Free Zone User Pledge Privacy Policy Where we stand on --- ## Posts - [5 Winning Tactics for Short-Form Video Marketing Trends in 2025](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/short-form-video-marketing-trends/): This guide breaks down the five most crucial video marketing trends to help you dominate short-form content in 2025. - [Recession-Proof Your Business with Email Marketing: Strategies for Stability and Growth](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/recession-proof-with-email-marketing/): Amidst uncertainty, email marketing has emerged as one of the most powerful tools. Recession-proof your business with these email tips. - [7 Long-Term Growth Marketing Tactics Every Business Needs to Adopt](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/growth-marketing/): Discover 7 essential long-term growth marketing tactics every business needs, plus common mistakes to avoid. - [Content Automation in Email Marketing: What It Is and How Marketing Managers Can Leverage It](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/content-automation/): Let's break down what content automation is, why it matters, and how you can start using it to drive better results with less manual effort. - [The EU Accessibility Act Takes Effect This Month: What Email Marketers Need to Know](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-eu-accessibility-act/): The EU Accessibility Act goes into effect this month. Here's what marketers need to know and how to adhere to it. - [How to Promote Your Blog Posts Using Email Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/promote-blog-posts-using-email-marketing/): Getting your blog posts out there to the right people is super important. Here's how you can use email marketing to help. - [The Unsubscribe Opportunity: How Exit Emails Can Strengthen Brand Affinity](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/exit-emails/): Just because someone unsubscribes doesn't mean you can't save the relationship. Here's how to craft exit emails that bring subscribers back. - [Benchmark Email Recognized with the 2025 “Best Ease Of Use” Award for Content Marketing Category And More](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/benchmark-2025-best-ease-of-use-award/): Benchmark Email has been recognized as 2025 Best Ease of Use Award from Capterra, along with other recognitions. - [The Silent Growth Channel: How Smart Email Marketing Is Outpacing Social in ROI](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/smart-email-marketing-is-outpacing-social/): When it comes to ROI, smart email marketing greatly outpaces social media. Read on as to why it's a silent growth channel. - [The Psychology of “Not Opening”: What Non-Opens Can Tell You About Your Audience](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-psychology-of-not-opening-what-non-opens-can-tell-you-about-your-audience/): One of the most discouraging email marketing metrics for any marketer is the open rate. After spending hours crafting the perfect subject line, designing - [Why AI Alone Won’t Save Your Marketing Strategy](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ai-wont-save-your-marketing-strategy/): AI is a gift for most marketers, however you cannot rely on it alone to save your marketing strategy. Here's what else you need. - [How to Drive Website Traffic from ChatGPT and AI Search Engines](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/drive-website-traffic-from-chatgpt/): With more people using ChatGPT to find information, it's important for brands to look into ways to drive traffic from ChatGPT. - [The Lean Campaign: How to Launch and Test Ideas Fast Without Big Budgets](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-lean-campaign/): The lean campaign is great for teams that need a big impact but have limited budgets. Here's how to get one off the ground. - [Beyond the Blog: Innovative Strategies to Transform Your Articles into Engaging Social Media Content](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/transform-articles-into-social-media-content/): Your blog content can be repurposed into various other pieces of content, including social media content. Here's how. - [Generative Marketing: Harnessing AI to Revolutionize Customer Engagement](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/generative-marketing/): Generative marketing is all about harnessing the power of AI to revolutionize the way you go about your marketing strategy. - [Boost Your Email Marketing With User-Generated Content](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-ugc/): When combined with email marketing strategies, UGC can help you boost engagement and foster brand trust. Learn how to use it. - [Navigating the Digital Recession: Strategies for Maintaining Engagement Amidst Changing Algorithms](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/digital-recession/): There's a digital recession happening, where organic reach and engagement is suffering at the hands of paid advertisement and posts. - [100 Spammy Words and Phrases to Exclude from Your Email Subject Lines](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/spammy-words/): Do not include these 100 spammy words or phrases in your email subject lines if you want to make it to the inbox. - [Refining Your Email A/B Testing with AI](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/a-b-testing-with-ai/): A/b testing is an important step in your email marketing. Here's how to refine and perfect it using AI and other tools. - [The Rise of Lo-Fi Marketing: Embracing Authenticity in a High-Tech World](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/lo-fi-marketing/): What is lo-fi marketing? We dive into this marketing approach and why you should embrace it for your strategy. - [How to Optimize (and Test) Your Email for Dark Mode](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/dark-mode/): It's important to test and optimize your emails for dark mode so you can cater to those that prefer that type of design. - [The Decline of Organic Reach: Are Social Media Ads the Only Way Forward?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-decline-of-organic-reach/): With the decline of organic reach, many people are wondering if the only way to grow your audience is through paid ads. - [Social Media Detox Trends: Should Brands Care About Digital Minimalism?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/social-media-detox/): Engaging in a social media detox is popular for consumers, but what can brands learn from this trend to use with their own social media? - [How to Create a Customer Onboarding Email Series That Runs on Autopilot](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/customer-onboarding-series/): Having a customer onboarding series can make or break the experience your customers have with your brand. Here's how to create one. - [Avoiding Costly Compliance Mistakes in Email Marketing: A 2025 Legal Guide](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-compliance-mistakes/): To keep your email marketing legal, you must abide by certain regulations. Do not make these compliance mistakes. - [Beyond Email: Why an Integrated Marketing Campaign is Essential for New Rollouts](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/integrated-marketing-campaign/): When introducing a new rollout or promotion, it's essential to use an integrated marketing campaign as opposed to just sending an email. - [Cold Email and Email Marketing: The Differences and When to Use Each](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/cold-email-and-email-marketing/): Some people get tripped up over the difference between cold email outreach and email marketing. We explain each and how to use them here. - [Why You Need to Show Unengaged Subscribers the Door](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/show-unengaged-subscribers-the-door/): Removing unengaged subscribers from your email list is a must for your deliverability. We explain why in this blog post. - [Breaking Through AI Noise: How to Create Unique, High-Value Content](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ai-content/): Generating content with AI is beneficial for your strategy. However, it can be hard to make your AI generated content stand out. - [Mastering ChatGPT for Marketing: What You Need to Know to Get Started](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/chatgpt-for-marketing/): ChatGPT is a great tool for various marketing efforts. Read our blog post for tips on how to master it and make your life easier. - [Leveraging Sensory Marketing in Emails: Adding a Multi-Sensory Appeal Through Design](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/sensory-marketing/): Here's what sensory marketing is, why it's appealing, and how to leverage it to your benefit in your email marketing. - [AI Copywriting Tools: Can They Replace Your Content Writer?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ai-copywriting-tools/): Using an AI copywriting tool can help you get more done quickly. But, will these kinds of tools replace your content writer completely? - [Generative Engine Optimization (GEO): SEO for ChatGPT and AI-Driven Search Engines](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/geo-seo/): SEO remains important, however, showing up in AI-driven searches is too. Read on to learn more about Generative Engine Optimization (GEO). - [The 80/20 Rule for Marketing: How to Focus on What Drives Results](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/80-20-rule-for-marketing/): Ever heard of the 80/20 rule for marketing? Read our blog post to learn what it means and how understanding it can impact your strategy. - [A Marketer’s Guide on When to Automate and When to Delegate](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/when-to-automate-and-delegate/): Automation and delegation are both tactics that should be used to help marketers. But it isn't easy to know when to pick one over the other. - [Marketing in the Morning: How a 30-Minute Routine Sets You Up for Success](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/marketing-morning-routine/): For busy marketers, having a morning routine down pat can help determine how successful their marketing tactics will be. - [Beyond Likes: How to Measure Real Engagement in 2025](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-measure-real-engagement/): Real social media engagement is more than just tracking likes. Here's a guide to tracking accurate engagement from your social media. - [The Science of Sales Timing: When is the Best Time to Send a Sales Pitch Email?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/when-to-send-a-sales-pitch-email/): Timing is everything when it comes to sending a sales pitch email. In this blog post, we break down when it's the best time to hit send. - [The More You Send, The More You Know: Key Takeaways from Benchmark Email’s Email Marketing Quiz](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/benchmarks-email-marketing-quiz/): How does your email marketing stand up? See the results from our very own email marketing quiz to determine where you stand. - [Work Less, Achieve More: Why Marketers Need to Embrace Asynchronous Workflows](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/asynchronous-workflows/): Embracing asynchronous workflows means busy marketers can get their work done according to a schedule that is more beneficial for them. - [Mastering Social Commerce: How TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook are Changing Retail](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/social-commerce-changing-retail/): Social commerce is changing the game when it comes to retail, selling more products, and your customers' shopping experience. - [From Leads to Champions: How to Turn Clients into Brand Advocates](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/leads-to-brand-advocates/): Acquiring leads is important, but it's even more important to turn those leads into brand advocates. Here's how. - [The Rise of Interactive Marketing: Why Engagement Matters More than Reach](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-rise-of-interactive-marketing/): Engagement matters more than ever, even more than certain metrics. Here's why interactive marketing is great for engagement. - [Creating a Year-Long Email Marketing Calendar in Less Than an Hour](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-calendar/): Make your job easier by creating your email marketing calendar a year in advance. Here's a step-by-step guide to help you get it done. - [The Burnout Cure: Time-Management Hacks for Marketers Under Pressure](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/time-management-hacks-for-marketers/): Marketers never have enough hours in the day to get everything done. Here are some time-management hacks for marketers to avoid burnout. - [CTA](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/cta/):     - [How to Analyze Your Email Marketing Campaigns with ChatGPT](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/analyze-email-marketing-results/): Discover how ChatGPT can help you analyze your email marketing campaign results with our and Email Metrics Wizard 🚀 - [Canva’s Visual Economy Report: Important Takeaways for Marketers](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/canva-visual-economy-report/): Discover key insights from Canva’s Visual Economy Report and learn how visuals drive productivity, enhance business performance, and transform marketing with design tools, AI, and seamless workflows. - [10 Social Media Experts Keeping Busy Marketers Informed (& Entertained) on LinkedIn](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/10-social-media-experts-keeping-busy-marketers-informed-entertained-on-linkedin/): Marketers carry a lot of weight on their shoulders. Social platforms, algorithms and strategies change at the speed of light, and not always for the - [Cold Emails vs. Marketing Emails: What’s the Difference?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/cold-emails-vs-marketing-emails/): What is the difference between cold emails and marketing emails? We define each, including who sends each kind of email and why. - [Appreciating The Art of Crafting Unmissable Holiday Email Subject Lines](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/unmissable-holiday-email-subject-lines/): This holiday season, make sure your emails stand out in the inbox. Here's how to craft unmissable holiday email subject lines. - [Best 18 Marketing Platforms for New Businesses](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/best-marketing-platforms/): Today, more than ever, digital marketing is a gamechanger for small businesses—new or old. With a digital presence through different marketing platforms, - [10 Email Newsletter Ideas to Boost Engagement During the Holiday Season](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/10-email-newsletter-ideas-to-boost-engagement-during-the-holiday-season/): The holidays are busy and your email engagement may be suffering. Here are some ideas to give your email newsletters a boost. - [Check Content Planning Off Your List with our ChatGPT Content Plan Maker](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/chatgpt-content-plan-maker/): Put a bow on your content strategy with the Content Plan Maker GPT. Plan the next quarter with ease - [When to Use AI and When to Add a Human Touch: A Guide for Marketers](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ai-vs-human-touch/): As a well-rounded marketer, you’re juggling countless responsibilities across channels. Your time is limited, and the pressure to deliver results is - [Unlock Your Best Sales Yet with Benchmark Email's Black Friday Templates](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/black-friday-email-templates/): You're just a few steps away from sending Black Friday email campaigns that drive results. Grab ready-made Black Friday email templates from Benchmark Email. - [How to Write Click-Worthy Subject Lines for Your Black Friday Email Campaign](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/black-friday-email-subject-lines/): Looking to boost sales this Black Friday? Check out this guide for tips on writing click-worthy Black Friday email subject lines. - [How Nostalgia Marketing is Driving Modern Campaigns (and Why It Works)](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/nostalgia-marketing/): Nostalgia marketing is an effective approach that will allow you to resonate with your audience and make a lasting impression. - [Email Subject Lines for the Christmas Holiday: Capturing the Festive Spirit and Boosting Open Rates](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-subject-lines-for-christmas/): Christmas is coming up and it's a great opportunity to spice up your email marketing. Here are some subject lines to inspire you. - [The Do’s and Don’ts of Email Design: Best Practices for 2025](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-design-best-practices/): When it comes to email design for 2025, there are definite things you should and shouldn't be doing. Check them out. - [Email Marketing Strategies for Black Friday: Drive Sales and Maximize Engagement](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-black-friday/): Check out some effective email marketing strategies for Black Friday, including subject line ideas and tactics to drive sales. - [Email Subdomains 101: When, Why, and How to Use Them](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-subdomains-101/): Read our blog post on email subdomains and learn what they are, how to use them, and when to use them effectively. - [Seasonal Campaigns Made Easy: How to Pre-Schedule Your Entire Year’s Worth of Emails](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/seasonal-email-campaigns/): Scheduling your seasonal email campaigns doesn't have to be a last-minute effort. Here are some tips for pre-scheduling them. - [Triggered Emails You Might Be Overlooking (and How to Set Them Up)](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/triggered-emails-you-might-be-overlooking/): Most people know the commonly used triggered emails. But in this blog post, we share a few you might be overlooking. - [Mistakes You're Making With Your Mobile-Friendly Email Campaign](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/mobile-friendly-email-campaign/): Even carefully planned mobile-friendly email campaigns can backfire. Here are some blunders mobile-centric marketers should avoid. - [Customer Journey Mapping for Email Marketing: How to Build Campaigns for Every Stage](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/customer-journey-mapping-for-email-marketing/): Read our article on customer journey maping and make your email marketing campaigns address every stage of the buyer's journey. - [Quick Wins: How to Repurpose Content for Email Campaigns](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/repurpose-content-for-email-campaigns/): Creating fresh, engaging content doesn't have to be hard. Here's how you can repurpose your content for your email campaigns. - [Essential Case Study Questions to Ask Your Best Customers](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/case-study-questions/): Case studies help make a potential customer a customer. Here's how to put together case studies and how to use them effectively. - [The Types of Video Content People Actually Want to Watch](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/5-types-of-video-content-people-actually-want-to-watch/): Video content is highly engaging and entertaining to watch. But not all videos are created equally. Here are the kinds you should create. - [Setting Up Event-Based Emails to Drive Attendance and Engagement](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/event-based-emails/): Event-based emails help get the word out about an upcoming event, ensuring people join and get excited. Here are some tips to keep in mind. - [The Anatomy of a Perfect Email Footer: Boosting Compliance and Engagement](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-footer/): The email footer is an often overlooked, yet critical part of every email you send. Here are some things to include in your email footer. - [How to Grow Your Social Media Following Organically](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-grow-your-social-media-following-organically/): Having a solid social media following is crucial for any business. Here's how to grow your social media following organically. - [Casting Spells with Your Halloween Emails: Tricks, Treats, and Terrifyingly Good Subject Lines](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/halloween-emails-and-subject-lines/): This Halloween, cast some spells with your Halloween emails. These spooky fun email subject lines can help. - [Why Email Open Rates Still Matter: A Vital Metric for Measuring Campaign Success](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-open-rates-still-matter/): You may think they no longer make a difference, but email open rates still matter for the success of your email marketing. - [Customer Experience as a Competitive Advantage: Why It Matters More Than Ever](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/customer-experience-competitive-advantage/): Customer experience is about more than just pleasing your customers. It's also a way to gain a competitive advantage. - [7 Ways to Use Google’s Keyword Planner That You Haven’t Thought Of](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/google-keyword-planner/): Are you using Google's Keyword Planner? Here are seven ways to use it that you probably haven't thought of before. - [The Future of Content Marketing: How AI and Automation Are Shaping the Industry](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ai-and-automation-shaping-content-marketing/): With AI and automation quickly taking the industry by storm, there are some exciting things on the horizon for content marketing. - [Social Media Tips to Help You Strike Gold](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/social-media-tips/): Here are some can't-miss social media tips that will help your small business strike gold and grow your network. - [From Cold Outreach to Warm Leads: Revamping Your Sales Strategy for 2025](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/revamping-your-sales-strategy/): 2025 will be here quickly. It's time to take a look at your sales strategy, from cold outreach to warm leads, and see what needs to change. - [Navigating Data Privacy Changes: How to Future-Proof Your Email Marketing Strategy](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/data-privacy-changes/): It seems like every day something is changing within the email marketing industry. Here are some data privacy changes to be aware of. - [Building Authentic Brand Connections on Social Media in a Post-Algorithm World](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/authentic-connections-on-social-media/): In a post-algorithm world, building authentic, real connections with your audience on social media can seem impossible. - [The Rise of Conversational Sales: How Chatbots and AI Are Transforming the Sales Funnel](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/conversational-sales-chatbots/): It's all about using conversational sales to convert more leads, and chatbots powered by AI is the way to go. - [The Email Marketing Terms You Need to Know](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-terms/): With email marketing comes a lot of jargon that's hard to understand. Here are 20 email marketing terms you need to know. - [Social Media Marketing Trends: What's Hot and What's Not](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/social-media-marketing-trends/): Social media marketing moves at the speed of light. Staying on top of trends can be very difficult. Here are some to keep in mind. - [The Only Guide You’ll Ever Need For Content Creation](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-ultimate-guide-for-content-creation/): Having trouble getting your content marketing strategy underway? Here's a simple guide for content creation that will help. - [What is an Email Service Provider (ESP)?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-service-provider/): We'll explain what an email service provider is, the difference between ESP and an email client, and the qualities of a good ESP. - [Fall Newsletter Ideas for Marketers: Embrace the Season with Inspiring and Fun Content](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/fall-newsletter-ideas/): The fall season is an chance for marketers to connect with their audience through seasonal newsletters. Here are some fall newsletter ideas. - [Why and How To Re-Engage Your Email Leads](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/re-engage-email-contacts/): When your email subscribers become dormant, you may think they're lost forever. But here's how to re-engage them. - [Labor Day Email Subject Lines: Tips and Ideas to Make Your Campaign Stand Out](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/labor-day-email-subject-lines/): In this blog post, we explore celebrating Labor Day through email marketing and provide a list of subject line ideas for inspiration. - [How to Read Your Email Reports in Benchmark Email](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-read-email-reports/): Email reporting helps you understand what's working and what isn't. Hee's how to read email reports using Benchmark Email. - [How To Send Emails in Just 7 Steps](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-send-emails-7-steps/): Many email marketers fall into the trap of knowing when to send emails but not how to send them. Here's a simple guide to help you out. - [5 Easy Ways to Impress Your Boss with Your Email Marketing Strategy](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/impress-your-boss-email-marketing-strategy/): Proving to your boss that your email marketing strategy is successful is crucial. Here are some qualitative and quantitative metrics to use. - [How to Put Together an Effective Email Subject Line (and Examples)](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/5-subject-line-tips-that-truly-work/): Your email subject line is one of the most important components of a success email. Here's how to put one together successfully. - [Hyperlocal Email Campaigns: Targeting Neighborhood-Level Customers](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/hyperlocal-email-campaigns/): Hyperlocal email campaigns can help small businesses target neighborhood-level customers and increase sales. - [How to Incorporate AI into Your Marketing Process](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/incorporate-ai-into-marketing-process/): Incorporating AI into your marketing process is a great way to get more done without sacrificing quality. Here's how. - [How to Train Yourself in 15 Minutes with AI](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/train-yourself-with-ai/): Don't know how to do something but afraid to make it known? Here's how you can train yourself with AI in just 15 minutes. - [The To-Do List of a Digital Marketer](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/to-do-list-digital-marketer/): What exactly is a digital marketer responsible for? Here is a typical to-do list for a digital marketing professional. - [How to Use Benchmark Email to Re-Engage a Dormant List](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/re-engage-dormant-list/): Benchmark Email has unique features that will help you identify disengaged subscribers so you can re-engage a dormant list of subscribers. - [5 Advanced Techniques for Data-Driven Customer Segmentation in 2024](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/data-driven-customer-segmentation/): Advanced customer segmentation strategies can help you improve engagement, conversions, and customer lifetime value. - [Why You Shouldn’t Rely on AI: A Cautionary Guide for Marketing Professionals](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/dont-rely-on-ai/): Using AI as part of your marketing plan can do wonders for your output. However, this is why you don't want to totally rely on AI. - [Best Practices for Integrating Benchmark Email with Salesforce](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/integrating-benchmark-email-with-salesforce/): Integrating Benchmark Email with Salesforce can help you better segment your email lists and personalize your outreach. - [Follow-Up Strategies: Making Automated Responses Feel Personalized](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/personalized-automated-responses/): With automated responses, it can be hard to make them resonate and feel personalized. Here are some tips to combat that. - [What is RSS Email Automation?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/rss-email-automation/): Let's expllore what RSS email automation is and why it is a simple addition to any email marketing strategy. - [From Zero to Hero: How Anyone Can Master Email Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/anyone-can-master-email-marketing/): You don't need to be an expert to master email marketing. Here's how to go from zero to email marketing hero. - [Why Every Marketing Professional Needs an Assistant (And How AI Fits the Bill)](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/marketing-ai-assistant/): Marketers have so much on their plates that they could definitely use an assistant. What if we told you AI could be your marketing asisstant? - [Domain Verification and Email Verification: What's the Difference and Why They Matter for Email Deliverability](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/domain-verification-and-email-verification/): What is the difference between domain and email verification? We'll explain, and why each are important for deliverability. - [The Future of Smart Design: A Q&A with Benchmark Email’s Product Team](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/smart-design-product-interview/): Explore the future of email marketing with Benchmark Email's innovative AI-powered tool, Smart Design. Gain insights from Jeff Zimmerman and Paul Rijnders on how Smart Design simplifies email creation, making it quicker and more efficient. - [How to Infuse Personality into Your AI-Generated Content](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/personality-ai-generated-content/): AI generated content makes life easier for marketers. But it can also lack your brand voice and personality. - [Introducing Tabs in Apple Mail: A New Era of Email Management](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/tabs-in-apple-mail/): Apple Mail just introduced a new feature: tabs. Read our blog post to discover how this feature can help you stay organized. - [How to Fake it till You Make it with AI](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-fake-it-with-ai/): By using AI, you can streamline your workflow, improve your day-to-day task management, and get more done. Here's how to fake it with AI. - [23 Marketing Affirmations for Stressed-Out Marketers](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/marketing-affirmations/): Feeling stressed? Burned out? Wanting to quit? Repeat these marketing affirmations to help you get through stressful days. - [Unlikely Places to Wow Your Customers](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/wow-your-customers/): Looking to wow your customers? Here are some methods that you haven't thought of before and how to use them to delight your customers. - [B2B Lead Generation: The Ultimate Guide for 2024](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/b2b-lead-generation/): Searching for the best ways to generate more quality B2B leads? Read our comprehensive guide to B2B Lead Generation. - [Google’s Site Reputation Abuse Policy and What it Means to Marketers](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/googles-site-reputation-abuse-policy/): What exactly is Google's Site Reputation Abuse policy and what does it mean for the modern marketer? Read on to find out. - [The Best Tool in Your Marketing Toolkit: You](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-best-tool-in-your-marketing-toolkit/): There are so many different tools out there to add to your marketing toolkit. But what if we told you you're the only one you need? - [The Busy Marketer’s Guide to Choosing the Right Marketing Software](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/choosing-the-right-marketing-software/): As a marketer, you're busy. You don't have time to review tons of marketing software. Here's a quick guide to choosing the right software. - [Email Automation vs. Marketing Automation: What's the Difference?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-automation-vs-marketing-automation/): In this article, we'll be discussing email marketing vs. marketing automation. What is the difference and why should you use either? - [Unlocking the Potential of Silent Videos in Email Campaigns](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/silent-videos-in-email-campaigns/): Silent videos can be a powerful and strategic component of any email marketing campaign. Here's how to incorporate them. - [Try This: One-Column Emails Get the Job Done](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/one-column-emails/): You may not believe it, but simplicity is often the key to success. When it comes to email marketing, one-column emails get the job done. - [11 Proven Strategies for Driving Sales](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/strategies-for-driving-sales/): Increasing sales is a constant battle, and a constant goal. Here are some proven strategies that will get your sales churning. - [A Guide to Instagram Video Marketing for eCommerce Businesses](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/instagram-video-marketing/): For eCommerce businesses, mastering Instagram video marketing is a must. Here are some tips and examples that will help. - [Behind the Velvet Rope: How Email Exclusivity Drives Customer Retention and Lifetime Value](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-exclusivity-drives-retention/): Email exclusivity is a marketing strategy that provides special access, offers, or content to a select group of customers via email. - [How to Measure PPC Performance and Optimize Ad Spend](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-measure-ppc-performance/): How you allocate your marketing budget towards ads depends on how well they perform. Here's how to measure PPC performance. - [Going Back to Basics: Why Text-Only Emails Are Making a Comeback in Email Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/text-only-emails-are-making-a-comeback/): No one can get enough of the latest email design tactics. But what if we were to tell you that text-only emails were making a comeback? - [The Biggest Sales-Enhancing Fads that Are Sure to Burnout](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/biggest-sales-enhancing-fads/): There are tons of sales tactics out there, but some are just fads that are sure to burnout. Stop wasting your time on these sales approaches. - [How to Prioritize What to Include in Your Company Newsletter](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/what-to-include-in-your-company-newsletter/): When it comes to your company newsletter, how do you know what to include and what to exclude? Here is your easy guide. - [The 5 Issues Plaguing Email Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/issues-plaguing-email-marketing/): Email marketing isn't perfect. But if you know what issues can occur, you can still be successful. Here are five of them. - [Boost Your Business with the Best Email Marketing Platform](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-best-email-marketing-platform/): Using the best email marketing platform for your business can boost sales, productivity, and help you strengthen customer relationships. - [The Ultimate Guide to Landing Pages](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-ultimate-guide-to-landing-pages/): Landing pages are crucial for your inbound marketing strategy. Check out our ultimate guide to landing pages. - [Marketing Design: When to Use AI and When to Outsource](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/when-to-outsource-marketing-design/): For busy marketers, there comes a time when they have to decide when to outsource and when to use AI for their marketing design. - [The Top 5 Strategies Busy Marketers Should Prioritize for Maximum Impact](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/top-strategies-for-busy-marketers/): Marketers are busy and only have the capacity to focus on strategies that yield results. Here are the top strategies for busy marketers. - [How Does Your Email Marketing Stack Up? Industry Benchmarks Revealed](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-does-your-email-marketing-stack-up-industry-benchmarks-revealed/): In the digital marketing toolkit, email marketing stands out as a crucial strategy for engaging audiences, converting prospects into customers, and - [Marketing Trends in the Financial Industry: What Works in 2024](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/marketing-trends-in-the-financial-industry/): What are some markeitng trends currently happening in the finance industry? We explore seven of the biggest trends currently happening. - [Effective Strategies for the Modern Marketer to Generate More Leads](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/generate-more-leads/): Looking to generate more leads for your company? Here is a modenr guide any marketer can use to increase your lead flow. - [The Power of Double Engagement Emails](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/double-engagement-emails/): Using a double engagement email strategy is a great way to increase subscriber engagement and sales. Here are some tips. - [8 Canva Features that are Gamechangers for Busy Marketers](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/canva-features-that-are-gamechanges/): Canva is a wonderful tool that makes marketing easy. Here are some Canva features that are gamechangers for marketers. - [10 Industry Tips Every Busy Marketer Should Know for Success](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/industry-tips-busy-marketer/): As a busy marketer, it can be hard to keep up with industry insights, trends, and tips. Here are some to keep in mind. - [Efficient Email Marketing: Quick Tips for Marketers Juggling Multiple Tasks](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/efficient-email-marketing/): As a marketer, you're juggling tons of tasks at once, but that's no excuse to neglect email marketing. Here are some tips to stay efficient. - [What Should My 2024 Small Business Marketing Goals Be?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/2021-small-business-marketing-goals/): 2024 is here, and it's time to get your marketing goals in order. What will your small business goals be this year? - [Mastering Email Marketing Without Overwhelming Yourself: A Guide for Busy Marketers](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/mastering-email-marketing/): You have a lot on your plate and it can be overwhelming. But email marketing doesn't have to be. Here's your guide for mastering email. - [How to Make Your Social Media Efforts Compliment and Amplify Your Email Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/social-media-efforts-compliment-email-marketing/): Your email marketing and social media efforts should work together for optimal results. Here's how to get it done. - [Email Design Trends: What Catches the Subscriber's Eye in 2024?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-design-trends/): Interested in knowing what email design trends are on the horizon? We caught up with eight experts for their input. - [How to Fake it Till You Make it: The Email Marketer Edition](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/fake-it-till-you-make-it-email-marketer-edition/): It isn't easy being an email marketer. Here are some tips that will help you fake it till you make it (and no one will know). - [Navigating Email Threats: How To Keep Your Marketing Team Safe](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/navigating-email-threats/): Email attacks are becoming more advanced due to technologies like AI. Learn how to protect your marketing team with cyber-resilient measures. - [18 Essential Small Business Marketing Strategies](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/12-essential-small-business-marketing-strategies/): If you want your small business to stand out against bigger or more well-known competition, then you need these marketing strategies. - [Which Channels Make Sense for Your Marketing Strategy?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/channels-for-marketing-strategy/): For every business, it's important to focus your marketing on the right channels, which ensures you meet your audience where they are. - [Signs It's Time to Explore New Markets with Your Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/explore-new-markets/): Is your company ready to explore new markets with your marketing? Here are the telltale signs as well as the benefits. - [7 Places to Find Email Template Images](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/find-email-template-images/): Looking to spruce up your email templates with high-quality images? Here are some places to find images that will suit your needs. - [How to Create an Email Using Canva](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-create-an-email-using-canva/): Canva is a great design tool for marketers to use. You can create almost anything, including images for your email marketing campaigns. - [Email Marketing Tactics to Increase Your Hotel Bookings](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-increase-hotel-bookings/): Email marketing serves many purposes for the hospitality industry. Here's how you can use email marketing to increase hotel bookings. - [Comprehensive Guide to Email Marketing for the Manufacturing Industry](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-for-manufacturing/): Email marketing has emerged as a pivotal tool in the manufacturing sector. Here's a comprehensive guide to email marketing for manufacturing. - [Building Stronger Distributor Relationships with Targeted Email Campaigns](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/distributor-relationships-targeted-email-campaigns/): As a manufacturer, your relationship with distributors is pivotal. Here's how to use targeted email campaigns to make them stronger. - [How to Achieve Brand Consistency Across Marketing Channels](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/brand-consistency-across-marketing-channels/): Maintaining brand consistency across various marketing channels is key to building trust and engagement among audiences. - [Is It Time to Ditch Your Email Marketing Software?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/time-to-ditch-your-email-marketing-software/): How can you tell when you're email marketing software isn't right for you? Here are the signs it's time to ditch your software. - [Email Marketing Features: The Essentials vs. The Nice to Haves](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-features/): When it comes to email marketing software, choosing the one with the right features makes all the difference. - [8 Easy Ways to Impress Your Boss With Your Email Marketing Strategy](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/impress-your-boss-with-email-marketing/): Not sure how to show your boss how successful your email marketing is? Here are some ways to impress your boss and show success. - [How to Turn Your Webinar into a Blog Post: A Time-Saving Guide for Busy Marketing Managers](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/turn-your-webinar-into-a-blog-post/): A webinar is a super valuable resources for your audience. Why not turn it into a blog post? Here's how to do it. - [Beyond Opens and Clicks: Exploring the Full Spectrum of Email Metrics](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-full-spectrum-of-email-metrics/): If you want to know how well your emails are performing, you need to look at the full spectrum of email metrics. - [How to Generate Blog Topic Ideas Your Audience Cares About](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/blog-topic-ideas-your-audience-cares-about/): When crafting blog posts, you need to make sure they apply to your audience. Here's how to create topic ideas your audience craves. - [The Ultimate Guide to Boosting Engagement in Email Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/boosting-email-engagement/): Email engagement has always been important, but now, it matters even more for deliverability. Here's your guide to boosting engagement. - [Email Marketing Efficiency: Doing More with Less Time](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-efficiency/): Who has the time? Don't worry; having email marketing efficiency doesn't have to mean sacrificing quality. - [20 Skills That Make You A Proficient Digital Marketer](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/digital-marketing-skills/): Digital marketers aren't born, they're made. Here are 16 skills to sharpen that will make you a proficient digital marketer. - [Benchmark Email Experts Weigh in on Common Email Marketing Mistakes](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/benchmark-experts-common-email-mistakes/): Our own Benchmark Email experts weigh in on common email marketing mistakes we see people make. Check them out here. - [Top 4 Email Marketing Service Providers for Small Businesses in 2024 [Detailed Analysis of Features and Pricing]](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-service-providers-for-small-businesses/): Stay ahead in 2024 with the best email marketing services for small businesses. Our detailed analysis breaks down features and pricing. - [From Inbox to Income: Enhancing Sales with Email Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/enhancing-sales-with-email-marketing/): Email marketing is so effective that it can lead to some impressive sales numbers. Here's how you can enhance sales with email marketing. - [Understanding DMARC, SPF, and DKIM: Key Elements for Email Deliverability](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/understanding-dmarc-spf-and-dkim/): It's time to demystify DMARC, SPF, and DKIM and how they relate to your email deliverability so your emails can make it to the inbox. - [The Marketing Manager's Handbook to Canva: Design Made Simple](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-handbook-to-canva/): Canva is a great marketing tool for various reasons. It helps you create images, projects and more. Here's your Canva handbook. - [Harnessing the Power of Nostalgia in Email Campaigns](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/nostalgia-in-email-campaigns/): Harnessing the power of nostalgia in your email campaigns is a powerful way to reach and resonate with your audience. - [15 Email Marketing Best Practices to Bookmark](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-best-practices/): When it comes to being effective with your email marketing, there are some best practices you should follow. - [9 Tools to Check Your Email Domain Reputation and Improve Your Sender Score](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/tools-for-email-domain-reputation/): Your email domain reputation matters, especially if you plan on getting your emails to the inbox. Here are some tools to help you check it. - [Transforming Guest Experiences: Advanced Email Personalization Techniques in Hospitality](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/advanced-email-personalization-hospitality/): In the hospitality sector, utilizing personalization can go a long way and increase sales exponentially. Here are some tactics. - [Love is in the Air: Valentine's Day Email Inspirations for Marketers](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/valentines-day-email-inspirations/): Need some email ideas this Valentine's Day? Here's your guide, complete with inspirations, that will bring a little love into the inbox. - [8 Unique Retailer Marketing Tactics](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/retailer-marketing-tactics/): These eight retailer marketing tactics are unique and effective at engaging customers and increasing ROI for your brand. - [Your Email Marketing Checklist](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/get-started-with-email-marketing-checklist/): Before you get started with email marketing, there are a few things you need to get in order. Here's a checklist to help you. - [Launching Success: Email Strategies for Announcing New Products and Upgrades in Manufacturing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-strategies-new-products-upgrades-manufacturing/): Check out our blog post for email strategies the manufacturing sector can use to announce new products and upgrades. - [Maximizing Trade Show ROI: Mastering Pre-Event Promotion and Post-Event Follow-Up with Email Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/trade-show-promotion-email-marketing/): Success at trade shows come down to promotion. Email marketing can help before, during, and after your trade shows. - [Compliance and Data Security in Financial Email Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/data-security-financial-email-marketing/): When it comes to finance email marketing, keeping data secure is a top priority. Here ar some ways to ensure data security is top of mind. - [10 Factors Affecting the Retail Sector](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/factors-affecting-retail/): The retail sector is experiencing some changes that will ultimate change it forever. Here are some factors affecting retail. - [12 Issues Affecting the Manufacturing Sector](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/issues-affecting-the-manufacturing-sector/): When it comes to the manufacturing sector, there are many issues that can disrupt the flow and process. Here are twelve. - [Building Community Partnerships: Strategies for Local Retailers](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/building-community-partnerships/): For local retail businesses, building community partnerships can do wonders for their marketing efforts. Here are some strategies. - [Avoiding the Spam Folder: Email Deliverability Best Practices for Manufacturers](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-deliverability-for-manufacturers/): When it comes to email marketing, deliverability may be the most important aspect, even for the manufacturing industry. - [Crisis Management on Social Media: A Guide for Finance Companies](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/finance-crisis-management-on-social-media/): This guide outlines effective strategies for finance companies to implement crises management on social media. - [Email List Maintenance: Keeping Your Manufacturing Audience Engaged and Updated](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/manufacturing-email-list-maintenance/): Email list maintenance is one of the most important practices your manufacturing company can do. Here are some tips. - [The Benefits of User-Generated Content and Social Media Influencers in Email Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/user-generated-content-and-social-media-influencers/): Discover the benefits of user-generated content and social media influencers in email marketing. Learn eight proven strategies. - [The Dos and Don'ts of Email Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-dos-and-donts-of-a-mailing-list/): When it comes to email marketing, there is a definite list of do's and don'ts you should follow. Here are some of them. - [Building a Strong Online Presence: A Guide for Local Businesses](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/building-a-strong-online-presence/): For local businesses, building a strong online business can expand your reach and be a game-changer when it comes to sales. - [Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing for Retail Businesses: Strategies, Tools, and Customer Engagement Techniques](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-for-retail-businesses/): In the retail business, your email marketing strategy helps you move dead stock, engage with potential customers, and move your bottom line. - [Segmentation Secrets: Crafting Personalized Email Content for Different Segments in Manufacturing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/personalized-email-content-for-manufacturing-segments/): If you're in the manufacturing industry, here's how you can personalize your emails and appeal to different audience segments. - [Sales Enablement in the Financial Sector: Tools and Strategies](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/sales-enablement-financial-sector/): Sales enablement can look a little different depending on the industry. Here's what it looks like for the financial sector. - [Automating Success: How Manufacturers Can Use Email Automation to Increase Efficiency](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-manufacturers-can-use-email-automation/): Email automation can assist the manufacturing sector with reaching their key audiences and engaging them. Here are some tips for success. - [User-Generated Content on Social Media: Showcasing Customer Experiences in Retail](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/user-generated-social-media-content/): Incorporating user-generated content into your social media strategy is a great way to engage your audience. - [Crafting Compelling Newsletters: Content Ideas for Manufacturing Companies](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/newsletters-ideas-manufacturing/): For manufacturing companies, crafting compelling newsletters is no easy task. Here is a step-by-step guide to help. - [The Future of Retail: 13 Trends and Technologies Shaping the Industry](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/etail-trends-shaping-the-industry/): What's in store for the future of retail? Here are some trends and technologies making a big splash in the industry. - [6 Essentials of Inbound Lead Generation Success](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/essentials-of-inbound-lead-generation/): Take your inbound lead generation to the next level by focusing on these six essentials. Supercharge engagement and land those conversions! - [Unlocking the Power of Email Marketing: A Comprehensive Guide to Boosting ROI](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/boosting-email-marketing-roi/): When it comes to boosting email marketing ROI, you may think you've tried it all. Here are some new tactics that are sure to help. - [Crafting Stunning Emails: Master the Art of Email Design with an Email Builder](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-design-with-an-email-builder/): You don't need to know how to code to create a beatifully designed email. All you need is an email builder. - [Inventory Management Best Practices: Reducing Costs and Improving Efficiency](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/inventory-management/): As the holidays approach, it's important that your small retail business uses the best inventory management practices possible. - [Retail Sales Strategies for Peak Shopping Seasons: Black Friday and Beyond](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/retail-sales-strategies-for-peak-shopping-seasons/): Peak shopping season is upon us and your retail store needs to be ready. Here are some retail sales strategies to use this year. - [The Power of AI-Generated Email Design and How It’s Revolutionizing Email Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ai-generated-email-design/): Email is constantly changing, and a lot of these changes can be attributed to AI. Let's uncover the power of ai-generated email design. - [Hyper-Personalization: The Role of AI in Email Content](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/hyper-personalization-email-content/): If you're looking to make your email content hyper-personalized so it will resonate better with your audience, look no further than AI. - [Holiday Email Marketing: Strategies for Maximizing Seasonal Sales](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/holiday-email-marketing-strategies/): This holiday season, be ready to increase sales and ROI with these effective holiday email marketing strategies. - [Navigating Digital Marketing Trends: Strategies for Small Businesses](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/digital-marketing-small-businesses/): Navigating and staying abreast of digital marketing trends can be difficult, especially for small businesses. - [Clickbait Email Subject Lines and Emojis: Balancing Attention-Grabbing Tactics and Subscriber Trust](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/clickbait-email-subject-lines/): It may be tempting, but using clickbait email subject lines isn't wise and it won't win you the trust of your subscribers. - [The Average Workflow Journey for a New Email Subscriber](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/new-subscriber-workflow-journey/): For a new email subscriber, their workflow journey looks very specific. Here's an outline of what it looks like and how to nurture them. - [42 Best Sales Prospecting Tools for Sales Teams in 2023](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/42-best-sales-prospecting-tools/): Make sure your sales efforts for 2023 are off to a great start. Here are 42 of the best sales prospecting tools. - [Top Sales Team Roles You Need for Team Success](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/top-sales-team-roles/): Looking to recruit a top-tier sales team? Here are the key roles you’ll need to fill and the best ways to recruit for them. - [New Gmail and Yahoo Spam Prevention Requirements and How Email Marketers Can Prepare](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/spam-prevention-requirements/): Is your team prepared for what the new Gmail and Yahoo spam prevention requirements will mean for your email marketing? - [10 AI Prompts to Help You Generate Newsletter Content](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ai-prompts-newsletter-content/): Need some help with your newsletter content? Here are some AI prompts to use that will help you avoid writer's block. - [10 Tips for Creating a Newsletter Content Strategy](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/newsletter-content-strategy/): Use these tips to develop a newsletter content strategy that will boost your engagement rates with your newsletter subscribers. - [Omnichannel Retail: Creating a Seamless Shopping Journey for Modern Consumers](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/omnichannel-retail/): Creating a seamless marketing experience for your customers is what omnichannel retail is all about. Here's how to do it. - [Striking a Balance: Personalized Email Content vs. Privacy Concerns](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/personalized-email-content-vs-privacy/): How do you strike a balance between personalized email content and respecting and abiding by privacy concerns? - [What is Geotargeting (And How to Use it Efficiently)](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/geotargeting/): What is geotargeting, exactly, and how can it benefit business results? Read on to find out, as well as some tips to use it in marketing. - [The Evolution of the Email Newsletter](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-evolution-of-the-email-newsletter/): The email newsletter has come a long way. Let's track its evolution to see how it got to where it is and where it might be in the near future. - [Ditch the Office: Why Your Business Should Stick with Remote Work](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/why-your-business-should-stick-with-remote-work/): Thinking about moving your small business back to the office? Here's why you should stick to with a remote work model. - [Get Ready to Spook Up Your Inbox with Benchmark Email's Frighteningly Fun Halloween Email Templates!](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/frighteningly-fun-halloween-email-templates/): Looking to share a little spookiness this Halloween? Download our free Halloween email templates or sign up for a free account. - [No Website, No Problem: How Creators Can Use Social Media to Grow Their Email Lists](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/creators-use-social-media-to-grow-email-lists/): The creator economy is real. Here's how creators and influencers can use their social media presence to build their email list. - [Winning at eCommerce: Strategies for Small Online Retailers](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ecommerce-strategies-small-online-retailers/): For small online retailers, things can feel like an uphill battle. Here are some eCommerce strategies that are bulletproof. - [Overcoming Common Re-Engagement Campaign Challenges](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/re-engagement-campaign-challenges/): Creating effective re-engagement campaigns can be daunting. Here are some strategies for overcoming common challenges. - [7 Digital Branding Tips for Your SMB](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/7-digital-branding-tips-for-your-smb/): Your SMB's brand is one of its most important assets. Here are some digital branding tips that will ensure you stand out from the rest. - [Email Marketing vs. Social Media: Which is More Effective?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-vs-social-media/): When it comes to email marketing vs. social media, which is the more effective marketing strategy to focus on? - [The Benefits of Using an Email Editor for Your Campaigns](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-editor/): Having access to an email editor has numerous benefits for your email campaigns and your overall email marketing strategy. - [From Prospects to Customers: How to Design a Winning Sales Funnel with Automated Email Sequences](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/sales-funnel-automated-email-sequences/): Your email marketing strategy is only as good as your sales funnel. Here's how to design a sales funnel using automated email sequences. - [How to Learn Email Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-learn-email-marketing/): If you aren't sure how to learn email marketing, but know now's your time to figure it out, then look no further. - [The Evolution of Email Marketing: From Plain Text to Interactive Experiences](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-evolution-of-email-marketing/): Email marketing has come a long way, and still has a long way to go. Here we examine the evolution of email marketing. - [Adapting to Change: Marketing Strategies for Times of Uncertainty](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/marketing-strategies-times-of-uncertainty/): For small businesses, times of uncertainty can make or break them. Here are some marketing strategies to help weather the storms. - [The Ethics of Email Monetization](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-monetization/): Email monetization is an effective strategy for increasing your bottom line and seeing more revenue. But, is it ethical? - [Is Your Email Marketing Successful?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/are-your-emails-successful/): Do you know if people are actually reading your emails? Successful email marketing comes down to tracking a few metrics. - [Consumer Privacy and Its Impact on Personalized Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/consumer-privacy-and-personalized-marketing/): Consumer privacy is a constant concern and it can cause issues for your personalized marketing tactics. Here's how one impacts the other. - [What Is Email Personalization and Why Is it So Powerful?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/personalization/): We all know that email marketing is an effective strategy. But a lot of that credit is due to personalization. - [Marketing Ideas for Healthcare Companies](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/marketing-ideas-for-healthcare/): The healthcare industry has its work cut out for it when it comes to marketing. Here are some ideas and tips. - [Email Marketing Strategies for Different Segments of the Financial Services Industry](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-strategies-financial-industry/): The financial services industry has various different kinds audiences. Here are some email marketing strategies that work for each segment. - [Know the Truth About Your Workplace with Employee Engagement Surveys](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/employee-engagement-surveys/): Employee engagement surveys allow you to tap into exactly just how happy and content your employees are. Here's how to use them. - [Measuring Marketing ROI: Metrics and Tools for Success](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/measuring-marketing-roi/): When it comes to measuring marketing ROI, you need the right tools and strategy to ensure success. Here are some tips. - [Email Marketing Templates: Your Cheat Sheet to Success](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-templates/): Email marketing templates are your best friend and number one go-to when it comes to sending high quality emails quickly. - [Paid and Organic Ads: How To Combine the Best of Both Worlds](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/paid-and-organic-ads/): Combine paid and organic ads for the ultimate lead generation machine and to build your email list effectively. - [How to Maintain a High-Quality Email List](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/maintain-a-high-quality-email-list/): Your email list is arguably the most important asset for your marketing strategy. Here's how to maintain a high-quality email list. - [Data-Driven Marketing: Leveraging Analytics to Make Informed Decisions](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/data-driven-marketing-2/): Data is crucial for marketing success. It allows you to create strategies based on facts. Here's how to use a data-driven marketing strategy. - [How to Use Email Autoresponders to Improve Customer Relationships](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-autoresponders-improve-customer-relationships/): Email autoresponders make your life easier, improve customer relationships, and ensure you providing top-notch customer support. - [Unlocking User Insights: How Benchmark Email Leverages AI-Powered Research with Outset.ai](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-benchmark-email-leverages-outset-ai/): Benchmark Email uses Outset.ai to unlock user insights that ultimately help us improve our products and our services. - [Ideal Customer Profiles: What Are They and How They're Different Than Buyer Personas](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ideal-customer-profiles/): What are ideal customer profiles and how are they different from customer personas? We dive into it all in our blog post. - [4 Tips to Successfully A/B Test Your Social Media Strategy](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/a-b-test-your-social-media-strategy/): If you want to use social media to its full effect, you'll need to A/B test your social media marketing strategy. Here are some tips. - [CTAs and Sign-offs: Effective Ways to End Your Emails](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/effective-ways-to-end-your-emails/): If you ever get stumped on how to end your emails, here are some effective sign offs and CTAs you can use that are sure to work. - [The Importance of Constantly Upskilling Your Marketing Team](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/upskilling-your-marketing-team/): Making sure your team is as skilled as possible is crucial. Here are some benefits to constantly upskilling your marketing team. - [7 Alternatives to Constant Contact](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/alternatives-to-constant-contact/): When looking for an email marketing solution, it's important to know your options. Here are some alternatives to Constant Contact. - [Empowering Nonprofits: 25 Tools for Nonprofit Growth](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/tools-for-nonprofit-growth/): If you're looking to grow your nonprofit, you needx to make sure your toolkit is stacked. Here are some nonprofit tools to look into. - [8 Ways Agencies Can Streamline Sales During a Recession](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/agencies-streamline-sales-recession/): Wondering how to weather the storm when a recession hits? Here are research-backed ways agencies can effectively streamline sales processes. - [How to Create an Email Autoresponder (Without Alienating Potential Customers)](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-create-an-email-autoresponder/): An email autoresponder is a well-proven solution for email drip campaigns. Here are some benefits and examples of email autoresponders. - [How to Build an Effective Email Drip Campaign](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-build-an-effective-email-drip-campaign/): There's a lot that goes into an effective email drip campaign. In this blog post, we share their benefits and how to build them successfully. - [10+ Sizzling Summer Newsletter Ideas to Keep Your Audience Cool and Engaged](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/summer-newsletter-ideas/): Let's explore some sizzling summer newsletter ideas to help you stand out in crowded inboxes and spark a connection with your subscribers. - [How to 'Jazz Up' Your Email Capture Forms (And Secure High-Quality Leads)](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-capture-forms/): Your email capture forms play a big role in making sure you secure high-quality leads. Here are some tips for jazzing up your forms. - [Your Step-by-Step Guide for Creating an HTML Email](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-create-an-html-email/): Interested in learning about how to create an HTML email? Here's your step-by-step guide using Benchmark Email. - [30 Best Blogging Tools to Skyrocket Your Blog](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/30-best-blogging-tools-to-skyrocket-your-blog-in-2023/): Driving results from blogging means using the right set of tools. Here are essential blogging tools to help you manage, write, and rank. - [The Psychology of Email Marketing: Understanding How Human Behavior Impacts Email Campaigns](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-psychology-of-email-marketing/): There's a psychology behind email marketing, and understanding human behavior is key to successful email campaigns. - [Get Your Fourth of July Email Templates and Make a BANG!](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/fourth-of-july-email-templates/): Use our free HTML Fourth of July email templates to send special offers and promotions to your audience and commemorate the holiday. - [Will Minimalistic Email Marketing Work for You?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/minimalistic-email-marketing/): What is minimalistic email marketing? Read on to find out and to determine if it will work for you and your brand. - [What Are You Waiting For? 8 Common Reasons Marketers Neglect Email Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/reasons-marketers-neglect-email-marketing/): Do you keep putting off email marketing? Here are some common reasons marketers put it off and why they shouldn't. - [ChatGPT: Marketer's Friend or Foe?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/chatgpt-marketers-friend-or-foe/): There's been a lot of discussion around ChatGPT and if it's good for marketers or bad. Let's take a look to determine it once and for all. - [Is Your Email Design Affecting Your Deliverability? How to Optimize Your Emails for Success](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-design-deliverability/): When it comes to your email design, there are things you could be doing that are negatively affecting deliverability. - [8 Things You Must Include in Your 2023 Marketing Agenda](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/marketing-agenda/): A good marketing agenda can help you plan your marketing strategies and tactics so that you can better meet any set goals. - [How to Build Your Email List Using a Lead Magnet](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-build-your-email-list-using-a-lead-magnet/): Your email list is super important, and building it is even more important. Here's how to grow your email list using a lead magnet. - [How to Create Powerful Outbound Email Content/Sequences Using AI Content Tools](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/create-outbound-email-content-using-ai-content-tools/): Learn how to use AI content tools to create engaging, powerful outbound email sequences. Discover the tips to reach your desired audience. - [Types of Content That Will Re-Energize Your 2023 Strategy](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/types-of-content-that-will-re-energize-your-strategy/): There is various kinds of content you should be focusing on this year, and here are some examples that will re-energize your strategy. - [Automatic Welcome Emails Playbook: How to Automate Your Welcome Emails Using Benchmark Email](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/automatic-welcome-emails/): Automatic welcome emails are a way to welcome your new subscribers without missing a beat. Here's how to set them up using Benchmark Email. - [Addressing the Challenges of Email Marketing for Small Businesses: Cost-Effective Strategies for Success](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/challenges-of-email-marketing-for-small-businesses/): Small businesses face unique challenges when it comes to implementing an email marketing strategy. Here are some. - [The Ethics of Email Marketing: Navigating the Line Between Promotional and Intrusive](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ethics-of-email-marketing/): The line between being promotional and intrusive is a fine one. It's important to follow an email marketing code of ethics for success. - [The Future of Email Marketing: Trends and Predictions for the Years to Come](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-future-of-email-marketing/): What's in store for the future of email marketing? Here are some trends and predictions for the years to come. - [How to Reward Employees Without Breaking the Bank](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-reward-employees/): If your small business is trying to say mindful of your budget, here are great ways to reward your employees without spending tons of money. - [7 Must-Have Qualities of a Stellar Customer Service Rep](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/qualities-customer-service-rep/): Your customer service team needs to be comprised of rock stars so you can keep customers happ. Here are qualities every rep should have. - [Internal Linking Tree: What is it, Why You Need One, and How to Create It](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/internal-linking-tree/): To ensure you're internal linking strategy is on point, consider putting together an internal linking tree. - [How ChatGPT Can Help Marketers Drive Revenue for Their Business](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/use-chatgpt-to-drive-revenue/): ChatGPT, when paired with a thought-out strategy, can help marketers create efficiencies and drive revenue for their businesses. - [Before You Hire an SEO Company, Try These 16 DIY Tips](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/hire-seo-company/): You don't have to pay and arm and a leg to outsource your SEO strategy. We have some DIY tips that will keep your SEO in-house. - [The Impact of eCommerce on Traditional Retail](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/impact-of-ecommerce-on-traditional-retail/): With eCommerce comes tons of benefits and effeciencies. But how exactly is eCommerce impacting traditional retail? - [6 CTAs That Will Get Your Audience to Forward Your Email](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ctas-that-get-your-emails-forwarded/): When you get your emails forwarded, you're able to extend your reach and audience. Here are some CTAs taht will help you achieve that. - [How to Create Top-Notch Product Images for Your eCommerce Store](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-create-ecommerce-product-images/): Your eCommerce online store needs top-notch product images in order to adequately entice customers to purchase your products. - [How to Prioritize SEO in Your Content Creation Process](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/prioritize-seo-in-your-content-creation/): Your SEO strategy should begin at content creation. Here's how to ensure every piece of content you create starts with SEO in mind. - [10 Fast and Simple Email Marketing Tips For The Finance Professional](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-tips-for-the-finance-professional/): Attention finance professionals! Here are some simple email marketing tips that will help you connect with your audience. - [How Your eCommerce Business Can Become More Sustainable](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ecommerce-business-sustainable/): If you're looking for some sustainable practices for your eCommerce store, here are some great tips to keep in mind. - [The Future of Fundraising for Nonprofits](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/future-of-non-profit-fundraising/): The future of nonprofit fundraising lies in technology and various different ways these brands can raise money. - [The Rise of Voice-Based Email Marketing: Opportunities and Challenges for Brands](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/voice-based-email-marketing/): What is voice-based email marketing? What are some of the opportunities it presents and challenges for brands. - [The Rise of Social Commerce](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/social-commerce/): Is your eCommerce store utilizng social media to increase sales? In this blog post we dive into social commerce and what it means. - [89 Winning Email Subject Lines Online Retailers Can Take Inspiration From](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/winning-email-subject-lines-for-online-retailers/): Looking for some email subject line inspiration? Here are 89 email subject line examples online retailers can take inspiration from. - [The Future of eCommerce Logistics](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-future-of-ecommerce-logistics/): What does the future hold for the eCommerce logistics? You'll be surprised at the developments happening and how they impact the industry. - [The Role Technology Plays in Nonprofit Work](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/technology-and-nonprofit-work/): You may not necessarily think of technology when you think of the nonprofit sector. But tech plays a huge role in the future of nonprofits. - [Generating Email Campaigns Using Benchmark Email's Smart Content](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-campaigns-using-benchmark-emails-smart-content/): Curious as to how to create email campaigns using Benchmark Email's Smart Content? Look no further! We'll walk you through our amazing tool. - [Google’s Emphasis on E-A-T: How Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness Can Help Your Content Soar](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/googles-emphasis-on-e-a-t/): Google's emphasis on EAT is all about expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. Here's what it means for your content marketing. - [How to Create a Birthday Email Campaign Using Benchmark Email](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-create-a-birthday-email-campaign/): A birthday email campaign is a great way to personalize your outreach and treat your subscribers to something special. - [8 Must-Have Elements For A Valuable eBook](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/elements-for-a-valuable-ebook/): When putting together a valuable eBook, there are crucial elements to include. Here are the 8 must-have elements for your eBook. - [How to Hand Off Marketing-Generated Leads to Your Sales Team](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-hand-off-leads/): Your sales teams need to be prepared when they receive new leads. Here's how to hand off marketing-generated leads to sales. - [How to Use Visuals to Increase Your Newsletter Open Rates](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/visuals-increase-newsletter-open-rates/): Want to increase the open rate of your email newsletters? Using visuals can be a great way to engage your subscribers and get more opens. - [How to Create Your Shopify Store](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-create-your-shopify-store/): As an eCommerce business, having a Shopify store can create tons of opportunity for you and your sales. Here's how to create one. - [What is Local SEO And How to do it Right For Your Retail Business](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/local-seo/): You've heard the term before but what exactly is local SEO? In this blog post, we dive into it and why your business needs it. - [14 Small Business Inbound Marketing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/b2b-inbound-marketing-mistakes/): If your conversions are low or you're not generating enough leads you could be making some of these inbound marketing mistakes. - [Is Everyone Going Dark? What You Need to Know About Dark Mode](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/what-you-need-to-know-about-dark-mode/): Are you up to speed on dark mode and what it means for your email marketing? Here are some things you need to know to be prepared. - [9 Effective Ways Your Small Business Can Compete Against Larger Brands](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ways-small-business-ccompete-against-larger-brands/): As a small business, competing against larger brands is almost impossible. But here are strategies that will put you up against the big dogs. - [How to Track Email Traffic Using UTM Tracking](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-track-email-traffic-using-utm-tracking/): Tracking email traffic is not as easy as you'd think. Here's how to use UTM tracking to track your email marketing efforts. - [The Small Business Guide to Surviving and Thriving During a Recession](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/small-business-guide-to-surviving-a-recession/): A recession is a scary reality for a small business. Here's your small business guide to not only surving a recession, but thriving. - [The Best Mailchimp Alternatives for Email Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/best-mailchimp-alternatives/): Mailchimp isn't the only email marketing solution out there, and it may not be what you need. Here are the best alternatives to Mailchimp. - [ChatGPT Prompts For eCommerce That Help You Work Smarter, Not Harder](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/chatgpt-prompts-ecommerce/): eCommerce moves fast enough, but with AI content generating tools, you can keep up. Here's how to use ChatGPT promps for eCommerce marketing. - [5 Newsletter Templates Ideas That Will Help You Increase Conversions](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/newsletter-templates-ideas/): Newsletters are a fantastic way to grow your followers, conversions, and revenue. Here are some newsletter template ideas. - [Using ChatGPT Prompts to Improve Email Marketing Results](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/chatgpt-email-marketing/): Using AI-generated content isn't just great for your blog posts, it's great for email marketing, too. Here's how to use ChatGPT for email. - [7 Unique Ways to Use Benchmark Email](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/unique-ways-to-use-benchmark-email/): Benchmark Email is full of features that will elevate your email marketing. Let’s take a look at the unique ways to use Benchmark Email. - [How SEO Plays a Part in Each of Your Marketing Channels](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/5-marketing-channels-that-need-to-be-included-in-your-seo-strategy/): SEO doesn't just touch your content marketing. Here is how SEO plays a part in each of your marketing channels. - [The Beginner's Guide to Writing Your First Email Newsletter](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/beginners-guide-email-newsletter/): Not sure where to start when writing your first email newsletter? No worries, we've got you covered with this beginner's guide. - [The Most Impactful Features Your Email Marketing Software Needs](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/most-impactful-email-marketing-software-features/): When it comes to your email marketing software, features are essential. Here are seven of the most impactful features your software needs. - [Where Are Your Leads Coming From? Breaking Down Lead Sources](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/breaking-down-lead-sources/): It's important to know where your leads are coming from. Check out our blog post where we break down lead sources. - [How To Write an Email In 10 Minutes](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-write-an-email-in-10-minutes/): You don't need to labor over your email creation process. Here's how to put together an email in 10 minutes using Benchmark Email. - [7 Tips to Create a CTA That Really Converts](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/cta-tips/): Check out these CTA tips that will ensure every CTA you create converts site visitors into new leads and/or customers. - [8 Simon Sinek Quotes That Will Change The Way You Do Business](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/simon-sinek-quotes-will-change-your-business/): Here are a few Simon Sinek quotes that will inspire you to innovate, improve and change your business to achieve better results. - [How To Use Popups To Get Quality Leads](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-use-popups-to-get-quality-leads/): Issues generating leads from your website? Complete with examples, here are eight ways to use popups to get quality leads. - [How Often is Too Often for School Communicators to Send Emails?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-often-is-too-often-for-school-communicators-to-send-emails/): With BenchmarkONE's K12 Edition, school communicators can send emails and keep important contacts up to date with ease. - [Using a CRM to Measure Client Relationships](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/crm-client-relationships/): A CRM can help you measure client relationships at every stage of the buyer's journey, including sales, marketing, and operations. - [5 Things Your Marketing Campaign Could Be Missing if Engagement is Low](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/marketing-campaign-engagement/): Not seeing as much engagement as you hoped in your marketing campaign? Here are a few things it could be missing. - [Why Transparency Matters and How Not To Be Afraid Of It](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/why-transparency-matters-and-how-not-to-be-afraid-of-it/): When it comes to your content marketing and overall marketing strategy, showing transparency shouldn't be something to be afraid of. - [Something’s Not Right: How to Detect a Problem With Your Agency and Fix It](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-detect-a-problem-with-your-agency/): Uh oh. Something's off at your agency, but you aren't quite sure what it is. Here's how to detect a problem at your agency (and fix it). - [How To Create a Sustainable Instagram Content Strategy](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/instagram-content-strategy/): Instagram is an important platform for branding and connecting with your audience. Here's how to put together an Instagram content strategy. - [How and Why You Should Build Your Partnerships](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-and-why-you-should-build-partnerships/): Brand partnerships are essential for reaching a larger audience and growing your brand. Here are some tips to help you build partnerships. - [8 SEO Strategies for Driving Traffic to Your Website (with Examples)](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/seo-strategies-for-driving-traffic-to-your-website/): These eight SEO strategies are sure to get you more site traffic. Check them out, along with examples, and start driving traffic asap! - [6 Tips for Increasing Engagement With Your K12 Newsletter](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/increasing-engagement-k12-newsletter/): Increasing newsletter engagement is easier said than done. For K12 communicators, it can seem almost impossible. - [7 Unique Social Media Ideas to Engage Your Audience](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/social-media-ideas-to-engage-your-audience/): When it comes to social media, it can seem like there are no unique ideas left. Here are some ideas that you probably haven't tried yet. - [3 Ways Customer Surveys Can Improve Your Business](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/improve-business-with-customer-surveys/): Customer surveys can improve various areas within your buiness. Read our blog post to discover which areas and how. - [Why You Should Do a Content Refresh Right Now](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/content-refresh/): Refreshing your content is great for your SEO and can help you better engage your audience. Here's how to do a content refresh. - [Everything You Need to Know about Internal Link Building](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/everything-you-need-to-know-about-internal-link-building/): Building internal links is great for your SEO and it helps create a path between similar content you're publishing. - [5 Ways a CRM Can Improve the Customer Experience](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/crm-improve-customer-experience/): A CRM lets you keep track of your users and ensure you're providing them with the exact service they need for a great customer experience. - [5 Marketing Strategies to Help Grow Your Agency Retainer Business](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/grow-agency-retainer-business/): Growing your agency retainer business means you can have more reliable income. Here are five marketing strategies to help achieve that. - [5 Video Marketing Trends for 2023 and How Small Businesses Can Use Them](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/5-video-marketing-trends-for-2023-and-how-small-businesses-can-use-them/): These five video marketing trends are taking the industry by storm. Make sure your small business is aware and using them. - [6 Tips for Generating and Converting More Leads This Year](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/generating-and-converting-more-leads-this-year/): These six tips will ensure you're not only generating more leads this year, but you're converting them into customers, too. - [8 Common Social Media Marketing Mistakes to Steer Clear of This 2022](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/social-media-marketing-mistakes/): Any mistake in business isn't good. But these eight social media marketing mistakes are common, so make sure you avoid them. - [The 6 Most Common Things That Kill an Agency](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/things-that-kill-an-agency/): Not every agency survives. But if you avoid these six common things that kill an agency, your agency is sure to. - [B2B Company? Here’s 3 Reasons You Need Marketing Automation](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/b2b-marketing-automation/): If you're running a B2B company, here are some ways you could use marketing automation to take your company to the next level. - [9 Ways to Prepare for Hosting a Webinar](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/hosting-a-webinar/): There's a lot to plan for when hosting a webinar. Here are nine ways to ensure you're fully prepared and that it goes off without a hitch. - [How to Drive Engagement and Conversions Through Content Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-drive-engagement-and-conversions-through-content-marketing/): Your content marketing should do more than share tips. It should engage your audience and assist in converting them into leads and customers. - [The Basics of Setting Up an Effective Facebook Business Page](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/facebook-business-page/): Your small business should be utitlizing Facebook as much as possible. Here's how to put together a Facebook Business Page. - [How to Ask for Customer Referrals (and Actually Get Them)](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-get-customer-referrals/): Customer referrals are like word of mouth marketing on steriods. Here's how to ask for more of them and actually get them. - [11 Tips and Examples for Bringing New Life to Your Newsletter Emails](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/better-newsletter-emails/): Bored with your newsletter emails? Here are 11 tips that will help you breathe new life into your newsletters. - [The School Communicator’s Guide to an Email Marketing Strategy](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/school-communicators-guide-to-email-marketing/): School communicators are busy, they don't have time to learn email marketing. But our simple guide will get them up to speed. - [5 Ways To Generate B2B Leads With LinkedIn](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/5-ways-to-generate-b2b-leads-with-linkedin/): Are you using LinkedIn to its fullest potential? Check out our tips for using LinkedIn to generate B2B leads. - [How Marketing Automation Can Improve Marketing Productivity](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/marketing-automation-improve-marketing-productivity/): Marketing automation tools can do wonders for your productivity. Here's how to use marketing automation to get more done. - [Top Customer Experience Software for Small Business](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/customer-experience-software-for-small-business/): Improving the customer experience is crucial for retention and your bottom line. Here are the top customer experience software. - [6 Underutilized Instagram Features for Small Businesses](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/underutilized-instagram-features/): Instagram can do a lot for small businesses, if you use it right. Here are six underutilized Instagram features for small business. - [How are Chatbots Impacting the Customer Experience?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/chatbots-impacting-customer-experience/): Chatbots may seem like an impersonal way to connect with your customers. But using them can actually improve the customer experience. - [How Instagram is Changing and What it Means for Your Small Business](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-instagram-is-changing/): Instagram is changing and it's changing quickly. Here are the things you need to know so you can use Instagram to your advantage. - [The Company Culture Guide for Your Remote Business](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/remote-business-company-culture-guide/): Your remote business may feel like it's losing its company culture. But remote work is the future, so here are some tips for getting it back. - [Get More Hours In Your Day: How Marketing Automation Turns Back Time](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-marketing-automation-saves-time/): Ever wish you could turn back time and get more hours in your day? Marketing automation can help you save tons of time. - [Why Should You Be Using a Marketing Automation Tool? BenchmarkONE Users Weigh In.](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/why-should-you-be-using-a-marketing-automation-tool/): Need some reasons for why you should be using a marketing automation tool? Just take a note from our BenchmarkONE users. - [Deliver Your Message To Your Target Audience On Multiple Platforms Using Marketing Automation](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/deliver-your-message-to-your-target-audience-on-multiple-platforms-using-marketing-automation/): Using marketing automation can ensure your brand message stays consistent on multiple platforms. Here's how. - [The Basics of Small Business Branding](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/small-business-branding/): Branding is one of the most important components of starting a small business. Here are the basics of branding. - [6 Tips to Get Your Small Business Through a Recession](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/tips-to-get-your-small-business-through-a-recession/): A recession can be extremely scary for a small business. Here are some top tips for ensuring your small business gets through it. - [Why a Collaborative Worker is Your Most Valuable Agency Asset](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/collaborative-worker-agency-asset/): An agency is only as good as its employees. Here's why a collaborative worker is the most valuable agency asset. - [5 Email Marketing Strategies You Can Use For Your Agency’s Clients Right Now](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/agency-email-marketing/): These email marketing strategies are smart and effective. Take note and make sure and use them with your agency clients. - [How Marketing Automation Can Increase and Benefits Sales](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/5-ways-marketing-automation-increase-sales/): Could your sales use a little help? With marketing automation, your marketing and sales efforts will be taken to the next level. - [How to Recession-Proof Your Agency](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/recession-proof-agency/): There's continuous talks of a recession being right around the corner. Is your agency prepared? Here's how to recession-proof. - [How to Create Team Goals that are Measurable](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-create-team-goals-that-are-measurable/): Creating goals for your small business to achieve is just part of a growing business. But here's how to make sure they're measureable. - [The Why, How, and What Behind Social Media Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/social-media-marketing/): In this blog post we dissect social media marketing and break down social channels and the type of content you should be publishing on each. - [Email Marketing Software Comparison: A 2022 Recap](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-software-comparison/): 2022 was a great year for email marketing. Let's do a comparison of the top email marketing software from last year. - [The 5 Biggest Challenges of Turning a Lead Into a Customer and How to Overcome Them](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/turning-a-lead-into-a-customer-challenges/): There are a lot of challenges that come with turning a lead into a customer. But we've addressed them and how to overcome them. - [How to Do A/B Testing and Why You Should](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/a-b-testing/): Let's discuss why a/b testing is so important for your email marketing, and various ways you can use it in your strategy. - [What Is a Good Email Marketing Open Rate?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-open-rate/): What is a good email open rate and what isn't? We dive into this with examples from our industry benchmarks report. - [What is an Acquisition Email and Why You're Under-Utilizing It](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/acquisition-email/): Have you ever heard of an acquisition email? It's all about using email marketing to gather new customers, and here's why it works. - [How to Build an eCommerce Marketing Strategy](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ecommerce-marketing-strategy/): Every eCommerce business needs a marketing strategy to ensure their goals are being met and they're staying competitive. - [7 Components of an Effective Email Header](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-header/): Your email header is the first thing your email recipients see when they open your emails. Here are 7 components of an effective email header. - [AI- Generated Content: A Marketer's Dream](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ai-generated-content/): Unless you live under a rock, you've probably heard of AI-generated content. But are you using it to your full advantage? - [Top-of-the-Funnel Content Breakdown](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/top-of-the-funnel-content-breakdown/): Content at the top-of-the-funnel is geared towards brand awareness and should let your audience know what you're all about. - [5 Ethical Ways to Get More Backlinks](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/5-ethical-ways-to-get-more-backlinks/): When it comes to acquiring more backlinks for your website, it can seem like most of the practices are shady. But that's not true. - [How to Make Sure Your Content Is Optimized For Voice Search](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-optimize-your-content-for-search/): Voice search is becoming a more and more popular way to find what you need. But is your business prepared to take advantage? - [What is Technical SEO and Why Your Site Needs It](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/what-is-technical-seo/): You've heard of SEO, but have you heard of technical SEO and what it means for your company's site? Read on to learn more. - [How to Put Together an Editorial Calendar: A Step-by-Step Guide](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-put-together-an-editorial-calendar/): An editorial calendar ensures you're consistently publishing high-quality content that your audience craves. Here's how to create one. - [Don’t Let the Sun Set On Your Emails: Create A Sunset Policy.](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/create-a-sunset-policy/): A sunset policy ensures you're not actively emailing unenagaged email addresses, which can negatively affect your deliverability. - [How to Build an Effective Sales Team](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-build-an-effective-sales-team/): Your sales team helps keep your business running. And building an effective one is of the upmost of importance. - [10 Blog Metrics You Should be Using to Track Success](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/blog-metrics-to-track-success/): How do you know if your blog is doing your company any good? You need metrics to keep it on track. Here are 10 blog metrics to track success. - [4 Deadly Small Business Mistakes You Must Avoid](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/small-business-mistakes/): Your small business is your livelihood. Ensuring it is successful means staying away from these four deadly mistakes. - [8 Ways to Reuse Old Blog Posts](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/8-ways-to-reuse-old-blog-posts/): Your old blog posts may have been published already, but there are other ways you can use them to get the most out of them. - [4 Common Small Business Problems and How to Solve Them](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/common-small-business-problems/): When your small business hits a snag, it can feel like the end is near. Here are some common small business problems, and solutions. - [Inbound Marketing 101: Part One – What Is It?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/inbound-marketing-what-is-it/): Looking for an introduction to inbound marketing? Look no further! We cover the basics, results, and even some examples. - [Inbound Marketing 101: Part Two – How to Implement It](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/inbound-marketing-how-to-implement-it/): Part two of our inbound marketing series covers specific ways to put an inbound strategy in place. No steps are skipped here. - [Inbound Marketing 101: Part Three – The Tools You Need](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/inbound-marketing-the-tools-you-need/): For part three of our inbound marketing series, we cover the tools you need to pull everything off, including social media and email. - [5 Tips For Successful Sales Forecasting](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/tips-for-successful-sales-forecasting/): Every business would flounder without a steady stream of sales. Use our tips for successful sales forecasting to keep sales coming in. - [8 Ways to Provide Your Clients With More Value](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ways-to-provide-your-clients-with-more-value/): Become the go-to resource for your clients. Here are eight essential ways to provide clients with more value. - [5 Key Stages of Market Research](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/key-stages-of-market-research/): Market research helps ensure your business stays competitive and desireable in the market. Here are the key stages of market research. - [Tips for an Effective Brainstorming Session](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/tips-for-an-effective-brainstorming-session/): Brainstorms have to be productive, otherwise they're a waste of time. Here are some tips for an effective brainstorming session. - [Middle-of-the-Funnel Content Breakdown](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/middle-of-the-funnel-content-breakdown/): For those middle-of-the-funnel leads, here is the type of content you should be creating, sharing, and using. - [Bottom-of-the-Funnel Content Breakdown](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/bottom-of-the-funnel-content-breakdown/): For those bottom-of-the-funnel leads, here's the type of content you should be creating, sharing and using in your campaigns. - [How to Become a Guest-Contributor](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-become-a-guest-contributor/): Writing guest content boosts your thought leadership and is a big part of your content marketing. Here's how to become a guest-contributor. - [Product Life Cycle Stages](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/product-life-cycle-stages/): If you're working on a product rollout, it's important to identify and understand the entire product life cycle. - [How to Run Your Blog Like an Industry Publication](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-run-your-blog-like-an-industry-publication/): Having a blog is essential. But having a blog that's an industry go-to is even more important for your thought leadership and branding. - [Why Your Sales Team Should Invest in Building a Personal Brand](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/building-a-personal-brand/): When sales reps work toward building a personal brand, they're able to create a network and following that can help them do their job better. - [Are You Using the Right Content for Lead Generation?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-right-content-for-lead-generation/): Generating leads keeps every business's inbound funnel flowing smoothly. But are you using the right content for lead generation? - [What Matters More, Inbound or Outbound Sales?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/what-matters-more-inbound-or-outbound-sales/): When it comes to selling, there's an inbound and an outbound approach. For an effective sales strategy, which matters more? - [The Ultimate Guide to Outlining Your Small Business Marketing Budget](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/small-business-marketing-budget-2/): Outlining your small business marketing budget isn't always fun, but it's a must. Check out our guide for outling your budget. - [3 Types of Content People Want to Consume](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/types-of-content-people-want-to-consume/): It's never smart to just create content for the sake of it. Instead, focus on creating the types of content people actually want to consume. - [How to Write Instagram Captions That Shine](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-write-instagram-captions/): When it comes to Instagram, you may think it's all about the images you share. But your captions matter. Here are some caption tips. - [What Dynamic Content Can Do for Your Email Marketing Strategy](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/dynamic-content-email-marketing-strategy/): Let's take a deep dive into dynamic content, how it creates a personalized user experience, and how to use it in your marketing. - [How to Create a Company Blog That’s A Go-To Resource](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/company-blog-go-to-resource/): Your blog is a great resource for your customers, prospects, and internal team. Here's how to ensure it's a go-to resource for all. - [How Content Leads to Brand Awareness](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/content-brand-awareness/): You know you want more brand awareness, but how do you get it? We've outlined how content can lead to more brand awareness. - [7 Writing Tips for Non-Writers](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/writing-tips-for-non-writers/): If you're a marketer, chances are you're doing 10 different jobs. One of them, is undoubtedly "writer." Here are writing tips you can use. - [How to Use Content In Your Recruitment Strategy](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/content-recruitment-strategy/): Content can be used in various efforts within your company, including your recruitment efforts. Here's how to create content for recruitment. - [How to Prioritize Email Newsletters and Send Them Consistently](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/prioritize-email-newsletters/): You know you should be sending an email newsletter, but you're finding it hard to prioritize it. Then this blog post is for you. - [Client Retention vs. Customer Acquisition: Which Should You Focus On More?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/client-retention-vs-customer-acquisition/): What matters more? Getting new customers or keeping the ones you already have? customer acquisition is important, but so is client retention. - [The Qualitative and Quantitative Metrics You Should Measure for Your Inbound Marketing Strategy](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/qualitative-quantitative-metrics-inbound-marketing-strategy/): You can't measure success from every strategy with just numbers. For your inbound marketing, there are qualitative and quantitative metrics. - [How to Shorten the Lead Cycle with Marketing Automation](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/shorten-the-lead-cycle-marketing-automation/): A shorter lead cycle means more clients more quickly. But, if you want to shorten the lead cycle you need marketing automation. - [The Small Business Guide to Understanding Instagram Insights](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/instagram-insights/): Instagram is great for reaching a larger audience and showing your network your brand identity. Here's how to understand Instagram insights. - [How to Build a Thriving Support Team and Department From Scratch](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-build-a-thriving-support-team/): Find out what it takes to build a thriving support team and learn how to implement the processes, tools, and resources to succeed. - [9 Influencer Marketing Pitfalls That Cost Time And Money](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/influencer-marketing-pitfalls/): Influencer marketing can be a solid strategy that gets your brand in front of more people. But there are pitfalls to avoid. - [Which Should Your Small Business Prioritize? Blogging or Podcasting?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/blogging-or-podcasting/): Adding a podcast to your business strategy is great, but not if it comes at the expense of your blog. What's better, blogging or podcasting? - [How to Make Your Agency Indispensable](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/agency-indispensable/): Every agency dreads getting fired. But what if you could ensure your agency was indispensable? Here are some tips. - [When to Gate Your Content](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/when-to-gate-your-content/): Gated content allows you to gather information on your leads so you can add them to your email marketing and nurture them. - [5 Keys to Success Prior to CRM Implementation](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/crm-implementation/): Obtaining a CRM that solves all your problems requires legwork on your end. And if you rush the process, your CRM implementation can go awry. - [When to Tackle a Marketing Project In-House and When to Outsource](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/marketing-in-house-outsource/): Making the decision to outsource isn't as straightforward as you'd think. Here are some tips for outsourcing that next marketing project. - [Which Organizational Structure is Better for Your Business?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/which-organizational-structure-is-better-for-your-business/): Figuring out the internal structure of your business? Pinpointing the organizational structure that's right for you and your team is crucial. - [How to Measure the Success of Your SEO Strategy](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/measure-success-seo-strategy/): Implementing an SEO strategy takes a lot of time, effort, and evaluation. Here's what to measure to ensure you're experiencing success. - [Social Media Ads: Specs You Need to Know](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/social-media-ads-specs/): Here's a roundup of social media ad specs so you can make sure you have everything in order when planning your next ad campaign. - [How to Get High-Quality Insights to Enhance Your Blog Content](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/high-quality-insights-blog-content/): Gathering insights from industry influencers can enhance your blog content and make it more engaging for your audience. - [Your Guide to Writing an Effective Creative Brief](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/creative-brief-guide/): When agencies get a new project, forming a precise and well-crafted creative brief will ensure they deliver what the client wants. - [Why Agencies Need to Prioritize Their Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/agencies-prioritize-marketing/): Agency marketing is often overlooked in favor of client needs. However, when agencies put their marketing on the backburner, they suffer. - [Should Your Small Business Be on TikTok?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/small-business-tiktok/): TikTok is now the most popular social media platform. But does that mean that your small business should be on it? - [What is Brand Awareness? Everything You Need to Know.](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/brand-awareness/): What exactly is brand awareness? Let's demystify it and address all the various methods you can use to build brand awareness. - [It’s Time to Get Familiar With Lead Attribution](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/lead-attribution/): Lead attribution is the process of giving a score or credit to each touchpoint for a customer’s interaction that results in conversion. - [The Art of Using Instagram Stories for Brand Awareness](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-art-of-using-instagram-stories-for-brand-awareness/): Instagram Stories is great for showing your brand personality and giving a behind-the-scenes look at your company. - [5 Ways a CRM Brings Sales and Marketing Together](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/crm-brings-sales-and-marketing-together/): It's easy for departments to get siloed and lose sight of what the other is doing. But for sales and marketing, a CRM can keep them aligned. - [16 Must-Follow Marketing Thought Leaders](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/marketing-thought-leaders/): These 16 marketing thought leaders are making waves and helping to shape the industry. Make sure you follow them to stay ahead. - [6 Must-Have Features for Your Agency’s Website](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/must-have-features-for-your-agencys-website/): Your agency website is where you showcase your work and entice potential new clients. Make sure your website has these must-have features. - [20 Unexpected Ways to Get More Agency Clients This Year](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/get-more-agency-clients/): Agencies are nothing if they don't have clients. Here are some home-run tactics that will ensure you get more agency clients this year. - [Is HubSpot’s CRM Really Free?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/is-hubspots-crm-really-free/): HubSpot promises a free CRM with tons of features. But when you really look at it, is it actually free? Here are some better alternatives. - [The 6 Types of Marketing Funnels You Need to Know](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/marketing-funnels/): You may think there is only one marketing funnel in inbound marketing. The truth is there are at least 6 types of marketing funnels. - [The Forgotten Content Distribution Tactic: Content Syndication](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/content-syndication/): Content syndication is often forgotten, but it's a great distrubution channel for your content. Here's how to get your content syndicated. - [14 Ways Your Small Business Can Attract B2B Clients](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/attract-more-b2b-clients/): Looking for more B2B clients for your small business? We've got tips and tricks you can use that will help you out. - [How to Use Tagging to Better Segment Your Contacts](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-use-tagging-to-better-segment-your-contacts/): Segmenting your contacts for personalized outreach comes down to your tagging system. Here's how to use tagging for better segmentation. - [What is a Value Proposition and How Your Small Business Can Put One Together](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/small-business-value-proposition/): A value proposition is a statement that articulates what you do and how it benefits your customer. Here's how to put one together. - [The Small Business Guide to Advertising on Instagram](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/guide-to-advertising-on-instagram/): Advertising on Instagram is a great way to get new leads and zero in on your target demographic. Here's a guide to advertising on Instagram. - [How to Grow Your Small Business and Make it Successful](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/proven-ways-to-grow-your-business/): Every small business wants the secret recipe for growth. Here are some tips that will help your small business grow this year. - [Customer Churn: What is it and How Can You Avoid It?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/customer-churn/): Customer churn can take a lucrative business and run it into the ground. Here's how to reduce customer churn so you can stay profitable. - [The Top 10 Best CRMs For Agencies](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/best-crm-for-agencies/): We've rounded up the nine best CRMs for agencies. Check them out, along with their features, to see which one is right for you. - [How to Measure Customer Lifetime Value to Identify Your Best Relationships](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/calculating-customer-lifetime-value/): What is customer lifetime value? Why is it important, and how do you measure it? We address all this and more in this blog post. - [The Small Business Guide to Paid Advertising](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/small-business-guide-paid-advertising/): Navigating the vast world that is paid advertising can be scary and overwhelming. Here's your small business guide to help you through. - [How To Perform Website Maintenance: A Small Business Guide](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/website-maintenance-small-business-guide/): How often are you doing your website maintenance? If you have to think about it, then you aren't doing it enough. - [The Best Untapped Marketing Tactics for Small Businesses](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/untapped-marketing-tactics-small-businesses/): We guarantee you aren't using these marketing tactics (and you should be). Here are some untapped strategies for your small business. - [15 Small Business Marketing Strategies to Help With Growth](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/small-business-marketing-strategies-2/): This is the year your small business sees some impressive growth. Here are 15 marketing strategies that will help you get there. - [Retargeting Ads: Why and How You Should Be Doing it (and Tools to Help)](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/tools-for-retargeting-ads/): Let's up your retargeting strategy so you can convert more leads. Here are some amazing tools for your retargeting ads. - [8 of the Biggest Questions Regarding Email Marketing Answered](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/biggest-email-marketing-questions-answered/): There's a lot of unknowns when it comes to email marketing. In this blog post, we've answered the biggest questions you may have. - [How to Put Together a Winning Sales Pitch](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/tips-10-minute-sales-pitch/): Here's your can't-lose recipe for putting together a winning sales pitch to use in your sales process. - [How to Create a Winning Sales Process Using Marketing Automation](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/sales-process/): Have you nailed down your company's sales process yet? Knowing what works and what doesn't is essential for success. - [Five Marketing and Sales Pitfalls that Can Be Avoided with Marketing Automation](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/marketing-and-sales-pitfalls-avoided-with-marketing-automation/): There are some sales and marketing pitfalls that can 100% be avoided if you use marketing automation. Here's how. - [How to Align Sales and Marketing Teams for Content Creation](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-align-sales-and-marketing-for-content-creation/): It's crucial for your sales and marketing team to be aligned, especially during the content creation process. - [Sales and Marketing Performance Metrics and Why You Should Track Them](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/sales-and-marketing-performance-metrics/): A lot goes into your sales and marketing strategies. To ensure your tactics are successful, you need to keep track of performance metrics. - [Steps for a Collaborative and Seamless Sales and Marketing Process](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/collaborative-and-seamless-sales-and-marketing-process/): Your sales and marketing team should work closely together, but it isn't easy. Here are some steps for a collaborative process. - [A Knowledge Base: The Sales Enablement Tool Your Business Needs](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/a-knowledge-base-the-sales-enablement-tool-your-business-needs/): Having a knowledge base provides your customers a resource they can use time and time again. And it helps your sales team, too. - [Achieve Work-Life Balance with a CRM and Sales Automation](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/work-life-balance-crm-sales-automation/): Bringing a CRM together with sales automation makes your life so much easier. It even affords you that covetted work life balance. - [Email and CRM: Where Marketing Automation Meets Personal Sales Follow-Ups](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-crm-marketing-automation/): Bringing your email marketing together with a CRM provides your sales follow-up the personalization it needs to succeed. - [Small Business Guide to Marketing Automation](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/quick-guide-small-business-marketing-automation/): Utilizing marketing automation isn't always as straight forward as you think. Here's a quick guide for small businesses. - [Marketing Automation and CRM: a Match Made in Heaven](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/marketing-automation-and-crm-match-made-in-heaven/): As marketers, tools are our everything. Here's why marketing automation and a CRM are a match made in marketing heaven. - [How to Create a Sales Funnel and Fill it With High-Quality Content](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/content-marketing-sales-funnel/): Your sales funnel needs to flow continuously in order to work well. And content is the key to a healthy funnel. - [What Should You Be Tracking for Content Marketing ROI?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/content-marketing-roi-2/): Having a content marketing strategy is great, but it needs to be doing its job. However, tracking ROI from your content efforts isn't easy. - [Content and Marketing Automation: How Both Strategies Fuel One Another](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/content-and-marketing-automation/): The average customer journey these days involves a lot of self-service: we do our own research, read reviews of products and try to decipher which ones - [How to Distribute Your Content Effectively](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-distribute-content/): Oftentimes, content creation is such a complex process that marketers breathe a sigh of relief when they press publish, thinking the job is done. In - [Understanding the Basics of Digital Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/digital-marketing-basics/): The digital marketing landscape moves at lightning speed. But understanding the basics ensures you're always ready for what's to come. - [Most Compelling Trends from Litmus Email Engagement Trends Report](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/most-compelling-trends-from-litmus-email-engagement-trends-report/): Litmus just released their Email Engagement Trends Report and we compiled the most compelling stats, check them out! - [20 Marketing Metrics To Focus on in 2023 To Measure Success](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/marketing-metrics-to-focus-on-in-2023/): Let's start 2023 off on the right foot by tracking the right marketing metrics for success. Here are 20 of them. - [15 Must-Have Content Marketing Tools to Ensure Quality and Consistency](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/must-have-content-marketing-tools/): Content marketing is a powerful marketing strategy. Here are eight content marketing tools that can help improve your content processes. - [Grey Hat SEO: How To Avoid Crossing The Line In The Search For Marketing Results](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/grey-hat-seo/): Are you familiar with Grey Hat SEO? If you want to ensure your SEO strategy is lock-tight, then it's time to know what it is. - [Why Personalized Marketing Should Be at the Core of Your Strategy](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/personalized-marketing/): Sending your subscribers tailored messaging that addresses their needs increases your ROI. Here's how to use personalized marketing. - [16 of the Worst Writing Mistakes to Avoid in Your Email Campaigns](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/writing-mistakes-email-campaigns/): When writing your email marketing campaigns, a small mistake could ruin your results. Here are the worst writing mistakes to avoid. - [Accounting For eCommerce: A Small Business Guide to Managing Finances](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/accounting-for-ecommerce/): A guide to managing your finances as a small eCommerce business. Everything you need to know, from basic accounting methods to software tips. - [The 5 Best Online Marketing Tactics for 2023](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/best-online-marketing-tactics-2017/): 2023 is going to be an exciting year for marketing. Here are some of the best online marketing tactics to try this year. - [11 Email Marketing Ideas That Will Breathe New Life into Your Campaigns](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-ideas/): Don't get stagnant with your email marketing strategy. Here are 11 email marketing ideas that will breathe new life into your campaigns. - [6 Emails You Should Be Sending if You're in eCommerce](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ecommerce-emails/): If you run an eCommerce business then you know sales are everything. Are you sending the right kind of emails to increase sales? - [5 Tips for Brainstorming Ideas for Content Creation](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/brainstorming-for-content-creation/): Creating new, unique, engaging content is hard. Here are some tips for brainstorming ideas for content creation. - [How to Start Your Online Business in 5 Simple Steps](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-start-your-online-business/): Starting your online business can be intimidating, but if you follow our five simple steps, you'll have your business up and running asap! - [15 Ways to Increase Your Website Traffic](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/increase-website-traffic/): Learn the most effective strategies to attract qualified traffic to your website ✔ check our guide to apply them. - [9 Tips for Running Automated Campaigns While You’re Out of Office](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/running-automated-campaigns-while-ooo/): Your campaigns don't sleep, even when you're out of office for the holidays. Here's how to keep your campaigns going while you're OOO. - [The Four Marketing Strategies: What They Are and Why You Need Them](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-four-marketing-strategies/): Are you aware of the four major marketing strategies? It's important that you identify which work best for your business and how to use them. - [How Benchmark Email's Shopify Sync Will Increase eCommerce Sales](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/shopify-sync-increase-ecommerce-sales/): Benchmark Email's Shopify Sync is built to help eCommerce businesses increase sales and personalize outreach to Shopify customers. - [How to Reduce Email Bounce Rate and Improve Deliverability](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/reduce-email-bounce-rate-and-improve-deliverability/): Experiencing a high bounce rate is extremely damaging to your email marketing and can negatively affect your deliverability. - [25 Examples of Holiday Email Subject Lines with the Highest Open Rates (with Emojis)](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/holiday-email-subject-lines-with-highest-open-rates/): Looking to wow your subscribers with your holiday email marketing? Here are some holiday email subject lines with the highest open rates. - [How to Perform a Social Media Audit in 5 Steps](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/social-media-audit/): You should perform a social media audit regularly. We explain how to do a social media aduit in just five easy steps. - [Are You Underutilizing Your Email Marketing Automation Software?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/underutilizing-email-marketing-automation-software/): There's a lot you can do with your email marketing automation software. But if you're underutilizing it, you'll never see its full potential. - [The Importance of Owning Your Email List](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/owning-your-email-list/): Your email list is by far your most important marketing asset. Here's why owning your email list is so crucial to your company's success. - [6 Marketing Goals to Keep Your eCommerce Leads Engaged After the Holidays](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/holiday-marketing-goals-ecommerce/): The holidays are the busiest time for online shopping. Discover ways to keep your eCommerce leads engaged during (and after) the holidays. - [Establishing a Brand Connection: Your Biggest 2023 Email Marketing Objective](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/2023-email-marketing-objective/): Next year's email marketing objective is all about making a strong brand connection with your consumers. Here's how you do it. - [How to Respond to an Angry Customer: 7 Email Responses to Calm Dissatisfied Customers](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-responses-to-calm-angry-customers/): Angry customers happen. Here are some email responses that will help you address issues and calm angry customers. - [Small Business Trends on the 2023 Horizon](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/small-business-trends-2023/): 2023 will be here before you know it. And there are some trends that will affect your small business in more ways than one. - [How eCommerce Businesses Can Utilize Amazon Marketplace This Holiday Season](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ecommerce-amazon-marketplace/): The holidays are all about increased sales. Here's how your eCommerce can utilize Amazon Marketplace this holiday season. - [15 Ways to Take Your Email Signature to the Next Level](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-signature/): There are some things you can do to make your email signature a little more exciting and promote your brand. - [The Best Days and Times to Send Newsletters](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/whats-best-time-day-send-newsletter-v-promo-email/): Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays might be the best days to send emails, but this is not a one-size-fits-all approach.➔ Find out why on our guide - [Is Inflation Affecting Your eCommerce?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/inflation-ecommerce/): Inflation is affecting the country in more ways than one. Is it possible that it could be affecting your eCommerce business? - [A Comprehensive Guide to Email Marketing Jobs](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-jobs/): Every wonder how many hands go into implementing an email marketing strategy? Here's a comprehensive guide to email marketing jobs. - [What is SMS Marketing?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/sms-marketing/): Should your business be using SMS marketing to communicate with your audience? Check out what it is and more in this article. - [5 Tips for Beating Writer’s Block With Your Email Content](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/beating-writers-block-with-email-content/): It's not easy writing unique, creative email content. Here's how to beat writer's block with your email content. - [6 Ways to Communicate More Effectively With Customers For eCommerce](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/effective-ecommerce-communication/): Check out our latest blog post on the top six methods businesses can use to improve communications with eCommerce customers. - [Your Holiday Email Marketing Guide](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/holiday-email-marketing-guide/): The holidays will be here before you know it. It's time to get your email marketing strategy going so you can take advantage. - [5 Reasons To Adopt Mobile-First eCommerce Site Design](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/mobile-first-ecommerce-site/): Yes, your site should be mobile-optimized. However if you're looking to increase eCommerce sales, make your site mobile-first. - [Email Marketing for Agencies: A Breakdown](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-for-agencies/): Looking for a breakdown of what email marketing looks like for agencies? Look no further. Here are some tips and recommendations. - [Enterprise Email Marketing: Tips and Tricks to Follow for Ultimate Success](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/enterprise-email-marketing/): When it comes to your enterprise business, how can you ensure your huge list of email subscribers get the right emails at the right time? - [6 eCommerce Trends That Will Impact 2023](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ecommerce-trends-that-will-impact-2023/): The ecommerce industry is growing exponentially year by year ➔ Remain competitive and keep up with the upcoming ecommerce trends - [30 Successful Examples of Email Marketing Campaign Templates](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-campaign-templates/): Discover 30 of the most compelling email marketing examples from a variety of companies to use as templates for your brand’s next campaign. - [The Best Way to Send Bulk Emails](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/best-way-to-send-bulk-emails/): Email marketing is an effective channel to use for communication with groups of all sizes. Emails are easy to write and send and are unintrusive for the - [A Complete Guide to eCommerce Project Management](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/a-complete-guide-to-ecommerce-project-management/): From a subtle start to exploding into our daily lives, the eCommerce industry is rapidly growing and revolutionizing the way we shop online. The - [How to Write Welcome Emails That Turn Subscribers into Leads](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/write-welcome-emails-turn-subscribers-leads/): When done right, welcome emails can help turn new subscribers into loyal, qualified leads, and eventually, customers. - [How to Get Started with Your Holiday Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/holiday-marketing/): Now's the time. It's time to get started with your holiday marketing. Here's how to get moving so you can take advantage of this time of year. - [What is High Volume Email Marketing?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/high-volume-email-marketing/): What is high volume email marketing and how is it different from low volume email marketing? We dive into specifics in this blog post. - [Wake Up to More Shopify Orders with Shopify Sync From Benchmark Email](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/new-feature-shopify-sync/): Ready to leverage email marketing to take Shopify sales to the next level? It's quick and easy to set up Shopify Sync. - [How to Automate Your Emails: Getting Started with Email Automation](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/get-started-email-automation/): Email automation provides you with tons of effeciencies, but getting started is the hard part. Here's a quick guide for you to easily follow. - [Holiday Email Campaigns: The Concise Guide You Can Bookmark](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/holiday-email-campaigns/): Take a look at some of these tips and examples so you can take your holiday email campaign to the next level this year. - [4 Shifts Your Small Business Needs to Prepare for This Holiday Season](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/shifts-to-prepare-for-this-holiday-season/): This holiday season things are going to be a little different. Here are some shifts you need to make sure and prep for. - [What is Hyperpersonalization and What Does it Mean for Email Marketing?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/hyperpersonalization/): What is hyperpersonalization? How is it diffferent than personalization? And what does it mean for your email marketing? - [Bringing You Up to Speed on Web3 and its Impact on Digital Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/web3/): Are you prepared for what Web3 will do for your marketing and email marketing efforts? Let's bring you up to speed. - [The 6 Biggest Email Design Trends Of 2022 So Far–And What We Can Learn From Them](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-design-trends-of-2022/): This has been a wild year for email marketing. Here are some email marketing design trends of 2022 that you should be aware of. - [Stop Sending Emails to Unengaged Subscribers](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/stop-sending-emails-to-unengaged-subscribers/): If you're still sending emails to subscribers who are not engaged, it's most likely hurting your deliverability. - [Email Marketing and Landing Pages: How They Work Together](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-landing-pages-a-guide/): Integrating landing pages in your email marketing strategy can lead to higher conversion rates. This is how they work together. - [How AI is Taking Your Email Marketing to the Next Level](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ai-and-email-marketing/): AI is making big waves when it comes to email marketing. Here is how you can use AI to create better emails. - [How to Use Instagram to Sell](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-use-instagram-to-sell/): Instagram is making it easy for eCommerce stores to sell their products using the platform. Read on for tips on selling via Instagram. - [What is Proper HTML Email Formatting? Mistakes and Fixes Uncovered](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/html-email-formatting-mistakes-and-fixes/): What is the proper format for email? We cover proper HTML email formatting, mistakes, and fixes in this blog post. - [Why It's Important for eCommerce Stores to Utilize YouTube](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ecommerce-stores-youtube/): YouTube has integrated with Shopify making it essential for eCommerce stores to be present on the platform. - [The Top 8 B2B Marketing Trends You Need To Know in 2022](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/b2b-marketing-trends/): There have been a lot of developments this year affecting your marketing. Here are eight B2B marketing trends you should know about. - [8 Must-Have Features for Travel Websites](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/features-for-travel-websites/): If you want your travel website to be user-friendly and have a high conversion rate, here are some must-have features. - [Reminder Emails: How to Politely Craft a Nudge Email in Every Situation](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/reminder-emails/): Read this article to learn how to craft the perfect reminder emails that offer a polite nudge for every situation. - [Your Step-by-Step Marketing Strategy Guide](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/marketing-strategy-guide/): Need to get your marketing in order but aren't sure where to begin? Follow our step-by-step marketing guide. - [How Can Audience Engagement Improve Email Deliverability?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/audience-engagement-improve-email-deliverability/): If you want to improve your email deliverability (so you actually make it to the inbox) then you have to have solid audience engagement. - [15 Ways to Differentiate Your eCommerce Brand and Stand Out From the Competition](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/differentiate-your-ecommerce-brand/): If you want your eCommerce brand to stand out, you have to differentiate it from the competition. Here are 15 ways to do just that. - [Top 11 Reasons Email Marketing Fails](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/top-4-reasons-email-marketing-fails/): Is your email marketing coming up short? You could be doing something wrong. Here are 11 reasons email marketing fails. - [The Beginner’s Guide to eCommerce Email Marketing Automation](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/beginners-guide-ecommerce-email-marketing-automation/): eCommerce sites could benefit in big ways from an email marketing strategy. Here's a beginner's guide to eCommerce email marketing automation. - [The Biggest Email Marketing Hurdle (and How to Overcome It): Interview with ZeroBounce COO Brian Minick](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/biggest-email-marketing-hurdle-brian-minick/): Email marketing isn't a walk in the park. We interviewed Brian Minick, COO at ZeroBounce to discuss email marketing's biggest hurdle. - [Interactive Marketing: Why It's Time to Try It](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/interactive-marketing/): Diversifying your marketing efforts can make any strategy more robust and successful. Here's why interactive marketing tactics are a must. - [5 Proven Tips to Spend Less Time on Emails and Reclaim Your Productivity](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/spend-less-time-on-emails/): If you want to spend less time on emails and boost productivity, explore how to organize your inbox, set email-checking boundaries, and more. - [How to Recession-Proof Your eCommerce Business](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-recession-proof-your-ecommerce-business/): A recession is looming, which makes business owners panic. But don't fear, here are tips on how to recession-proof your eCommerce business. - [12 Top Tips For Successful Email Marketing Campaigns](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/top-tips-for-successful-email-marketing-campaigns/): Less than satisfied with your email marketing campaign results? These tips can give your email marketing campaign performance a boost. - [Your Agency Outsourcing Checklist](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/agency-outsourcing-checklist/): When outsourcing help from an agency, it's important to have some guidelines. Here's an outsourcing checklist to follow. - [Study Confirms: Email is Still the Top Marketing Channel](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-is-still-top-marketing-channel/): We're not surprised to see that email is still the top marketing channel. Here are some eye-opening email marketing stats. - [How Small Businesses Can Close Sales Faster Using an Effective Sales Cycle](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/small-businesses-sales-cycle/): With an effective sales cycle, small businesses will close sales faster and see more revenue. Here are four steps to follow. - [6 eCommerce Personalization Strategies to Boost Customer Experience](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ecommerce-personalization-strategies/): If you're in eCommerce and looking to boost your customer experience, here are six eCommerce personalization strategies. - [Best Practices for Using Email Sign-Up Forms](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-sign-up-forms-best-practices/): When it comes to email sign-up forms, there are things you should and shouldn't do. Here are some best practices. - [Sales and Marketing Software Leader, Benchmark Email, Launches AI-Powered Suite of Tools](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/benchmark-email-launches-ai-powered-suite-of-tools/): Benchmark Email today announced the release of Smart Content, the second in their new suite of artificial intelligence features. - [How Email Marketing Can Support Your Growth When Starting a New Business](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-new-business/): Learn about email marketing for new business owners, as well as tips for successful email marketing campaigns. - [Want Your Drip Campaign to Convert? Make Sure it Has These Five Elements.](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/drip-campaign-conversions/): If your drip campaign are successful, they're converting. If they aren't converting, make sure they have these give elements. - [9 Must-Have Features for eCommerce Sites](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/features-for-ecommerce-sites/): Here are some features your eCommerce site should have if you want a positive user experience and to drive sales. - [Debunking the 4 Most Popular Email Marketing Myths](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-myths/): There's a lot of misinformation out there, especially when it comes to email marketing. Here are the four most popular email marketing myths. - [Bulk Email Senders: What Are They and Tools We Recommend](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/what-is-a-bulk-email-sender/): Ever heard of a bulk email sender? Read our blog post to learn more about them and why they're beneficial, along with some recommended tools. - [How CRM And CPQ Software Benefit Your Sales & Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/crm-and-cpq-software-benefit-sales-marketing/): CRM and CPQ software can work together in ways that will make your sales and marketing efforts soar. Here's how. - [What Are Spamhaus and SpamCop?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/insights-spamhaus-spamcop/): Getting blacklisted is the email marketing kiss of death. Here's why you don't want to land on Spamhaus and SmapCop's lists. - [Email Verification 101: What is it and Why is it Important?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-verification-what-why-and-how/): Email verification improves performance and protects your campaigns. Learn more about why it should be part of your marketing efforts - [Promoting Travel and Tourism with Email Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/promoting-travel-and-tourism-with-email-marketing/): The travel and tourism industry can benefit greatly from email marketing. Read on for some tips and examples. - [8 B2B Prospecting Tips That Will Bring More Revenue in 2022](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/b2b-prospecting-tips/): Your sales efforts are only as good as your prospecting. Here are some crucial B2B sales prospecting tips for this year. - [How to Make an Effective Email Invite? 7 Tips.](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-invite/): There's a secret weapon your email marketing strategy should be using, and it's that of the email invite. Here are some tips. - [6 Inspiring Travel and Tourism Industry Emails](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/travel-and-tourism-emails/): Check out what makes these travel and tourism emails so great, and what you can learn from doing something similar. - [How to Design Your Website for More Sales](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/website-design-more-sales/): Is your website optimized to bring in more sales? Here are some tips for a user friendly website design that generates revenue. - [AI and The Future of Email Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ai-and-the-future-of-email-marketing/): AI is impacting email marketing in new and exciting ways. Here are a few things AI brings to the table that will help your strategy. - [4 Tools That Will Help You Make Your Cold Outreach Emails Stand Out](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/tools-for-cold-outreach-emails/): Sending cold outreach emails is typically a gamble. Use these four tools to make your email stand out and get a response. - [How to Create Your Own Report: A Step-By-Step Guide](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-create-your-own-report-a-step-by-step-guide/): Proprietary reports are a great addition to your content marketing and inbound marketing efforts. Here's how to create a report. - [4 Mistakes You're Making with Email Marketing Automation](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-automation-mistakes/): Email marketing automation is powerful and extremely useful. But if you make these four mistakes, you won't see much progress. - [6 Ways to Use Social Proof to Grow Your eCommerce Business](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/social-proof-ecommerce-business/): Social proof is powerful for your eCommerce brand and can do wonders for selling your products. Here are six examples of social proof. - [6 PR Tips for Your Small Business](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/pr-tips-small-business/): Just because your budget is limited doesn't mean you can't make a splash with your PR tactics. Here are some PR tips for small business. - [How to Know What Marketing Channels to Add to Your Strategy](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/marketing-channels/): To see real results, you need to be using multiple marketing channels in your strategy. But how do you know which ones will pay off? - [UX And Its Impact on SEO: 8 Tips For Improving SEO Rankings](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ux-and-seo-mproving-seo-rankings/): UX and SEO go hand-in-hand. Checkout some easy-to-implment, DIY tips for improving your UX and SEO ranking at the same time. - [Drive a Customer-Centric Digital Transformation via Email Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/digital-transformation-via-email-marketing/): The increasing importance of a customer-centric experience is responsible for digital transformation in companies around the world. - [The Customer Support Side of CRM](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-customer-support-side-of-crm/): Your CRM provides your business with increased productivity and marketing efficiency, and the ability to offer great customer support. - [Should I Use a Background Image](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/should-i-use-a-background-image/): Great design helps your business stand out, builds your brand consistency, and captures your audience's attention, amongst other benefits. Background - [3 Ways to Create a GIF for Your Email Templates](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-create-a-gif-for-email/): Most email clients still do not support inline video, but do support GIF animation. Here's three ways to make a GIF for your email templates. - [The Pros and Cons of Text-Based Email Versus HTML](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/text-based-email-versus-html/): Which is better: text-based emails or HTML? The debate is almost as old as email marketing. We'll weigh the pros and cons so you can decide. - [How to Manage a Remote Email Marketing Team: 5 Productivity Tools](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/remote-email-marketing-team/): The emphasis on remote-first workplaces means that email teams need to realign collaboration digitally to deliver on KPIs and outcomes. - [Polaris Software Appoints former Balto, Clearent Executive Jeff Zimmerman as CPO](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/polaris-software-appoints-former-balto-clearent-executive-jeff-zimmerman-as-cpo/): Polaris Software Adds New Role to Oversee Product Strategy Across Global SaaS Business ST LOUIS, Missouri, May 17, 2022 – Polaris Software, a leading - [4 Must-Have Centralized Email Marketing Processes](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/centralized-email-marketing-processes/): We'll break down four major benefits of centralizing email processes and go over how you can centralize your email marketing step-by-step. - [Your Product Rollout Checklist](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/your-product-rollout-checklist/): A successful product launch can dictate the pace for revenue growth, which is why you should plan it meticulously. - [5 Ways Your Business Can Use Instagram to Grow Your Email Marketing List](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/instagram-email-marketing-list/): Instagram has incredible reach, yet email marketing is more powerful than ever. Leverage Instagram to build an owned email marketing list. - [The Ultimate Guide to Lead Generation in 2022](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/lead-generation-guide/): Discover the best practices and lesser-known tips & tricks for successful and efficient lead generation in 2022. - [Tips for Writing Effective Blog Post Titles](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-importance-of-writing-effective-blog-post-titles/): Good blog post titles make all the difference in getting eyes on your content and clicks through to your website. - [How to Use Social Media to Grow your Business](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/social-media-business-growth/): Social media is more than just a strategy for brand awareness and content distribution. It can help you grow your business. - [How to Promote a Webinar with Email Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/promote-a-webinar/): We'll cover how to promote a webinar best practices around email copy, timing and performance to boost registrations. - [Why Customers are Unsubscribing and How to Prevent It](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/prevent-unsubscribes/): We explore why customers are unsubscribing from your email list and how to prevent unsubscribes from happening in the first place. - [Growing your eCommerce Store? Here's your Tech Stack.](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ecommerce-tech-stack/): Here's an eCommerce tech stack checklist to help you round out everything you need for your online store's digital foundation. - [The Top Benchmark Email Integrations](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/top-benchmark-email-integrations/): In this article, we’ll discuss the top Benchmark Email integrations and how transform data and processes to improve your email campaigns. - [10 Email Segmentation Strategies to Hone Your Marketing Message & Make More Sales](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-segmentation-strategies/): Email segmentation groups contacts with similar characteristics to help you send more tailored messaging and increase sales. Here's how. - [Headless Commerce Vs Traditional E-Commerce. What’s The Difference?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/headless-commerce-vs-traditional-ecommerce/): In eCommerce, headless commerce is being termed as the ‘star of the show’ these days. Here's how it can turn the tables for your business. - [Your A-Z Content Audit Guide](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/content-audit-guide/): Whether it's social media, your website, or your content, implementing an audit at least once a year is a must. Today, you'll learn step-by-step how to do - [6 Types of Content to Create That Will Grow Your Email List](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/content-to-grow-your-email-list/): This article will discuss six types of content that can deliver the value your customers crave and grow your email list. - [Everything You Need to Know About Transactional Emails](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/transactional-emails/): In the world of eCommerce, transactional emails are everything. Here's what you need to know and some examples. - [Voice Search and What it Means for Your eCommerce Business](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/voice-search-for-ecommerce/): Voice search has been used for very simple activities. But, voice search capabilities are growing - with a huge impact on business. - [5 Tips for Better Customer Support](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/5-tips-for-better-customer-support/): Stellar customer service retains customers, helps build a loyal following around your business and recoups customer acquisition costs. - [How to Use Backlinks to Grow Your Email List](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/grow-email-list-with-backlinks/): Backlinks can drive organic traffic for your brand.We'll show you how to leverage that traffic growth to build your email list. - [Is Livestream Shopping The Future Of eCommerce?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/livestream-shopping-ecommerce/): Livestream shopping combines live video content with two-way conversation and the option for viewers to buy or save featured products without leaving the platform. - [How to Use AI Copywriting Tools to Level Up Your Email Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ai-copywriting-tools-for-email-marketing/): AI copywriting tools use artificial intelligence to create high-quality email marketing content for you automatically and in a matter of seconds. Learn how to take advantage of these AI copywriting tools to level up your email marketing! - [How to Advertise Your eCommerce Store on Facebook](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-advertise-your-ecommerce-store-on-facebook/): Facebook remains the most commonly used social media platform, with a whopping 2.8 billion active users. As an eCommerce business owner, this means when - [Using AI For Email Personalization: A Complete Guide](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/using-ai-for-email-personalization-a-complete-guide/): With everything going digital, the number of emails sent and received globally per day is estimated to be around 333.2 billion and may increase to over - [What You Need to Know About Mail Privacy Protection (MPP)](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/mail-privacy-protection/): Privacy is the buzzword in the digital world today, and the protection of user data has become the core focus of many businesses. For this reason, Safari - [Is Combining SMS and Email Marketing the Secret Sauce to eCommerce Domination?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/combining-sms-and-email-marketing-for-ecommerce/): Combinging SMS and email marketing is a great way to follow up and personalize outreach with your eCommerce customers. - [6 Email Marketing Strategies for Small Businesses](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-strategies-for-small-businesses/): Small businesses often have the lower hand. However, with these email marketing strategies, they'll be able to compete with the big dogs. - [Beginner’s Guide To Inbound Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/guide-to-inbound-marketing/): Need a beginner's guide to inbound marketing? Look no further! Our blog posts dives into everything you need to know. - [8 Important Notification Queues to Add to Your Email Monitoring Strategy](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-notification-queues/): When should you send that email? Here are eight email notification queues to keep in mind that will tell you when to send the right email. - [Long-Tail Keywords: Definition and How to Leverage Them](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/long-tail-keywords/): What are long-tail keywords and how can you leverage them to improve your SEO strategy? We dive into that and more in this blog post. - [What Are Product Recommendations and How to Use them In Your Email Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/product-recommendation-emails/): We've all gotten product recommendations before. But are they successful? As marketers, should we be sending product recommendation emails? - [How Well Do You Really Know Your Customers? Tips for Discovering Your Target Audience.](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/tips-for-discovering-your-target-audience/): You may not know your target audience as well as you think you do. Performing routine audience persona audits is a must. - [7 Best Tips and Tricks for Using Google Sheets](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/google-sheets-tips-and-tricks/): Google Sheets is an incredibly useful tool that can be used in numerous ways. Here are seven tips and tricks for using it. - [The 10 Best Free Email Marketing Tools](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/best-free-email-marketing-tools/): There's no way to do practical, consistent email marketing alone. Luckily there are free email marketing tools to help. - [How to Sell Your Product Using Benchmark Email](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-sell-your-product-using-benchmark-email/): Benchmark Email has some exciting eCommerce features that will help our users sell their products more easily. Check them out! - [9 Best Social Media Plugins for WordPress](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/social-media-plugins-for-wordpress/): Wordpress is a great content management software. Here are some social media plugins that will increase the shareability of your content. - [11 Email Marketing Experts Tell us What They Learned in 2021 and How It’s Shaping Their 2022 Email Strategy](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/2022-email-strategy/): 2021 taught us a lot. These 11 experts share what they learned last year and how it's shaping their 2022 email strategy. - [How to Collect and Leverage Zero-Party Data to Personalize Your Email Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/zero-party-email-marketing/): Google's impending cookie cutting means marketers need to rely on other methods to gain insights on their customers, like zero-party data. - [How to Put Together Case Studies for Your Business](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-put-together-case-studies/): When converting leads to customers, it's important to show them proof of success. Here's how to put together case studies. - [Why Does Email Design Define the Success of Your Campaign?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-design-successful-campaign/): Email design is a huge component of whether or not your email campaigns are successful. Here are some design tips and examples to follow. - [7+ Sales Funnel Templates to Skyrocket Your Email Marketing Game](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/sales-funnel-email-templates/): Sales outreach isn't as easy as it seems. But these email templates will help you capitalize on your funnel to see some results. - [11 Quick and Long-Term SEO Tips to Get Your Site to Rank](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/quick-seo-tips/): Nailing your SEO strategy requires some quick and easy tips, along with long-term tactics. Check out 11 SEO tips here. - [4 Strategies to Improve Email Engagement for Your Retail Brand](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-engagement-for-retail/): Your retail brand shoud be using various email strategies to help improve engagement and conversions. Here are some strategies to use. - [Vertical Content: What It Is and How to Implement It](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/vertical-content/): What is vertical content and why should you prioritize it in your marketing strategy? We explain all that and more in this blog article. - [How to Do Restaurant Email Marketing Right](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/restaurant-email-marketing/): Own a restaurant? You should be utilizing email marketing to grow and engage your patrons. Here are some tips. - [5 Signs Your Website Isn't Optimized](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/signs-your-website-isnt-optimized/): If your website isn't optimized, then it won't do its job properly, which is to engage and convert visitors to leads. - [5 Things You Need to Know About Benchmark Email](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/things-you-need-to-know-about-benchmark-email/): When it comes to our email marketing software, we're pretty confident we have what you need. Here are the benefits of using Benchmark Email. - [6 Best Social Media Tools for Your 2022 Strategy](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/social-media-tools-for-2022/): Take your social networks to the next level in 2022. Here are some of the best social media tools to look into. - [What is Phygital, and How Does it Apply to Email Marketing?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/what-is-phygital-marketing/): What exactly is phygital marketing? This new term (and idea) is quickly becoming a favorite way for consumers to buy products. - [Customer Profile Analysis: Methods and Hacks to Boost Your Sales Process](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/customer-profile-analysis-methods/): If you want to give your sales process a boost, then you need to be utilizing customer profile analysis techniques. - [6 Tips for Creating More Shareable Content (With Examples)](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/shareable-content/): Content is more successful the more it's shared. Here are some tips for making your content more shareable (examples included). - [A Beginner’s Guide to Effective Email Templates](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/beginners-guide-to-email-templates/): Email templates make the life of an email marketer so much easier. To help you navigate them, here's a beginners guide. - [12 Best Lead Generation Techniques for Small Businesses](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/lead-generation-techniques-small-businesses/): Your small business needs to be securing reguar, consistent revenue. Here are five lead genertation techniques to try. - [How to Put Together Interesting Abandoned Cart Emails (and Examples)](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/6-ways-to-make-your-cart-abandonment-emails-more-interesting/): Are you aware of the benefits that come with abandoned cart emails? Here's how you can use them effectively to win back missed sales. - [How to Sell Your eCommerce Business With Email Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ecommerce-email-marketing-strategy/): If you want your eCommerce store to take off, you have to have a well thought out eCommerce email marketing strategy. - [Email Marketing in 2022: Trends and Useful Tools](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-trends-and-tools/): 2022 is almost here. Here are some key email marketing trends to have on your radar and tools you should look into using next year. - [16 Things to do Before and After Publishing a Blog Post](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/things-to-do-before-after-publishing-a-blog-post/): There's a lot you need to do to ensure your blog post is successful. Here are some things to do before and after publishing. - [How to Calculate Email Marketing ROI](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-calculate-email-marketing-roi/): If you want to know exactly how much ROI you're seeing from your email marketing efforts, use this calculator. - [7 Important Ways to Get Your Online Business Ready for the Holidays](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/holidays-online-business/): Is your online business ready for the holidays? This time of year, while wonderful, can be chaotic if you aren't adequately prepared. - [The Pros and Cons of Using Affiliate Marketing to Grow your Business](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/affiliate-marketing-pros-and-cons/): When it comes to affiliate marketing, there are advantages as well as things to keep in mind. Here are the pros and cons to consider. - [10 Best Content Writing and Editing Tools to Help You Become a Better Writer](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/content-writing-editing-tools/): Want to be better at content marketing? You need to add to your toolkit. Here are 10 of the best content writing and editing tools. - [Opt-In Email Marketing: How to Create Permission-Based Email Lists](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/double-opt-in-email-lists-creating-permission-based-lists/): The best way to reach engaged, eager prospects is to faciliate opt-in email marketing. Here's what it is and why it's crucial to implement. - [Online Forms and Pop-Up Forms: What's the Difference?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/online-forms-and-pop-up-forms/): There are various different website forms out there to consider using. When it comes to online forms and pop-up forms, what's the difference? - [Apple's New Hide My Email Feature: What it is and How it’s Changing Email Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/apples-hide-my-email-feature/): What is Apple's new Hide My Email Feature and how will it affect your email marketing practices? Read on to find out. - [Here's How To Get More People To Fill Out Your Email Survey](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-get-people-to-fill-out-email-survey/): It's not always easy to get people to fill out your email suveys, but they're crucial for making your business more successful. - [How to Use Google Analytics to Track the Success of Your Email Campaigns](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/google-analytics-email-campaigns/): With the iOS15 privacy rollout, you need a better way to track the success of your email campaigns. Enter: Google Analytics. - [6 Ways to Perfect Your eCommerce Journey Map to Create a Memorable Customer Experience](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ecommerce-journey-map-customer-experience/): Making sure your eCommerce journey map is set up correctly and capitalizes on the right opportunities will benefit the customer experience. - [How to Create a Pillar Page that Ranks](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/pillar-pages/): Pillar pages are fundamental to an effective SEO and content marketing strategy. Here's how to create a pillar page that ranks. - [Email Deliverability 101: How to Get Your Message to Go Through](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-deliverability-101/): Here are the basics of email deliverability, including what email deliverability looks like, best practices, and which factors affect it. - [7 Customer Retention Strategies for Business Growth](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/customer-retention-strategies/): Here are some customer retention strategies that will help you maintain revenue and see your small business grow. - [What are Core Web Vitals and Why You Should Care?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/core-web-vitals/): What are core web vitals? Why are they important? How can you tell if your website has good core web vitals? - [Affiliate Marketing 101: A Guide to Everything You Need to Know](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/affiliate-marketing/): Do you know everything you should about affiliate marketing? Here are the details and why you should consider an affiliate marketing program. - [The Art of Sharing Milestone Emails with Your Subscribers](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/milestone-emails/): Does your brand create and send milestone emails to your subscribers? Here's why they aren't a bad component to add to your email strategy. - [How to Use Infographics to Generate Leads](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/infographics-lead-generation/): Using multiple lead generation efforts is always a good idea. Here's how you can use infographics to generate leads. - [Turn Your Emails to Gold: How to Increase Your Email CTR](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/increase-your-email-ctr/): There's gold hidden in your email marketing, you just have to uncover it. Read on for tips on how to increase your email CTR and find gold. - [How to Include User-Generated Content in Your Emails](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/user-generated-content-in-your-emails/): User-generated content can enrich your email marketing and lead to better results. Here's how to include it in your emails. - [Content Marketing: How to Put Quality Over Quantity](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/content-marketing-quality-over-quantity/): When it comes to content marketing, it's not about how much you can churn out. It's more about the quality of the piece. - [Sales and Marketing Software Leader, Polaris Software, Doubles-Down on Customer Interactions, Surpasses 1 Million Users](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/sales-and-marketing-software-leader-polaris-software-doubles-down-on-customer-interactions-surpasses-1-million-users/): SAINT LOUIS, MO, September 23, 2021 -- Polaris Software, a leading provider of sales and marketing software, announced today that the company has - [Why No One Is Opening Your Emails](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/why-no-one-is-opening-your-emails/): It's frustrating when no one is opening your emails. But don't just sit there, do something about it. Here are some culprits to low opens. - [Scaling Marketing Content: A Proven Way to Optimize Your Results at Lower Costs](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/scaling-marketing-content/): Are you looking for a way to scale your marketing content and don’t know how? This article looks at all you need to know and more. - [How to Create a Company Email Newsletter in 10 Simple Steps](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-create-a-newsletter-design-in-less-than-5-minutes/): Your company newsletter doesn't have to take a ton of time. Here's how to create a newsletter in just 10 simple steps. - [Write Guest Blog Articles for Benchmark Email!](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/marketing-professionals-write-guest-blogs-for-benchmark-email/): Are guest blog articles part of your content marketing strategy? Check out our blog guidelines to see if you might be a fit for our blog. - [The Importance of Email List Maintenance](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-list-maintenance/): Email list maintenance can determine your deliverability and whether or not your emails are truly resonating with your recipients. - [The Art of the Upsell Email](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/upsell-email/): There's an art to sending an upsell email that is successful. Here are some tips you should use, along with examples. - [iOS 15 and Email Marketing KPIs to Focus On](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ios-15-email-marketing-kpis/): With Apple's iOS 15 comes a need for marketers to focus on other email marketing KPIs aside from open rate. - [B2B Sales Prospecting: A Quick Guide](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/b2b-sales-prospecting/): Having a steady stream of leads means having a reliable source for customer conversions. But it all depends on your B2B sales prospecting. - [6 Tips On How To Triple the ROI on Your Lead Generation Efforts](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/triple-roi-lead-generation/): Lead generation plays a huge part of increasing ROI, but how you go about doing it is key. Here are some tips that will triple your ROI. - [Your iOS 15 To-Do List from Benchmark Email](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ios-15-to-do-list-from-benchmark-email/): With iOS 15 on the horizon, now is a great time to use the reliable open rate data you have today to clean up your subscriber list. - [How Email Marketing Can Be Used to Ease Customers During Supply Shortages](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-supply-shortages/): There are a lot of supply shortages right now, leading to stressed out businesses and angry customers. But email marketing can help. - [What is Search Intent and How Can You Optimize it?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/what-is-search-intent/): Websites that focus on search intent optimization answer questions your customers have. Let's dive into everything regarding search intent. - [Webinar Landing Page 101: How to Convert More Visitors Into Email Leads](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/webinar-landing-page-101/): Here's a deep dive into how to put together a webinar landing page that converts more visitors into email leads. - [How to Update Your Old Blogs for SEO in 2021: 6 Tested Tips](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/update-old-blogs-for-seo/): There's a ton to gain from taking your old blog posts and giving them an SEO refresh. Here's how to go about doing it. - [5 Crucial Transactional Emails Every Online Store Should Optimize](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/transactional-emails-2/): There are five transactional emails every eCommerce store should be utilizing. Here they are, and why they're helpful. - [How To Manage Your Email Campaigns for Ultimate Success](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/manage-email-campaigns/): Managing your various email campaigns requires an efficient process. We put together a step-by-step guide so you can do it right. - [How To Start An Email Newsletter With Benchmark Email](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-start-an-email-newsletter/): Email newsletters are a key component of your email marketing strategy. Here's how to start an email newsletter using Benchmark Email. - [Email Segmentation 101: What it is and How to Put it in Practice](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-segmentation-4-ways-to-divide-your-list/): Everything you need to know about email segmentation is covered in this blog post. Including ways to segment your list. - [Your Step-By-Step Guide For Writing A Blog Post](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-write-a-blog-post/): A lot goes into prepping and publishing a blog post. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to write a blog post. - [What is Programmatic Advertising?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/programmatic-advertising/): Are you familiar with programmatic advertising? Read our blog post for a deep dive into programmatic advertising and its benefits. - [Here's How Inbound Marketing Drives The Ultimate Customer Experience](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/inbound-marketing-customer-experience/): Find out how you can use inbound marketing to create the ultimate customer experience, and what kind of benefits come with doing so. - [3 Wellness Brands Sending Great Emails](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/wellness-brands-emails/): The best way to get motivation for your campaigns are to see what other brands are doing. Here are some great emails from wellness brands. - [How To Implement an Effective and Seamless Email Marketing Strategy](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/why-having-an-email-marketing-strategy-is-important/): Successful email marketing entails so much more than just whipping up some content and pressing send. Having a comprehensive strategy is crucial. - [How to Promote Your Live Streams with Email Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/promote-live-streams-email-marketing/): You put a lot of effort into your live streams, so it's crucial that you promote them. Here's how to do so with email marketing. - [The Different Types of Emails and Why You Should be Sending Them](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-6-types-of-emails-you-should-be-sending/): Are you maximizing on your email marketing? Make sure you're including these types of emails in your email marketing strategy. - [iOS 15 and How it Will Change Your Email Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ios-15-update-email-marketing/): What do you need to know about the iOS 15 update? Everything. Here's how the iOS 15 update changes email marketing. - [Why Your Email List isn’t Growing: A Troubleshooting Guide](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/why-your-email-list-isnt-growing/): You need to build your email list in order to grow your business. Here are some reasons why your email list isn't growing (and solutions). - [Ways to Create Visually Appealing Email Design](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-design/): Make your emails more visually appealing and see your engagement rise because of it. Here are some tips for great email design. - [What Is Email Throttling and How Does It Affect Email Marketing?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/what-is-email-throttling/): What is email throttling and how does it affect your email marketing? And how do you avoid it happening to you? - [4 Brands That Have Upped Their Audience Social Media Engagement](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/brands-social-media-engagement/): Building your social media engagement takes time and requires an effectie strategy. Here are four brands that know what they're doing. - [How to Perform Effective Keyword Research](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/keyword-research/): Your keyword research is at the heart of your SEO strategy. If you want your SEO strategy to be rock solid, here are some keyword tips. - [5 Types of Post-Purchase Emails to Boost eCommerce Sales](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/post-purchase-emails/): If you're looking to boost eCommerce sales, make sure you try these five post purchase emails to send your customers. - [How Triggered Emails can Take Your Conversions to the Next Level](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/triggered-emails-conversions/): If you're looking to increase conversions (who isn't?) then it's time to tap into the power of triggered emails. - [Why Your Marketing Emails Aren’t Converting](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/marketing-emails-converting/): Having trouble with your marketing emails? If they aren't doing a great job at converting leads to customers, here's why. - [4 eCommerce Content Marketing Strategies to Boost Sales](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ecommerce-content-marketing-strategies/): If you're looking to boost sales look no further than your content marketing strategy. Here are four eCommerce tips that work. - [Mobile Eye-Tracking and What it Tells Us About Our Emails](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/mobile-eye-tracking/): Let's dive into what mobile eye-tracking is and how it can help shape the way you go about putting your emails together. - [How to Grow Your Subscriber List Using Benchmark Email](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/grow-your-subscriber-list/): Our email automation tool offers you some great features that will help you not only engage your audience, but grow your subscriber list. - [Social Media Emails Done Right (How to Embed Social Posts and Events)](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/social-media-emails-done-right/): Bringing your social media channels together with your email marketing can be a simple strategy that reaps tons of benefits. - [How to Get Other Sites to Link to Your Content (and Why You Should)](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-get-backlinks/): Improving your company's SEO involves various different methods, including acquiring backlinks. Here's how to get backlinks the right way. - [Is Your Email Blacklisted? Here's How to Find Out](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ip-gets-blacklisted/): Having difficulty getting your emails to the inbox? You could be blacklisted. Here's what being blacklisted means and how to check if you are. - [5 Emails for Summer Campaign Inspiration](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/emails-summer-campaign/): These 5 brands send great summer email campaigns. Take a look and take a note for some ways you can spice up your summer campaigns. - [A Step-By-Step Guide for Adding Gifs in Your Emails](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/getting-it-right-gifs-and-memes-in-email-campaigns/): Make your campaigns more engaging and fun with gifs. Not sure where to start? Here's a step-by-step guide for adding gifs in your emails. - [Understanding the Marketing Mix Concept - The Four Ps](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/marketing-mix-concept/): In order to effectively marketing and sell your product, you have to fully understand the marketing mix concept, and the "4 Ps." - [Permission-Based Selling: What Is It and Why Does It Work?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/permission-based-selling/): You've heard of permission-based emails, but have you heard of permission-based selling? Here's what it is and how to use it. - [5 Best Omnichannel Marketing Practices to Grow Your eCommerce Business](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/omnichannel-marketing-practices/): Relying on one channel to grow your business isn't feasible or smart. Here are give omnichannel marketing practices to try for growth. - [4 Ways Instagram and Email Marketing Can Work Together](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/instagram-and-email-marketing/): There are some creative ways you can promote your Instagram in your email marketing, and your email marketing on your Instagram. - [How to Harness Facebook Video Ads to Grow Your Email List](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/facebook-video-ads-grow-email-list/): Facebook video ads are a great marketing tool at your fingertips. Here's how to use them to grow your email list (and why you should). - [The Loss of Third-Party Cookies is a Bigger Issue Than You Think](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-loss-of-third-party-cookies/): What does the loss of third-party cookies mean for marketers and digital advertisers? We break it all down in this blog article. - [The Correlation and Impact of SEO on Lead Generation](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/seo-and-lead-generation/): SEO influences your lead generation efforts in more ways than one. Read our blog post for a deep dive into the correlation between the two. - [Top Lessons From Fashion Brands That Create Runway-Worthy Emails](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/fashion-brands-emails/): The best way to learn is by example. Here are some great email examples, and lessons, from top fashion brands. - [Stop it Before it Happens: 8 Tactics to Avoid Declining Sales](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/avoid-declining-sales/): Summer is notorious for being slow for sales. Here are some ways you can avoid declining sales proactively. - [How to Use Visual Content to Boost Your Customer Base](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/visual-content/): Creating visual content is great for creativity and boosting engagement with your audience. Here's how it can increase your customer base. - [Get Your Business Blooming with These Spring Email Ideas](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/spring-email-ideas/): Spring has sprung! Here are some great spring email ideas and examples for you to incorporate into your email strategy. - [What is the Difference Between Earned, Owned, and Paid Traffic?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/earned-owned-and-paid-traffic/): We break down three of the main web traffic sources: earned traffic, owned traffic, or paid traffic, and why each are important. - [10 Kinds of Content You Should Already Be Creating](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/content-you-should-already-be-creating/): If you're late to the content game, it's time to play catch-up. Here are ten types of content you should already be creating. - [Proven Psychology Tactics To Drive Sales With Content Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/proven-psychology-tactics-to-drive-sales-with-content-marketing/): Marketers actively use psychology to sell. It is much more effective to use background knowledge in human behavior than trying to figure out every - [Website Forms 101: The Various Types, Where to Put them, and How to Make Them Effective](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/website-forms-101/): Learn everything you need to know about website forms, including the various types, where to put them on your website, and more! - [5 Marketing Strategies You Should Adopt in 2021](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/marketing-strategies-2021/): When it comes to marketing strategies, it's good to tap into various marketing trends that are likely to dominate in the months to come. - [10 Tips for Better User Feedback](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/10-tips-for-better-user-feedback/): The happier your users are, the longer they'll be customers. Here are three great tips to ensure you get better user feedback. - [Experts Speak: Email Marketing Trends to Look Forward to in 2021](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/experts-speak-email-marketing-trends/): The experts have spoken! Check out these six email marketing trends from industry experts that you've got to incorporate into your strategy. - [Top-Notch Email Examples from 6 Shoe Brands](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/top-notch-email-examples-from-shoe-brands/): We love getting emails when they're creative and thoughtful. Check out these six shoe brands that send top-notch emails. - [How Many Emails Should I Be Sending?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-many-emails-should-i-be-sending/): You know you should be sending emails to nurture leads, but still you find yourself asking, "How many emails should I be sending?" - [Striking the Right Chord: 4 Tools for Mapping Content and Tone to Each Buyer Stage](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/tools-for-mapping-content-and-tone/): Each stage of the buyer's journey requires specific kinds of content. Here are the content tools you should add to your toolkit. - [The Quickest Ways to Become an Email Marketing Fool](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-quickest-ways-to-become-an-email-marketing-fool/): This April Fools’ Day, make sure your emails don't make you look the part. Here are the quickest ways to become an email marketing fool. - [How to Deliver an Exceptional Customer Experience with Email Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-deliver-an-exceptional-customer-experience-with-email-marketing/): In the age of information overload, it can be tricky to grab and retain your customers’ attention for a prolonged period of time. They are targeted by - [4 Email Productivity Tips, Tricks, and Hacks](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-productivity-tips/): Is your inbox a mess? It doesn't have to be. Breathe easy with these email productivity tips, tricks, and hacks. - [The Fundamentals of Email Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-fundamentals-of-email-marketing/): Let's get back to basics. In this blog post, we outline the five fundamentals of email marketing that you always need to take note of. - [What Is AMP For Email? And What Can You Do With It?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/amp-for-email/): What is AMP technology and how does using it affect your email marketing for the better? Let's dive into how AMP can improve your emails. - [Your Ultimate Guide to Understanding Customer Journeys](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ultimate-guide-customer-journeys/): The better you understand customer journeys the better you'll be able to sell and market your product to prospects. - [Why You Should Care About Email Testing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-testing/): Email testing may seem like just another unnecessary step in email marketing, but it isn't. Email testing is crucial for email success. - [4 Tips for Mastering Your Influencer Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/mastering-your-influencer-marketing/): Implementing an influencer marketing strategy can be extremely effective. Here's how to ensure you do it the right way. - [8 Email Marketing Trends That Can Supercharge Your 2021 Strategy](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-trends-supercharge-strategy/): Who doesn't love a good trend roundup? Here are eight email marketing trends you should have on your radar this year. - [5 Habits of the Lucky Email Marketer](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/5-habits-of-the-lucky-email-marketer/): There's more to being a successful email marketer than just luck. Here are some habits that lead to ultimate success. - [7 Strategies to Get Your Ad Listed in the "Top Picks" Section of Gmail's Promotion Tab](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/top-picks-section-gmail-promotion-tab/): Gmail tabs changed the way marketers used email. Here's how to get your email listed in the "Top Picks" section of Gmail's Promotion Tab. - [Data-Driven Marketing: How Confident Are Marketers in 2021?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/data-driven-marketing/): Data-driven marketing is taking over the world—which is hardly a surprise considering the year we have had. 2020 was spent sharing a near-constant stream - [Make 2021 the Year of Higher Conversions](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/higher-conversions/): 2020 left us with a lot to come back from. 2021 is all about higher conversions, and here's how to make it happen. - [Remote Work Is Here to Stay — Why Your Company Should Get On Board and Tips for Going Remote](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/working-remote-or-remotely-working/): Looks like the remote work lifestyle isn't going anywhere. If you're still not sure about it, here are some ways to get on board. - [5 Brands That Put Together Great Emails](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/brands-that-put-together-great-emails/): If you want to send great emails, take some notes from other brands. Here are five brands that put together great emails. - [How To Use LinkedIn Contacts For Email Marketing: A Step-By-Step Guide For Startups](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/linkedin-contacts-for-email-marketing/): Getting creative with your email marketing is imperative if you want to maintain an edge over the competition. - [7 eCommerce Emails That Give Us Heart Eyes](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ecommerce-emails-that-give-us-heart-eyes/): You have to give props where props are due. Here are seven of our favorite eCommerce emails and why we love them so much. - [Benchmark Email Announces Acquisition of Contacts+](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/benchmark-email-announces-acquisition/): Benchmark Email, a leading software as a service provider of sales and marketing solutions, announces that it acquired Contacts+. - [How to Put Together a Great Whitepaper](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-put-together-a-whitepaper/): Creating content that converts site visitors to leads is necessary for any strategy. Here's how to put together a whitepaper. - [How to Maintain Quality When Outsourcing Digital Content Creation](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/outsourcing-digital-content-creation/): When you outsource anything, you run the risk of sacrificing quality. Follow these tips when outsourcing digital content creation. - [A Quick Guide for Creating an Effective Sales Plan](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/sales-plan/): Is it time to solidify a sales plan that delivers? We put together a quick guide that will help you create an effective sales plan. - [3 Cost-Efficient Marketing Tips for Nonprofits](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/cost-efficient-marketing-tips-for-nonprofits/): Implementing effective marketing tactics can be expensive. That's why we've assembled some cost-effective marketing tips for non-profits. - [3 Email Workflows You Should Be Using Right Now](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-workflows-you-should-be-using/): Don't let your leads get stuck in the funnel. Here are three email workflows you should be using right now to keep your funnel flowing. - [How to Keep Your Digital Event Engaging](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/digital-event-engaging/): Given the present state of the world, digital events are on the rise. Here are some crucial tips for keeping your digital event engaging. - [6 Things Every Email Marketer Should Be Doing This Year](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/things-every-email-marketer-should-be-doing/): You probably have a lot of goals for 2021. But no matter what they are, here are some things email marketers should be doing. - [How Kate's Clothing Uses Benchmark Email to Increase Engagement and Sales](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/kates-clothing/): Read how Kate's Clothing uses Benchmark Email to increase engagement with their customers and increase sales. - [6 Best Small Business Marketing Automation Tools for 2021](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/small-business-marketing-automation-tools/): When it comes to marketing tools, none come close to marketing automation. Here are six small business marketing automation tools for 2021. - [Email Validation APIs: Why They're Worth It and How to Get Started Using One](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-validation-apis-why-theyre-worth-it-and-how-to-get-started-using-one/): Email validation APIs are helping thousands of brands keep their email lists in shape. See why they’re worth it and how you can get started using one. - [Content Underperforming? Here's How to Remedy It.](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/content-underperforming/): It's frustrating when the time and effort you put into your content yields unfavorable results. Here's how to fix underperforming content. - [A Step-By-Step Guide to Facebook Advertising](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/guide-facebook-advertising/): It's important to advertise your company on platforms where your customers are engaged. Here's a step-by-step guide for Facebook advertising. - [4 Digital Networking Faux Pas That Will Cost You Leads](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/digital-networking-faux-pas/): With an increased emphasis on digital networking, you can't afford to mess up. Here are four digital networking mistakes that will cost you. - [How to Get Your Leads to Share Your Content](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-get-your-leads-to-share-your-content/): Grow your lead pool, expand your reach, and get your content in the right hands. Here's how to get your leads to share your content. - [6 Tips for Newsjacking Your Way to More Leads](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/newsjacking/): Newsjacking can be an extremely difficult endeavor, but when it's pulled off successfully, it can create tons of benefits. - [8 Ways to Prepare Your Small Business For Holiday Sales](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/small-business-for-holiday-sales/): It's that hectic time of year! It's time to get your eCommerce business ready for the influx of holiday sales. Here's how. - [5 Email Marketing Trends for Supply Chain and Logistics](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-trends-supply-chain-logistics/): If you want to stay competitive in the supply chain and logistics industry, you need to be abreast of the various email marketing trends. - [5 Tools That Will Make Your Inbound Marketing Easier](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/tools-inbound-marketing/): Take a load off! Here are some tools to add to your arsenal that will make your inbound marketing efforts a sinch. - [Social Media Sizzles, But Here's How Email Marketing STILL Makes More Money in 2020](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-makes-more-money/): Social media has always been the bright shiny object in the markteing world. However, email marketing is where the money is at. - [Email Marketing Rules and Regulations You Need To Know](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-rules-and-regulations/): Look no further. We've listed all the email marketing rules and regulations you need to know right here in this blog post. - [Educate Your Content Marketing Prospects First, Then Sell Them](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/educate-your-content-marketing-prospects/): When it comes to selling your product or services to your content marketing prospects, you should focus on education. - [How To Be a Great Partner](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-be-a-great-partner/): When joining forces with another brand, it's important that you bring your A game. Here's how to be a great partner. - [Re-Engage Subscribers With These 5 Emails](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/re-engage-subscribers/): Are your email subscribers losing interest? Stop it before it becomes a bigger issue. Here are five email ideas to re-engage subscribers. - [7 Different Ways You Can Use Customer Surveys](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/customer-surveys/): Knowing what your customers think is an invaluable thing and can inform various different strategies. Here's the lowdown on customer surveys. - [Content Marketing Mistakes You're Definitely Making](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/content-marketing-mistakes/): No one is perfect. When it comes to your content marketing, there's always going to be unknowns. Here are some mistakes you're making. - [How to Get Started with Email Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-get-started-with-email-marketing/): You know you should have an email marketing plan, but where do you even begin? Here's how to get started with email marketing. - [How to Optimize Your Site for Better Lead Conversion](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/optimize-your-site-for-better-lead-conversion/): You don't want people to visit your site then leave. You want them to convert. Here's how to optimize your site for better lead conversion. - [4 Best Types of Marketing Software for Account-Based Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/marketing-software-for-account-based-marketing/): Account based marketing is a strategic method, and there's different kinds of software that can help you be more successful. - [Email Marketing Benchmarks: How Do You Compare to Your Industry?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-benchmarks-2/): Have you ever wondered how your email marketing stacks up against others in your industry? Check out our users' email marketing benchmarks. - [Customer Marketing: Why You Should Consider It](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/customer-marketing/): In this blog post, we're breaking down customer marketing, including what it is, and how to use it to sell more. - [3 Reasons Why Big Data Analytics is Important Now More Than Ever](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/big-data-analytics/): Big data is no longer just some buzzword. It’s important for every business and wanting to keep up with a fast-evolving consumer landscape. - [How to Create Sales Enablement Content](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-create-sales-enablement-content/): Sales and marketing are two departments working toward very similar goals. Here's how to create sales enablement content. - [How to Create a Sense of Urgency to Convert More Leads](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/create-a-sense-of-urgency-to-convert-more-leads/): There are subtle ways you can create more ugency on your website and in your marketing that will convert more leads. Here's how. - [No More Mass Emails](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/no-more-mass-emails/): Mass emails are a huge no-no for email marketers. Here's why you need to cut the cord with mass emails and what you should be doing instead. - [How Long Should My Emails Be?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-long-should-my-emails-be/): There's a lot of tricks to the email marketing trade. But knowing how long your emails should be isn't a trick, it's an art. - [Why It’s Never a Good Time to Put Off Email Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/why-its-never-a-good-time-to-put-off-email-marketing/): There's no time like the present. And when it comes to email marketing, there's no good excuse for putting it off. - [How to Implement an SEO Strategy](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-implement-an-seo-strategy/): Having an SEO strategy does wonders for your inbound marketing efforts. Read our blog post for SEO tips and a step-by-step guide. - [Seven Things You Didn't Know About Email Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/things-you-didnt-know-about-email-marketing/): Sure, email marketing has been around for quite some time. But that doesn't mean you know everything about it. - [Is It Time to Redesign Your Email Newsletter?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/is-it-time-to-redesign-your-email-newsletter/): You may be happy with the way your email newsletter looks. But if it isn't converting or getting engagment, it may be time for a redesign. - [How to Identify Your Most Qualified Leads](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-identify-your-most-qualified-leads/): Generating leads for your business is always good. But there's a difference between leads and qualified leads. Here's how to identify your qualified leads. - [How to Use Multiple Domains in Your Content Marketing Strategy](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/multiple-domains-content-marketing-strategy/): Using multiple domains in your content marketing strategy can be a great way to support or even start brand new campaigns. - [The Power of the eNewsletter](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-power-of-the-enewsletter/): All hail the ubiquitous eNewsletter, a crucial part of your digital outreach! Read our blog post on why we think the eNewsletter is so great. - [How to Step Up Your Email Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/step-up-your-email-marketing/): Having an email marketing strategy is a must, we all know that. But you have to step up your game if you want to see results consistently. - [Small Business Remote Work: How to Embrace It](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/small-business-remote-work/): Remote work may seem like a hassle at this point, but it isn't going anywhere. Here's how to embrace remote work so you can be productive. - [How to Build a New Sales Pipeline During a Pandemic](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/new-sales-pipeline/): The pandemic shook things up and changed the way we do business. Here's how to build a new sales pipeline during a pandemic. - [How to Build a Killer Marketing Team](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-build-a-killer-marketing-team/): It's important that your marketing team be effective, smart, and productive. But personalities and roles have to mesh well, too. - [EU-US Privacy Shield - What You Need To Know](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/privacy-shield-what-you-need-to-know/): There's a lot going on with the recent news regarding the EU-US Privacy Shield. Here's what you need to know and how it affects you. - [Product Promo Videos: A Necessity for Your Content Strategy](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/product-promo-videos/): Product promo videos show off what your products can do and are a great addition to your content marketing strategy. Here are some tips to follow. - [PRESS RELEASE: Benchmark Email Launches BenchmarkONE K12 Edition for School Communicators](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/benchmarkone-k12-edition/): Benchmark Email, a leading software as a service provider of sales and marketing solutions, today announces the launch of the BenchmarkONE K12 Edition. - [5 Advantages You're Forfeiting If You're Not Using Marketing Automation Software](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/advantages-youre-forfeiting-not-using-marketing-automation/): The longer you go without using marketing automation, the longer you go without tons of benefits to your sales and marketing strategies. - [How to Effectively Market Your Product](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-effectively-market-your-product/): There's a lot that goes into marketing your product, and you can't rush a new product rollout. Here's how to implement product marketing correctly. - [How to Put Together a Great Lead Nurture Strategy](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-put-together-a-lead-nurture-strategy/): Lead nurturing refers to everything you do to engage your leads and move them further along the funnel. Here's how to put together a lead nurture strategy. - [Your Email Marketing Budget Checklist](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-budget-checklist/): Looking to use an email marketing software but want to make sure you have the budget? Look no further. Check out our email marketing budget checklist. - [Email Marketing Tactics That Lead to Demand Gen Success](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-tactics-that-lead-to-demand-gen-success/): Increasing awareness for your brand is often the first step in lead generation. But demand gen tactics often have to be creative in order to be successful. - [How to Use One Idea To Create Tons of Content](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-use-one-idea-to-create-tons-of-content/): Work smarter, not harder. In this blog post, we'll outline how you can take just one idea and use it to create tons of valuable content. - [How to Avoid Cutting Down on The Essentials of Running an E-Commerce Site](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-avoid-cutting-down-on-the-essentials-of-running-an-e-commerce-site/): An e-commerce site is a great income generator for entrepreneurs. Learn how to keep your online store running smoothly and avoid the dreaded price drop. - [The Three Most Important Factors for Your Email Strategy This Year](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/important-factors-for-your-email-strategy/): Email marketing spend and engagement is growing. Which means you have to up your game if you want your email strategy to deliver. - [5 Brands Who Have Perfected Their Email Newsletter](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/brands-who-have-perfected-their-email-newsletter/): If you haven’t gotten your email newsletter up and running or are looking to revitalize an existing one, now is a perfect time to get it started. - [Tips for Working From Home With Kids](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/tips-for-working-from-home-with-kids/): The pandemic has shaken things up in more ways than one. A lot of us are working from home with kids and could use a few tips. - [How to Get More Email Subscribers Using Paid Ads](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-get-more-email-subscribers-using-paid-ads/): There are various methods and strategies you can employ that will get you more email subscribers. And paid ads is one of them. - [The ROI of Email Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/roi-of-email-marketing/): Dollar for dollar, marketers get more benefits out of emails than they do out of pretty much any other endeavor. Let's discuss the ROI of email marketing. - [IP Warming: How To Do It Right](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ip-warming-how-to-do-it-right/): When it comes to email marketing campaigns, IP warming is used quite frequently. Here's what it is, and how to do it effectively. - [4 Things You Should NEVER Do When Sending Emails](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/things-you-should-never-do-when-sending-emails/): Putting together an email can seem easy enough. But there are a lot of mistakes you can make. Here are four things you should never do when sending emails. - [9 Tips For Sending a Sales Email That Converts in 2020](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/tips-for-sending-a-sales-email-that-converts-in-2020/): This article is going to teach you everything you need to know to boost the conversion rate on your sales emails for 2020. - [The Guide to Amazing Client Management](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-guide-to-amazing-client-management/): As a B2B company, you know that if your clients aren’t happy, your business isn’t happy. It all comes down to client management. - [How to Keep Your Email Marketing Fresh](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-keep-your-email-marketing-fresh/): It’s hard enough to devise the perfect email once, let alone reinvent it on the regular. But there are ways your email marketing can stay fresh. - [Tips for Writing Persuasive and Effective Marketing and Sales Emails](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/tips-for-writing-marketing-and-sales-emails/): While there are other popular communication channels out there, they don’t negate the importance of marketing and sales emails. - [E-commerce Email Ideas To Boost Your Sales](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/e-commerce-email-ideas-to-boost-your-sales/): A well-executed email campaign can do a great job at boosting your sales. Here are effective e-commerce email ideas to try. - [Can Personalization and Marketing Automation Play Well Together?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/can-personalization-and-marketing-automation-play-well-together/): It's the age-old question: can personalization and marketing automation play well together? In fact, both are necessary for an effective strategy. - [How to Generate More Leads Online](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-generate-more-leads-online/): Every company needs leads. You need them to ensure your business has people to sell to. But, what are some ways to genrate more leads online? - [Consumer Video Habits Are Changing: Here’s What Marketers Need to Know in 2020](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/consumer-video-habits-are-changing/): Video is by far the most effective form of online marketing content. But, consumer video habits are changing. Here's what to expect this year. - [6 Ways Restaurants Can Keep Revenue Coming In](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-restaurants-can-keep-revenue-coming-in/): Right now, a lot of restaurants are trying to figure out ways to continue making money and keep their staff employed while having their doors shut. - [Your Networking Event is Cancelled. Now What?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/your-networking-event-is-cancelled-now-what/): Every year, companies budget out for various marketing and sales expenses. They decide which tradeshows, conferences, and networking events they’ll be - [How to Adapt a Mentality of Helping Over Selling](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-adapt-a-mentality-of-helping-over-selling-2/): Times are tough right now. And instead of focusing on selling, we should be helping. Here's how to adopt a mentality of helping over selling. - [4 Things Your Sales Team Should Be Doing But Isn’t](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/things-your-sales-team-should-be-doing-but-isnt/): Your sales team is a significant contributor to the overall success of your company. But there are things they need to be doing and aren't. - [How to Implement Lifecycle Email Marketing Campaigns](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/lifecycle-email-marketing-campaigns/): Lifecycle email marketing refers to product emails that are sent to recipients based on what stage of the customer lifecycle they’re in. - [Tools To Help Teams Work Remotely During the COVID-19 Outbreak](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/tools-to-help-teams-work-remotely-during-covid-19-outbreak/): With the COVID-19 outbreak, a lot of businesses have issued a temporary work remote policy. Here are some tools to help. - [COVID-19: 6 Ways Email Marketing Can Help in Dealing With the Consequences](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/covid-19-and-businesses/): COVID-19 has us all in uncharted territory. Here are some tips for communicating with customers and prospects during this time. - [How to Plan Your Social Media Calendar](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/social-media-calendar/): Social media is often an afterthought for marketers. Which is why a social media calendar is crucial for keeping you accountable. - [Email Marketing: 10 Reasons Why Your Response Rate Is Low](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/10-reasons-why-your-response-rate-is-low/): Is your email response rate a bit on the low side? Chances are at least one (or all) of these ten reasons is the culprit. - [Content or Design: What Matters More for Your Email Marketing?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/content-or-design-what-matters-more-for-your-email-marketing/): When it comes to your email marketing approach, what matters more? Content, or design? The answer may not be what you think. - [B2C Emails vs. B2B Emails](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/b2c-emails-vs-b2b-emails/): When you’re working out the differences between sending B2C emails and B2B emails, there are various elements you have to consider. - [No More Excuses: Why You Need to be Automating Your Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/why-you-need-to-be-automating-your-marketing/): No more putting off marketing automation. Here's why every business needs to be automating their marketing. - [Are Hashtags on Social Media Still Effective?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/hashtags-on-social-media/): Yes, hashtags on social med are still effective. But only if you're using them correctly. Here are some tips. - [5 Things Every Effective Landing Page Should Have](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/effective-landing-page/): Landing pages need to attract and convert. Here are five things every landing page should have in order to be effective. - [Leading Global SaaS Provider Benchmark Acquires St. Louis-Based MarketVolt](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/benchmark-acquires-marketvolt/): Leading sales and marketing SaaS provider Benchmark Email announced it has acquired MarketVolt, a St. Louis-based email marketing platform. - [Should Your SaaS Business Advertise on Review Sites?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/advertise-on-review-sites/): Should your SaaS company advertise on review sites? As with most things in the pay-per-click marketing world: it depends. - [4 Steps to Writing An Email That Sells Your Product](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/writing-an-email-that-sells-your-product/): When it comes to selling your products online, there’s one that marketing strategy stands the test of time -- selling through email. - [How To Create A Webinar That Builds Your Email List](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/create-a-webinar-that-builds-your-email-list/): Hosting regular webinars provides your brand with a variety of benefits. Here's some tips for creating a webinar that builds your email list. - [6 Brands That Send Great Emails](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/7-brands-that-send-great-emails/): Everyone’s inbox is busy. In order to grab and keep the interest of your subscribers, your emails have to be great. - [How Content Fuels Your Email Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-content-fuels-your-email-marketing/): Creating content fuels your email marketing efforts. Here we list how content plays a part in various emails you should be sending. - [7 Ways to Spice Up Your Email Newsletters](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/spice-up-your-email-newsletters/): Are your email newsletters getting a little stale? Here are seven ways you can add more spice and make them more exciting. - [3 Reasons Your Marketing Plan Isn't Working](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/3-reasons-your-marketing-plan-isnt-working/): When your marketing plan isn't working, it's usually the result of three common mistakes. And knowing what they are will help you avoid them. - [The Anatomy of an Effective Email](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/anatomy-of-an-effective-email/): The anatomy of an effective email includes specific components that should encourage people to open it, engage, and eventually convert. - [14 Psychology-Backed Tricks for Effective Sales and Marketing Emails](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/14-psychology-backed-tricks-for-effective-sales-and-marketing-emails/): Leverage psychology to supercharge your email marketing campaign. In this blog post, we'll explain exactly how to do that. - [Email Authentication: An Email Marketing Guide](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-authentication-an-email-marketing-guide/): In email marketing, authentication is becoming an even larger issue than the mountains of spam that make it to the inbox. Why? Because while spam itself - [Targeted Bulk Email is Much Better Than Regular Bulk Email](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/targeted-bulk-email-is-much-better-than-regular-bulk-email/): Targeted bulk emails help you to interact with those who are interested in your product or services, and it helps you personalize your communication. - [Email Marketing Newsletters: A Top To Bottom Guide](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-newsletters-a-top-to-bottom-guide/): One of the best ways to stay top of mind with prospects is by sending the email marketing newsletters. Here's a top to bottom guide. - [Send HTML Emails That Work: 3 Things To Avoid](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/send-html-emails-that-work-3-things-to-avoid/): Did you know that sloppy HTML code can get your email dumped into the spam file? Here's how to send HTML emails that work. - [Need Help Managing Your Bulk Email Campaign?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/need-help-managing-your-bulk-email-campaign/): Benchmark Email is the premier bulk email software service. With our permission-based online system, we can make your bulk email marketing as - [Are You Sure About a Daily Email Newsletter?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/are-you-sure-about-a-daily-email-newsletter/): Sending a daily email newsletter is probably not the best stratetgy to implement. Here are some reasons why you may want to avoid doing so. - [Email 101: Make Newsletters That Work](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-101-make-newsletters-that-work/): When it comes to email marketing, you have options. Your basic sales email and your basic email newsletter are two entirely different types of emails. - [What is 'HTML For Email' and How to Use it Effectively](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/what-is-html-for-email-and-how-to-use-it-effectively/): Exactly how do I go about creating that HTML email? Before HTML based emails arrived on the email marketing scene, businesses relied on plain text emails - [Email Surveys: Gathering Data The Easy Way](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-surveys-gathering-data-the-easy-way/): Fewer technologies have done more for marketing than email. It's fast, inexpensive, delivers a lot of data to pour over, and there are various different - [How Important Is It to Have a Business Newsletter?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-important-is-it-to-have-a-business-newsletter/): Having a business newsletter is extremely important for the success of your business. Here we list the various ways they're beneficial. - [Opt-In Email Marketing Vs. Bulk Email Spam](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/opt-in-email-marketing-vs-bulk-email-spam/): Though many people practice email marketing to promote their goods and services, some don't know the difference between spam and opt-in email marketing. - [What is an "HTML email link?"](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/what-is-an-html-email-link/): Using text and HTML email together   A long time ago, all email was created only in plain text. There was no option for HTML; emails sent and - [How to Send Bulk Email and Pitfalls to Avoid](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-send-bulk-email-pitfalls-to-avoid/): Proper business bulk email has the following ingredients Bulk email marketing has become very popular among businesses, big and small, across the world. - [What are Ezines?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/what-are-ezines/): The term 'ezine' stands for electronic magazine. If you simply replace 'maga' from magazine, with an 'e,' you get the term 'ezine'. - [Here's An Example of HTML Email Code](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/heres-an-example-of-html-email-code/): A good email editor is essential for working with HTML email code <p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-US - [The California Consumer Privacy Act and What You Need to Know](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-california-consumer-privacy-act/): Here's what you need to know about The California Consumer Privacy Act, how to prepare, and how to ensure you're compliant. - [5 Ways to Kickstart Your Email Marketing This Year](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/kickstart-your-email-marketing/): It's time to kickstart your email marketing efforts so you can make waves in 2020 and see more ROI. Here are five ways to get started now. - [6 Email Marketing Trends for 2020](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-trends-2020/): With 2020 fast approaching, let's take a look at some of the email marketing trends that are expected to make an impact this coming year. - [4 Unique Ways to Get More Opt-In Subscribers](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/get-people-to-opt-in-to-your-emails/): Opt-in subscribers are crucial for successful email marketing, but getting them requires a creative approach to see success. - [4 Ways Deliverability-Based List Pruning Can Increase Your Email ROI](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/deliverability-based-list-pruning/): Email list cleanup can be scary. But your deliverability depends on it. Here are some ways deliverability-based list pruning is crucial. - [Top 10 Email Marketing Blogs You Should Follow](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/top-10-email-marketing-blogs-you-should-follow/): Take a look at this list of excellent email marketing blogs to follow that will keep you on-trend and i nspire creativity. - [The Email Marketing Benchmarks You Should be Measuring](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-benchmarks/): Here are eight email marketing benchmarks you should be measuring to ensure your email marketing is on-point. - [8 Marketing Automation Tips for Small Business](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/small-business-marketing-automation-tips/): Automating repetitive tasks and processes allows your small business to do more with less for better marketing results. - [11 Ways to Upgrade Your Email Marketing Content](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-content/): The content of your marketing emails will make or break them in the inbox. Here are a few tips for putting together the best email marketing content. - [5 Ways to Make Your Marketing Emails More Personal](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-personalization/): In the era of inbox overload, email personalization is a must for businesses trying to get noticed. Use these tips to improve your engagement. - [5 Foolproof Strategies to Help You Win More Email Subscribers](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/win-more-email-subscribers/): Getting more subscribers is the goal of most email marketing campaigns. Here's some foolproof strategies to get you more email subscribers. - [10 Ways To Grow Your Email List As An eCommerce Brand](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/grow-your-ecommerce-email-list/): If you’re starting out or you’re looking for new ways to boost your subscriber counts, here are ten ways to grow your email list as an e-commerce brand. - [Leading CRM and Email Marketing SaaS Providers, Hatchbuck, Benchmark, Merge](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/leading-crm-and-email-marketing-saas-providers-hatchbuck-benchmark-merge/): Benchmark Email and Hatchbuck, leading SaaS (software as a service) providers of sales and marketing solutions, today announced they have merged. - [What Email Marketing Integrations Deliver Scary Good Results?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-integrations-deliver-scary-good-results/): Email marketing services will sometimes have limited resources, which is why using an email marketing service with tons of practical integrations is key. - [The 7 Best Email Marketing Tips For Small Businesses We've Ever Heard](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/small-business-email-marketing-tips/): These small business email marketing tips from the experts will ensure that every email you send is on point and making it to the inbox. - [Using Marketing Automation to Improve the Customer Journey](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/marketing-automation-customer-journey/): Marketing automation might seem scary, but with minimal effort it can guide your leads down a path that shortens the road to conversion. - [Want to Build Your Email List Faster? Here is How to Choose the Right Lead Magnets](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/want-build-email-list-faster-%e2%80%a8here-choose-right-lead-magnets/): The key to creating good lead magnets is precise targeting. Here's how to choose the right lead magnets and build your email list faster. - [6 Top Email Marketing Design Tips to Keep Your Readers Engaged](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/6-top-email-marketing-design-tips-to-keep-your-readers-engaged/): Email marketing design can make or break your email strategy. Here are some design tips and examples to inspire your email marketing efforts. - [6 Trends That Suggest Email Marketing Is Still the Top Marketing Technique](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/6-trends-that-suggest-email-marketing-is-still-the-top-marketing-technique/): There are tons of marketing efforts out there, but email marketing is still the top marketing technique. Here are six trends that prove it. - [Why Email Marketing Is Your Most Valuable Brand Touchpoint](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/why-email-marketing-is-your-most-valuable-brand-touchpoint/): Email marketing, by nature, is a great way to keep in touch with people. Which means it's an extremely valuable brand touchpoint. - [Email Subscriber Loyalty: 8 Video Ideas to Keep Them Engaged](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-subscriber-loyalty-8-video-ideas-to-keep-them-engaged/): Keep your email subscribers guessing by mixing up the way you send them content. Here are eight video ideas to keep your subscribers engaged. - [Earn 18x The Revenue with Email Marketing Automation: Tips to Help Find Your Independence This Summer](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/earn-18x-the-revenue-with-automation-tips-to-help-find-your-independence-this-summer/): Let's talk about how to use email marketing automation to boost your revenue, free up your time and give you some much-needed independence. - [5 Tips for Successful Email Marketing Automation](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/5-tips-for-successful-email-marketing-automation/): Email marketinga automation comes with a ton of benefits for your brand and prospects. Here are five tips for successful email marketing automation. - [5 Ways to Use Email Marketing and Social Media Integration Techniques for Lead Generation](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/5-ways-to-use-email-marketing-and-social-media-integration-techniques-for-lead-generation/): Finding various ways to generate leads is crucial.. Here are five ways to use email marketing and social media integration techniques for lead generation. - [How To Increase eCommerce Sales in Summer](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-increase-ecommerce-sales-in-summer/): With the arrival of summer, it’s not uncommon for some to see our sales numbers drop. Here are some strategies to increase ecommerce sales. - [How To Improve Conversions With An Effective Lead Nurturing Email Automation](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-improve-conversions-with-an-effective-lead-nurturing-email-automation/): Lead nurturing is an effective email marketing tactic employed by most marketers. They keep prospects engaged and improve conversions. - [What To Do When Your Welcome Email Lacks Soul](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/what-to-do-when-your-welcome-email-lacks-soul/): What's the best way to message new prospects? Send them a welcome email! Here's how to ensure your welcome emails have substance. - [The Ultimate Guide On Email List Building Using Top Social Media Channels](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ultimate-guide-email-list-building-using-top-social-media-channels/): Here are some social media tips that will help you stay engaged with your prospects and create an effective email list building strategy. - [How to Design Powerful Email Call-To-Actions That Convert](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-design-powerful-email-call-to-actions-that-convert/): Your call-to-actions are crucial for converting site visitors to leads. Here's how to put together CTAs that are compelling enough to convert. - [Spring Cleaning: 4 Practices For Email List Health](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/spring-cleaning-4-practices-for-email-list-health/): Building an email list can be an exciting journey to prospective email marketers. But you have to ensure the list you're building is healthy. - [101 #MondayMotivation Quotes for Small Business Owners](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/monday-motivation-quotes/): When you have a case of the Mondays, it seems like nothing can save you. But here are some Monday motivation quotes to get you going. - [We ❤️ Newsletters: Tips and Inspiration from Our Email Marketing Experts](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/we-love-newsletters/): We love email newsletters. And we want to offer some tips and sound advice for putting together effective email newsletters. - [What Facebook Groups Can Do For Your Business (and How to Create Them)](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/what-facebook-groups-can-do-for-your-business/): Facebook is a great resource for your small business. It helps build a community and brand awareness, especially if you create a group. - [6 Email Trends In 2019 No One Is Talking About](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/6-email-trends-in-2019-no-one-is-talking-about/): As we head into 2019, brands will be working towards improving their emails in all sorts of ways. Here are six email trends you should know about this year. - [6 Ways to Use Social Media in Your Email Marketing Campaign](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/6-ways-to-use-social-media-in-your-email-marketing-campaign/): Incorporating social media in your marketing campaigns can help you experience a number of benefits. Here's how to use social in your email marketing. - [Building and Nurturing a Customer Email List Prior to a Product Launch](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/building-and-nurturing-a-customer-email-list-prior-to-a-product-launch/): Before you launch and promote your product, you want to make sure your customer email list is warm. Here's how to build and nurture a list before launch. - [How to Make your Marketing Emails More Clickable with Interactive Content](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-make-your-marketing-emails-more-clickable-with-interactive-content/): Interactive content is a must for your email marketing. Here's a step-by-step guide to make your marketing emails more clickable with interactive content. - [How To Grow Your Subscriber List Using Email Marketing Automation](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-grow-to-subscriber-list-using-email-marketing-automation/): Email marketing automation grows your email list and channels your email marketing process in the right direction. Here's how it can grow your email list. - [8 Ways You Can Use Messaging Apps to Boost Your Christmas Email Marketing Strategy](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/8-ways-you-can-use-messaging-apps-to-boost-your-christmas-email-marketing-strategy/): Email marketing has always been popular. But the rise of messaging apps means that you'll need to rethink how you approach your strategy. - [Top Effective Email Marketing Strategies That Will Boost Your Sales in 2019](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/top-effective-email-marketing-strategies-will-boost-sales-2019/): Boosting sales is a key to success, and marketing strategies are a key to boosting sales.Here are some strategies that are the most effective. - [5 Customer Retention Emails You Should Be Sending](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/5-customer-retention-emails-sending/): One of the biggest contributors to a successful business is customer retention. Here are a few customer retention emails you should be sending. - [Localization and CRM: An Ultimate Guide to Increase Your Global Reach and Sales](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/localization-and-crm-an-ultimate-guide-to-increase-your-global-reach-and-sales/): Having a CRM informs you of exactly who your prospects are and how to engage with them. When you add the power of localization, you can be unstoppable. - [15 Amazing Email Marketing Tips to Try Right Now](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/15-amazing-email-marketing-tips-try-right-now/): We could all use some more email marketing tips to help our emails not only get to the inbox, but resonate with our recipients. - [What is the Difference Between CRM And Email Marketing?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/what-is-the-difference-between-crm-and-email-marketing/): You’re looking to generate leads, manage your customers and automate your marketing. Which tool do you use? A CRM or an email marketing software? Both - [10 Successful Email Marketing Campaigns and Why They Worked](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/10-successful-email-marketing-campaigns-worked/): Email marketing is considered as one of the most cost-effective and online marketing strategies for business owners today, and for good reason. It isn’t - [Best Welcome Email Subject Lines to Greet Your New Subscribers](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/best-welcome-email-subject-lines-greet-new-subscribers/): The first email that you send to your new subscribers can work wonders for your relationship with them (first impressions are the most lasting, - [Email Marketing vs. Marketing Automation: What Your Business Needs To Know](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-vs-marketing-automation-business-needs-know/): A lot of people are wondering what email marketing is and how it differs from marketing automation. Are they the same? They also want to recognize if - [5 Fashion-Inspired Color Palettes for Your Summer Email Marketing Campaigns](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/5-fashion-inspired-color-palettes-summer-email-marketing-campaigns/): If you are anything like me, you have been closely following the summer fashion trends and taking copious notes. What is hot this summer and what are the - [Merge Tags Available in Benchmark Email](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/merge-tags-available-in-benchmark-email/): You can personalize or customize your Benchmark Email campaigns through the use of merge tags. The following categories of tags are available to show you - [A Content Strategist's Guide to Creating Engaging Email Content](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/content-strategists-guide-creating-engaging-email-content/): Your email marketing campaign is a crucial component of your overall content strategy and the best email marketing strategies will help you to reach and - [Benchmark Email is Swiss-US Privacy Shield Certified](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/benchmark-email-swiss-us-privacy-shield-certified/): At the start of the year, the U.S and Switzerland governments agreed to the Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield. This is important for understanding how you should - [The Power Of A Strong Call To Action: How To Make Yours Click-Worthy](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/power-strong-call-action-make-click-worthy/): Calls to action might be the most important part of your business strategy: the jewel in your marketing crown. Your brand’s success goes hand in hand with - [How To Create GDPR-Compliant Sign-Up Forms](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/gdpr-compliant-sign-up-forms/): The new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) goes into effect on may 25th. There is only a few days left to prepare all your email marketing - [How Benchmark adapts to the GDPR](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-benchmark-adapts-to-the-gdpr/): We have spent months talking about the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The 25th of May, which is the day when it goes into effect, is fast - [Adapt Your Email Marketing Strategy to the GDPR](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/webinar-gdpr-email-marketing/): We have spent months talking about the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The 25th of May, which is the day when it goes into effect, is fast - [Marketing Automation: Promote and Follow-up](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/marketing-automation-promote-follow/): If you are using an email marketing service, you are promoting something. It could be a newsletter, your latest blog post, updates on your non-profit, - [6 Automation Rules to Skyrocket Your Email Marketing Performance](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/6-automation-rules-skyrocket-email-marketing-performance/): Email marketing is surely the most challenging yet rewarding path towards riches. Every type of business, no matter whether it’s a big brand or a small - [Top 5 Email Marketing Automation Triggers You Should Know](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/top-5-email-marketing-automation-triggers-know/): Over the years, marketers continued to use “spray and pray” email marketing tactics. The basic idea is to create a killer email list, send out the same - [How to Pick the Best Free HTML Email Templates](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/3-elements-effective-newsletter-templates/): We all see beautifully designed emails in our inbox every day. Even local mom and pop shops or kitchen table operations seem to have them. Do all those - [The Importance of Configuring SPF and DKIM Records in Your Email Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/importance-records-spf-dkim/): How many business emails do you send in a typical month? Probably a lot. Maybe thousands of them. At the very least a newsletter with weekly or monthly - [Celebrate Black History Month](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/celebrate-february-with-a-black-history-month-email-template/): February is Black History Month. It's a time for celebration and to remind ourselves how far we've come and how much further we have to go. - [Fear of Marketing Automation (#FOMA): Insufficient Customer Data](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/fear-marketing-automation-foma-insufficient-customer-data/): Technology can seem intimidating, especially to professionals who lack a strong technical background. However, in today’s competitive marketplace, failing - [Benchmark Email Now Integrates With 1,000+ Other Products](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/benchmark-email-now-integrates-1000-products/): Do you remember Captain Planet? The famous line was “by your powers combined!” In case you’re too young to remember, have blocked it out or simply never - [Here’s Your Sneak Peek at a New Benchmark Interface](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/heres-sneak-peek-new-benchmark-interface/): Powerfully simple. Simply powerful. What does that mean? It means having the tools you need to accomplish your goals. It also means those tools are - [What is Marketing Automation?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/what-is-marketing-automation/): By now, you must have heard about marketing automation. Some may see it as a buzz-word of the moment, and some others may be taking it very seriously, but - [New Feature: Personalize your Email From Address](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/new-feature-personalize-your-email-from-address/): You asked for it, you got it: Your CRM Emails sent on behalf of your own email address! Two Options: Highest Authentication or Highest Personalization - [New Feature: Google Maps Automatically Completes Your Addresses](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/new-feature-google-maps-automatically-completes-your-addresses/): We’ve integrated with Google Maps! Now you can enter an address for a contact or lead and Google will prompt probable matches based on your first few - [New Feature: Upload Files Directly from Google Drive](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/new-feature-upload-files-directly-from-google-drive/): Are you an avid Google Drive user? Read on for our latest CRM software solution: If you’re like us, you’ve seen the light and moved many of - [What is CRM?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/what-is-crm/): CRM is Customer Relationship Management. CRM software helps you manage your customer relationships by improving your sales and support workflows. The - [How To Use Your Email List To Create Facebook Ads That Deliver](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/use-email-list-create-facebook-ads-deliver/): Did you know that the average Click Through Rate (CTR) for Facebook Ads is just 0.9%? What if I said you could increase your Facebook ad CTR to 4% and - [Customer Feedback Through Email Marketing: How To Do It Right](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/customer-feedback-email-marketing-right/): Everyone in business knows customer feedback is worth its weight in gold. Who better to ask about your latest feature upgrade than the people paying money - [How to Move Your Emails From Gmail's Promotions tab to Primary](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-move-your-emails-from-gmails-promotions-tab-to-primary/): Last year, in an attempt to make your email life easier, Gmail introduced the tabbed inbox. Its goal being to make sure you only see important emails in - [The Advantages of Using A Dedicated IP in Email Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/advantages-using-dedicated-ip-email-marketing/): In this second article of our deliverability series, we’re going to be looking at the importance of using a Dedicated IP. If you’re not sure what that is, - [6 Email Subject Line Templates That Will Get Your Emails Opened](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/6-email-subject-line-templates-will-get-emails-opened/): Back in 1963, David Ogilvy reminded his profession that ‘on the average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have - [Your Questions Answered: List Uploads & List Verification](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/questions-answered-list-uploads-list-verification/): Your list is your most valuable asset in email marketing. Having a good quality list plays a huge role in the success of your campaigns and your - [Benchmark is Proudly TRUSTe Certified](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/benchmark-proudly-truste-certified/): There are certain emails you receive that make your day. This was one of them: Congratulations! After a thorough assessment against TRUSTe’s Certification - [Year in Review: Most Important Email Marketing Developments in 2016](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/year-review-important-email-marketing-developments-2016/): This year has been a major year for email marketers. It’s been a year that’s seen email marketing platforms both grow and simply at the same time. On the - [How Often Should I Revise My Email Marketing Strategy?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/often-revise-email-marketing-strategy/): Many businesses check their marketing efforts monthly, quarterly, bi-annually or even annually. This is a normal practice, and you may even have meetings - [Introducing Pop Up Signup Forms](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/introducing-pop-signup-forms/): Timing is everything. To grow your email list and see your subscriber base increase, you need to connect with potential subscribers at the time that they - [Two Powerful Ways To Use Keywords & Hashtags In Your Email Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/two-powerful-ways-use-keywords-hashtags-email-marketing/): We’re all about keywords … until it comes to email marketing. Yet, did you know that keywords and hashtags are just as powerful in your email - [How Do I Make Sure My Emails Are Mobile Friendly?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/make-sure-emails-mobile-friendly/): How many of you start the day by waking up and then instantly start reaching for your phone (by reaching I mean if it’s not already under your pillow)? I - [How Do I Know If I'm Sending Too Many Emails?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/know-im-sending-many-emails/): The answer to this question is a matter of actions speaking louder than words, but you may get some subscribers that tell you to, “stop sending so many - [Benchmark Email Shopify Integration](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/benchmark-email-shopify-integration/): Taking your business from in-store to online can be a very daunting experience. Not only is there a whole new system to learn – HTML, design, coding, etc. - [The 10 Commandments of Email](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-10-commandments-of-email/): Despite how much has changed in the last 20 years in how we communicate and gather information, one thing still stands strong: email. Today, we’re sending - [4 Things You Didn’t Know About Community Managers](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/4-things-you-didnt-know-about-community-managers/): Community managers are the gatekeepers of your social accounts. If this sounds vague to you, you’re not the only one. In fact, the role of a community - [5 Alternative Training and Development Ideas](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/5-alternative-training-and-development-ideas/): Classic training and development horror stories recall experiences very similar to scenarios pulled from TV’s The Office. Purgatory redefined, the idea of - [Pop Culture Marketing: 5-Steps to Success for Companies Great and Small](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/pop-culture-marketing-5-steps-to-success-for-companies-great-and-small/): If asked a decade ago to comment on the potential for pop culture to increase sales and visibility in a marketing strategy, three things would have come - [Unroll.me: A Flawed, Misleading Unsubscribe Service](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/unroll-flawed-misleading-unsubscribe-service/): Have you ever glanced at a friend or family member’s phone or computer and been shocked at the number of unread emails in their inbox? I may be far too - [The State of Email Marketing in 2023](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-state-of-email-marketing-in-2023/): The third year of the Justin Timberlake Administration was far less stormy than the first two when the new musician turned President had ordered the - [The Top 7 Tips To Fight The Shorter Holiday Selling Season](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-top-7-tips-to-fight-the-shorter-holiday-selling-season/): Not since 2008 has Cyber Monday fallen into December, and in 2013 it occurs a mere 23 days prior to Christmas versus the more expansive 29 days last year. - [Infographics Structure: The Martini Glass](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/infographics-structure-the-martini-glass/): Clients ask me for data visualizations or infographics when they want a mixture of the two, which online newspapers call interactive graphics. Data - [Finding Creative Inspiration For Your Email Designs](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/finding-creative-inspiration-for-your-email-designs/): Now that we have a couple of decades of email marketing history to draw from, it could seem that every possible design concept that has is possible to - [New Feature: Inbox Checker](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/new-feature-inbox-checker/): Emails are being opened and read on more devices than ever before. That shouldn’t be news to you. It’s been one of the top headlines in regards to email - [The Best Leadership Quotes Of All Time](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-best-leadership-quotes-of-all-time/): World history has been marked with many great leaders, and we can learn their leadership secrets through their quotes. "Leadership and learning are - [Yapmo Explains Social Enterprise vs. Social Media](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/yapmo-explains-social-enterprise-vs-social-media/): Big business and small business have one thing in common: They’re not sure where to draw the line with social media in the workplace. Some companies - [Kapost Sets the Benchmark for Content Marketing Software](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/kapost-sets-the-benchmark-for-content-marketing-software/): What started out as a service for large media companies looking to manage their content workflow, has now been turned into a portal to help business do - [Benchmark Email Joins Zendesk's Elite List of Integrations](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/pressroomnews13august12-2/): Press Room From press releases to company announcements, you'll find it all here. 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Summary: Benchmark Email CEO Featured in Entrepreneur Journeys Series - [9 Trends in Project Management Software](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/9-trends-in-project-management-software/): Do you know what the new top competition to airline companies such as American Airlines, British Airways or Singapore Airlines is? - [Understanding YouTube’s New Analytics and Ad Features](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/understanding-youtubes-new-analytics-and-ad-features/): While most other social networks have been fast evolving over the last year, while others have been sprouting like mushrooms, there was one network that - [Pros and Cons of Affiliate Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/pros-and-cons-of-affiliate-marketing/): Used by many merchants as an online marketing strategy and by website and blog owners as a means of “semi-passive” income generation, affiliate marketing - [Facebook Develops Tool to Bypass Google’s Search Plus Your World](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/facebook-develops-tool-to-bypass-googles-search-plus-your-world/): 2012 has already been an interesting year for the search market, one filled with twists, turns and plenty of drama. It all started with Search Plus Your - [What Brands Can Learn from Macy’s Social Media Strategy](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/what-brands-can-learn-from-macys-social-media-strategy/): Department store giant, Macy’s recently revamped their shopping strategy with a clever marriage between concierge shopping and social media. With over 800 - [What Is Social Discovery and Why Does It Matter to Marketers?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/what-is-social-discovery-and-why-does-it-matter-to-marketers/): Even though you may have never heard of it, social discovery is nothing new. It has been at the core of social networking for years and started to gain - [Benchmark Email Releases Mobile Marketing iPhone App](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/pressroomnews28feb12/): Press Room From press releases to company announcements, you'll find it all here. Summary: Benchmark Email Releases Mobile Marketing iPhone App Benchmark - [Snap! Snapp? Clear Snap Confusion with Creative DIY Apps](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/snap-snapp-clear-snap-confusion-and-create-diy-apps/): Apps are a big business and everyone’s cashing in on them – so maybe that’s why they might be having trouble coming up with unique names, or their - [Lacking True Innovation, CES Goes Crazy-Gadget Crazy](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/lacking-true-innovation-ces-goes-crazy-gadget-crazy/): Some of the biggest news at CES was how little news came out of the show. Most of the exhibition floor featured larger and more advanced television - [Online Marketing Tips: The Human Touch in the Digital Age](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/online-marketing-tips-the-human-touch-in-the-digital-age/): Automation is a word most of us equate to convenience. To a person at home, it might mean sitting in bed with a remote control that handles your home - [Zoho Helps Companies Excel in the Art of Customer Relationships](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/zoho-helps-companies-excel-in-the-art-of-customer-relationships/): It’s always easier to grow your business through satisfied existing customers than to seek out new ones. Of course, any marketing plan should pursue both - [How Facebook’s Privacy Policies Freely Sold User Data](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-facebooks-privacy-policies-freely-sold-user-data/): It’s difficult to feel sorry for mega-zillionaire Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, but you have to admit that his social network is in a bit of a bind. - [The Steve Jobs Legacy: Luck, Genius & Serendipity](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-steve-jobs-legacy-luck-genius-serendipity/): In eulogy, every sinner becomes a saint." Although Steve Jobs is still with us, and it can only be hoped for a very long time, the recent photo of his - [Email Marketing Services: Calculating Revenue per Email](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-services-calculating-revenue-per-email/): There are a number of different metrics that can provide insight into the overall performance of your email marketing initiatives. Most marketers focus on - [Customize an Email Template to Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month!](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/customize-an-email-template-to-celebrate-hispanic-heritage-month/): When I was in college I had the opportunity to go on a Birthright trip to Israel with my brother, roommate and a few other friends. It was an incredible - [Small Business Marketing: How to Market Your Webinar](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/small-business-marketing-how-to-market-your-webinar/): Last week I talked about the benefits of marketing content with webinars and white papers. Webinars are such a powerful tool that the marketing strategy - [How to Work Google+ into Your Existing Marketing Strategy](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-work-google-into-your-existing-marketing-strategy/): The hype surrounding Google+ has died down somewhat, but Google’s new social toy continues to roll along during its beta stage. Already we have witnessed - [Benchmark Email offers free email accounts to PTAs, PTOs, PTSAs and to non-profit organizations that benefit children.](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/pressroomnews08aug11-02/): Press Room From press releases to company announcements, you'll find it all here. Summary: Benchmark Email offers free email accounts to PTAs, PTOs, PTSAs - [Comparz Offers User-Based B2B Online Marketing Reviews](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/comparz-offers-user-based-b2b-online-marketing-reviews/): One of the toughest things about marketing is getting your name out there. But there are many tools available in social media marketing. - [How SMS Can Work with Email Marketing](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-sms-can-work-with-email-marketing/): The phenomenon that is texting gives SMS tremendous potential as a marketing tool. That and the fact that just about everyone seems to have a smart or not - [Celebrate Flag Day on June 14 with a Custom Email Template](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/celebrate-flag-day-on-june-14-with-a-custom-email-template/): If you have never attended a Chicago Blackhawks game at the United Center, I highly suggest you do so. Not just because I love the Blackhawks and think - [Support Update: Accidentally Unsubscribing Your Subscribers](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/support-update-accidentally-unsubscribing-your-subscribers/): This week’s Support Blog is to bring awareness to a situation that could potentially slow things down for our clients. We like it when things run smoothly - [A Beginner’s Guide to the Top 10 Web Coding Languages](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/a-beginners-guide-to-the-top-10-web-coding-languages/): When you consider developing your own website for the very first time, you might be left utterly befuddled by the alphabet soup of programming languages. - [Barrack for Australia Day Email Templates!](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/barrack-for-australia-day-email-templates/): January 26th is Australia Day. On this day, the entire country listens to "Land Down Under" by Men at Work on repeat for the whole day. OK, maybe that's - [New Benchmark Feature: Search Email Contacts across Lists](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/new-benchmark-feature-search-contacts-across-lists/): Ask and you shall receive…. You know, as long as enough of your peers vote for it too in the Feature Request Forum. Many of our users requested the - [How Man-In-The-Middle Attacks Can Impact Email Marketers](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-man-in-the-middle-attacks-can-impact-email-marketers/): What Is Man-in-the-Middle? Phishers and other email fraudsters are upping their game on a continual basis, consistently coming up with new and imaginative - [Making Great Email Videos Part 3 - What Kinds of Mics Plug into My Camera?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/making-great-email-videos-part-3-what-kinds-of-mics-plug-into-my-camera/): In the last audio installment of our "Making Great Video Emails" series, we talked about a few scenarios that might necessitate the use of an external microphone. - [Benchmark Email New Feature: Add Personal Greetings](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/benchmark-email-new-feature-add-personal-greetings/): I hope all of you found some fun new toys under the Christmas tree or Chanukah bush this year (or however else your faith and family may bring you - [Are You a Consummate Email Designer or a Cake Decorator?](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/are-you-a-consummate-email-designer-or-a-cake-decorator/): Jakob Nielsen was listed as one of the world's most influential designers by Business Week and is a leading researcher into online usability issues. He - [The Benefits Of Staging A Fourth Of July Patriotic Social Network Fest](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-benefits-of-staging-a-fourth-of-july-patriotic-social-network-fest/): With less than two months until the Independence Day holiday, email marketers would be well served to consider the feasibility of incorporating a - [Benchmark Expands Your Video Integration Options](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/benchmark-expands-your-video-integration-options/): Video continues to be one of the hottest trends in email marketing. Benchmark Email is proud to announce even greater video email services than ever - [The Top 15 Suggestions To Make Your Emails Pop!](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-top-15-suggestions-to-make-your-emails-pop/): Email marketers are always looking for ways to increase impact, so here are the top 15 suggestions for fairly simple inclusions and tweaks to get those - [10 Ways to Build an Opt-In Email List](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/10-ways-to-build-an-opt-in-email-list/): As an email marketer, your first job is to build an opt-in email list. Without this list there is no way to send out your email newsletters. If you are - [Benchmark Email Integration with Twitter and other Social Sites](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/benchmark-email-integration-with-twitter-and-other-social-sites/): If you now want to share your Email Campaign on twitter, you can now do so with our new feature. You can Select the "Send to Twitter" option in the 'Email - [Benchmark Email introduces custom polling feature for client Websites](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/pressroomnews30jul09/): Press Room From press releases to company announcements, you'll find it all here. Benchmark Email introduces custom polling feature for client Websites - [Benchmark Introduces API To Integrate The Email Marketing Service With Other Sites](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/pressroomnews10jun09/): Press Room From press releases to company announcements, you'll find it all here. Benchmark Introduces API To Integrate The Email Marketing Service With - [Benchmark Email Adds Social Networking And Sharing Links To Email Campaigns](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/pressroomnews07jun09/): Press Room From press releases to company announcements, you'll find it all here. Benchmark Email Adds Social Networking And Sharing Links To Email - [Benchmark Introduces Video Email Feature With All Email Marketing Plans](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/pressroomnews06apr09/): Press Room From press releases to company announcements, you'll find it all here. Benchmark Introduces Video Email Feature With All Email Marketing Plans - [Benchmark Email Launches New Email Marketing Service With Expanded Features](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/pressroomnews23mar09/): Press Room From press releases to company announcements, you'll find it all here. Benchmark Email Launches New Email Marketing Service With Expanded - [Benchmark Introduces Next Generation, Web-Based Email Builder](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/pressroomnews20may08/): Press Room From press releases to company announcements, you'll find it all here. Benchmark Introduces Next Generation, Web-Based Email Builder Benchmark - [Benchmark kicks off new and improved email marketing affiliate program](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/pressroomnews30oct07/): Press Room From press releases to company announcements, you'll find it all here. Benchmark kicks off new and improved email marketing affiliate program - [Benchmark Email introduces SPF records for email marketing campaigns](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/pressroomnews9aug07/): Press Room From press releases to company announcements, you'll find it all here. Benchmark Email introduces SPF records for email marketing campaigns - [Benchmark Email Introduces Custom Email and Image Hosting Services](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/pressroomnews18jul07/): Press Room From press releases to company announcements, you'll find it all here. Benchmark Email Introduces Custom Email and Image Hosting Services The - [Benchmark Email Now features Custom Autoresponders for Email Marketing Campaigns](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/pressroomnews10jul07/): Press Room From press releases to company announcements, you'll find it all here. Benchmark Email Now features Custom Autoresponders for Email Marketing - [Benchmark Email Launches Elite Program for Franchisers and Franchisees](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/pressroomnews17apr07/): Press Room From press releases to company announcements, you'll find it all here. Benchmark Email Launches Elite Program for Franchisers and Franchisees - [The Benchmark Internet Group Launches Bulk Email Dedicated Server Program](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/pressroomnews27mar07/): Press Room From press releases to company announcements, you'll find it all here. The Benchmark Internet Group Launches Bulk Email Dedicated Server --- # # Detailed Content ## Pages ### NXG - Data Regions > Data Regions Your Data, Your Rules Email marketing built for global reach-with local peace of mind. We believe simplicity shouldn't stop at the inbox. - Published: 2025-06-12 - Modified: 2025-06-13 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/nxg-data-regions/ Data Regions Your Data, Your Rules Email marketing built for global reach-with local peace of mind. We believe simplicity shouldn't stop at the inbox. That's why Benchmark Email is built from the ground up with secure, region-based data handling. You get control, speed, and clarity right out of the box. Learn More Where We're Hosted To meet your regional needs and speed expectations, Benchmark Email supports local data hosting in: United States Japan More regions are on the roadmap-and we'll expand where it matters most to you. Your data. Your customer's data. All managed with full transparency. Start Free Now What's Stored Where? To keep things simple: Stored in Your Selected Region All Contact Data: Email Address Contact Fields Event Data Email Content Transmitted Emails Link click, email open and unsubscribe processing Always Stored in the US Some essential services and integrations are currently hosted in the US, regardless of your region: Login credentials (Auth0) Smart content features (AI tools via OpenAI) CSV import helpers Product analytics (Google Analytics, FullStory) Image and file hosting (in progress to localize) Billing Information (Stripe) We're actively working toward regionalizing more of these tools in the future. Why It Matters Performance: Local hosting means faster send times and better engagement. Privacy compliance: Especially important for customers in regions with strict data residency laws. Trust: You know where your data is, and we're transparent about it. Whether you're based in California or Kyoto, Benchmark Email is ready to support you. Looking Ahead We're committed to... --- ### NXG - Hospitality > For the hospitality industry, email marketing is an extremely important strategy to use to engage their audience and encourage bookings. - Published: 2025-06-10 - Modified: 2025-06-12 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/nxg-hospitality/ Mastering Email Marketing in Hospitality: A Comprehensive Guide for Industry Success In the bustling world of the hospitality industry, email marketing emerges as a crucial bridge connecting hotels, resorts, and travel services with their ever-evolving clientele. Unlike transient social media posts or the broad brush of traditional advertising, email marketing offers a unique canvas for crafting personalized narratives that resonate with each recipient. It's not just about promoting a room or a service; it's about weaving stories that invite potential guests into a world of comfort, luxury, and memorable experiences. As the industry thrives on personalization and exemplary service, email marketing becomes an invaluable tool. It allows for direct yet unobtrusive communication with guests, whether they are planning a leisurely getaway, a business trip, or a special event. Through well-crafted emails, hospitality businesses can showcase their amenities, special offers, and unique selling points in a way that aligns with the interests and preferences of their audience. Moreover, in an age where consumers are bombarded with countless marketing messages, email stands out for its personal touch. It can be tailored to celebrate anniversaries, birthdays, and past stays, making each communication feel less like a generic advertisement and more like a note from a thoughtful host. Let's Look at the Stats: Email Marketing Effectiveness in Hospitality The effectiveness of email marketing in hospitality is not just anecdotal; it's backed by compelling data. Consider these insights: High Engagement Rates Email campaigns in the hospitality sector enjoy an average open rate of almost 26%,... --- ### NXG - Email Editor > Uses Cases Create any type of email before your coffee cools Benchmark Email's drag-and-drop editor makes creating stunning emails tailored to your needs - Published: 2025-06-05 - Modified: 2025-06-13 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/nxg-email-editor/ Uses Cases Create any type of email before your coffee cools Benchmark Email's drag-and-drop editor makes creating stunning emails tailored to your needs quick and easy. Whether you're promoting an event or sending a warm welcome, our editor has you covered. Welcome EmailsIncrease activity and engagement with a personalized introduction. Product PromotionShowcase new arrivals, special offers, and exclusive deals to drive sales. EventsDesign eye-catching invitations and reminders that boost attendance. NewslettersKeep your audience engaged with thoughtfully curated updates. Features Save time, engage more, convert faster Drag-and-Drop Simplicity Move elements, adjust layouts, and format text effortlessly with our no-code email editor. Start Free Now AI-Powered Image Generation Describe what you need, and our AI creates stunning visuals for you, just like magic Start Free Now Stock Photo Library Access millions of free, high-quality images from Unsplash, Pexels, and Pixabay. Start Free Now Smart Text Enhancements Fix spelling, expand content, rephrase, or adjust tone with AI-powered text tools. Start Free Now Mobile-Optimized Design Preview and adjust emails for perfect responsive designs on both desktop and mobile. Start Free Now Built-in Quality Control Never miss a beat with audit alerts that ensure your emails are polished, accessible, and error-free. Start Free Now Display Flawless Email Rendering on Any Device With Benchmark Email, your emails always look great-no matter where they're opened. Our editor ensures consistent rendering across all major email clients and devices. Works Seamlessly with Every Inbox Whether your subscribers use Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail, or other platforms, your emails will display... --- ### Getting Up to Speed: The Latest Marketing Trends You Can’t Miss Webinar Video > Catch Up on the Latest Marketing Trends - On Your Time - Published: 2025-06-04 - Modified: 2025-06-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/resource/latest-marketing-trends-webinar-video/ Catch Up on the Latest Marketing Trends - On Your Time --- ### NXG Reporting > Track and measure email marketing metrics to understand how subscribers interact with your emails, and which campaigns are driving results. - Published: 2025-05-15 - Modified: 2025-06-05 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/nxg-reporting/ Data-Driven Insights to Optimize Every Email Campaign Know What Works-And Improve What Doesn't Benchmark Email's powerful analytics and performance tracking tools give you the insights you need to refine your strategy, boost engagement, and maximize conversions. Try it free Activity See Results Instantly. No Waiting Required. Why whay hours or days to measure success? With Benchmark Email's real-time contact activity feed, you can see who's opening, clicking, and unsubscribing as it happens. Stay ahead of engagement trends and make data-driven decisions instantly. Features Unlock Actionable Insights in Real Time Engagement Metrics at a Glance Keep a pulse on reach, sends, open rate and click rate in one dashboard. Try it free Performance Tracking Compare results over time to measure campaign success and refine your approach. Try it free Link Click Tracking See exactly where your audience is engaging within your emails to improve design and CTA placement. Try it free Engagement Timeline Identify peak engagement times and optimize your send schedule for better results. Try it free List & Contact-Level Insights Drill down into individual email reports to see who engaged and how. Try it free Why Benchmark Email? Clear, Actionable Reports for Better Results Clear, Actionable Data No complicated spreadsheets here. Easy-to-read reports help you make better decisions. Visualized Trends Spot engagement patterns with intuitive charts and graphs. Conversion Optimization Use insights to tweak subject lines, email content, and send times for higher engagement. --- ### NXG Contact Us > Let's Get You to the Right Place Need a hand? Whether you're looking for sales info, support help, or just want to say hi, we're ready to chat. Talk to - Published: 2025-05-13 - Modified: 2025-05-13 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/nxg-contact/ Let's Get You to the Right Place Need a hand? Whether you're looking for sales info, support help, or just want to say hi, we're ready to chat. Talk to Sales Get info on pricing, custom quote, feature details, and find out if Benchmark Email is right for you. Contact Sales Get Support Running into an issue? We're standing by. Our friendly support team is ready to jump in and help. Contact Support Benchmark Email is a registered trademark of: Polaris Software, LLC 3636 S. Geyer Road, Suite 100 Saint Louis, MO 63127, USA need something else? info@benchmarkemail. io --- ### Smaller List, Bigger Impact: Why Removing Unengaged Subscribers Boosts Email Performance Video > 📩 Smaller List, Bigger Impact: Why Removing Unengaged Subscribers Boosts Email Performance   - Published: 2025-05-02 - Modified: 2025-05-02 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/resource/smaller-list-bigger-impact-webinar-video/ Smaller List, Bigger Impact: Why Removing Unengaged Subscribers Boosts Email Performance --- ### NXG Thank You > Thank You We've received your request and will be reaching out soon! - Published: 2025-04-23 - Modified: 2025-04-23 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/message-received/ Thank You We've received your request and will be reaching out soon! --- ### Benchmark Beta Terms Of Use > Beta Program Participation Agreement This Beta Program Participation Agreement ('Agreement') is entered into by and between Benchmark Email ('Company'), - Published: 2025-04-04 - Modified: 2025-04-24 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/benchmark-beta-terms-of-use/ Beta Program Participation Agreement This Beta Program Participation Agreement ('Agreement') is entered into by and between Benchmark Email ('Company'), and you, the Beta participant ('Participant'). 1. Purpose The purpose of this Agreement is to set forth the terms and conditions under which the Participant will use and evaluate the beta version of the Company's product ('Product') and provide feedback. 2. Term This Agreement is effective from the date signed and will continue until the earlier of: 1) The public launch of the Product. 2) Termination by either party with written notice. 3. Incentives The Company agrees to provide the Participant with the following incentive(s) for their participation in the beta program: Free use of the Product during the Term of this agreement $50 Amazon gift card upon completion of participation requirements (Section 4) Discounts on the Product after launch (30% off for 6 months). 4. Participation Requirements The Participant should actively use the Product and provide feedback as follows: Upload at least 250 contacts Design and send an email to 250 or more contacts Provide feedback via survey upon completion 5. Compliance with Terms of Use The Participant agrees to comply with the Company's Terms of Use, which govern the use of the Product. The Terms of Use are incorporated into this Agreement by reference, including our Anti-Spam Policy 6. Restrictions The Participant shall not: 1. Reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble the Product. 2. Copy, distribute, or sublicense the Product. 3. Disclose or reveal any information related to the branding,... --- ### Beyond Opens: The Essential Email Marketing Metrics You Should be Tracking > Beyond Opens: The Essential Email Marketing Metrics You Should be Tracking   - Published: 2025-03-28 - Modified: 2025-03-28 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/resource/email-marketing-metrics-webinar-video/ Beyond Opens: The Essential Email Marketing Metrics You Should be Tracking --- ### Copy of NXG Header Footer > First Name Last Name E-mail* Company* Phone Number - Area Code Phone Number Talk to Sales No. of Contacts Talk to Sales Comment Country from Web IP Submit - Published: 2025-03-14 - Modified: 2025-03-14 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/nxg-header-footer-copy/ First Name Last Name E-mail* Company* Phone Number - Area Code Phone Number Talk to Sales No. of Contacts Talk to Sales Comment Country from Web IP Submit Form Should be Empty: Our Company Solutions Account Privacy Sitemap Get Help --- ### NXG - Talk to Sales India > Connect with an Email Marketing Expert Learn more about sending as a high volume or enterprise sender with Benchmark Email Trusted by - Published: 2025-03-14 - Modified: 2025-05-21 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/talk-to-india-sales/ Connect with an Email Marketing Expert Learn more about sending as a high volume or enterprise sender with Benchmark Email Trusted by --- ### NXG - Talk to Sales OMEAA > Connect with an Email Marketing Expert Learn more about sending as a high volume or enterprise sender with Benchmark Email Trusted by - Published: 2025-03-14 - Modified: 2025-05-21 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/talk-to-omeaa-sales/ Connect with an Email Marketing Expert Learn more about sending as a high volume or enterprise sender with Benchmark Email Trusted by --- ### NXG - Talk to Sales EU > Connect with an Email Marketing Expert Learn more about sending as a high volume or enterprise sender with Benchmark Email Trusted by - Published: 2025-03-14 - Modified: 2025-05-21 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/talk-to-europe-sales/ Connect with an Email Marketing Expert Learn more about sending as a high volume or enterprise sender with Benchmark Email Trusted by --- ### NXG - Talk to Sales US/CA > Connect with an Email Marketing Expert Learn more about sending as a high volume or enterprise sender with Benchmark Email Trusted by - Published: 2025-03-14 - Modified: 2025-05-21 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/talk-to-sales-us-ca/ Connect with an Email Marketing Expert Learn more about sending as a high volume or enterprise sender with Benchmark Email Trusted by --- ### Apply for Benchmark Beta > Shape the future of Benchmark Join our exclusive Beta Program! We're launching a brand-new email marketing platform, built from the ground up to empower - Published: 2025-03-07 - Modified: 2025-04-24 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/beta-free-users/ Shape the future of Benchmark Join our exclusive Beta Program! We're launching a brand-new email marketing platform, built from the ground up to empower marketers like you. Before we go live, we need real email marketers to put it to the test. In exchange for your time and feedback, we're offering a $50 Amazon gift card and exclusive pricing discounts when we launch! Apply for Beta Now Why Are We Offering Free Email Marketing Software? Your insights - what works, what doesn't, and what you need most - will help us refine and perfect it before launch By joining our Beta program, you'll get free(! ) early access to our next-generation platform, help shape its future, and enjoy exclusive perks. Apply for Beta Now Who We're Looking For To qualify, you should: Be located in the U. S. or Japan Be the primary email marketer at your company Use email marketing to drive your sales Be willing to upload a list of 250 or more contacts Agree to send at least one campaign to those contacts Use a DNS provider that allows NS records (ei. Amazon AW, Cloudflare, GoDaddy, Google Cloud, Hostinger, Wix, etc. ) What We'll Ask From You We value your insights! As a Beta participant, you'll: Sign up and import at least 250 opted-in contacts Design and send at least one email campaign to those contacts Provide feedback about your experience using our next-gen platform Why Join? Free access to our new email marketing platform- save on... --- ### NXG Header Footer - Published: 2025-03-03 - Modified: 2025-03-26 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/nxg-header-footer/ --- ### Apply for Benchmark Beta > Shape the future of Benchmark Join our exclusive Beta Program! We're launching a brand-new email marketing platform, built from the ground up to empower - Published: 2025-02-25 - Modified: 2025-04-23 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/users-apply-for-beta/ Shape the future of Benchmark Join our exclusive Beta Program! We're launching a brand-new email marketing platform, built from the ground up to empower marketers like you. Before we go live, we need real email marketers to put it to the test. In exchange for your time and feedback, we're offering a $50 Amazon gift card and exclusive pricing discounts when we launch! Sign Up for Beta Why Are We Offering Free Email Marketing Software? Your insights - what works, what doesn't, and what you need most - will help us refine and perfect it before launch By joining our Beta program, you'll get free(! ) early access to our next-generation platform, help shape its future, and enjoy exclusive perks. Sign Up for Beta Who We're Looking For To qualify, you should: Be located in the U. S. or Japan Be the primary email marketer at your company Use email marketing to drive your sales Be willing to upload a list of 250 or more contacts Agree to send at least one campaign to those contacts Use a DNS provider that allows NS records (ei. Amazon AW, Cloudflare, GoDaddy, Google Cloud, Hostinger, Wix, etc. ) What We'll Ask From You We value your insights! As a Beta participant, you'll: Sign up and import a list of 250 or more opted-in contacts Design and send at least one email campaign to those contacts Provide feedback about your experience using our next-gen platform Why Join? Early access to the next-generation of Benchmark... --- ### Apply for Benchmark Beta > Shape the future of Benchmark Join our exclusive Beta Program! We're launching a brand-new email marketing platform, built from the ground up to empower - Published: 2025-02-25 - Modified: 2025-04-23 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/apply-for-beta/ Shape the future of Benchmark Join our exclusive Beta Program! We're launching a brand-new email marketing platform, built from the ground up to empower marketers like you. Before we go live, we need real email marketers to put it to the test. In exchange for your time and feedback, we're offering a $50 Amazon gift card and exclusive pricing discounts when we launch! Apply for Beta Now Why Are We Offering Free Email Marketing Software? Your insights - what works, what doesn't, and what you need most - will help us refine and perfect it before launch By joining our Beta program, you'll get free(! ) early access to our next-generation platform, help shape its future, and enjoy exclusive perks. Apply for Beta Now Who We're Looking For To qualify, you should: Be located in the U. S. or Japan Be the primary email marketer at your company Use email marketing to drive your sales Be willing to upload a list of 250 or more contacts Agree to send at least one campaign to those contacts Use a DNS provider that allows NS records (ei. Amazon AW, Cloudflare, GoDaddy, Google Cloud, Hostinger, Wix, etc. ) What We'll Ask From You We value your insights! As a Beta participant, you'll: Sign up and import at least 250 opted-in contacts Design and send at least one email campaign to those contacts Provide feedback about your experience using our next-gen platform Why Join? Free access to our new email marketing platform- save on... --- ### Email Marketing Pricing Plans - Benchmark Email > Affordable email marketing solution. A pricing plan for any list size … all features and support included. - Published: 2025-02-21 - Modified: 2025-04-22 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/pricing/ Start for free, upgrade when you're ready! *Please note that all plans are subject to reasonable use limits to safeguard sending reputation and comply with our Terms of Use. SEE ALL FEATURES High Volume Senders Need pricing based on email sends? We have you covered. High-Volume Large senders and enterprises love the security of sending at high volume with Benchmark Email. See High Volume Pricing Send-Based Ideal for senders who want to pay based on monthly emails sent, rather the size of their subscriber list See Send-Based Pricing Pay As You Go Perfect for businesses and organizations that only plan to send marketing emails occasionally during the year. See Pay as You Go Pricing EXPLORE SEND-BASED PRICING Compare Plans Testimonials "Benchmark has made it a quick and easy process for us to create professional looking emails to keep our customers and interested parties engaged. " - Gavin Wieske, Marketing Manager | Sandbox. Frequently Asked Questions What payment methods does Benchmark Email accept? Collapse With all types of businesses across the globe using Benchmark Email, we understand the need to offer various payment forms. To be as accommodating as possible, Benchmark Email accepts various forms of payment. Benchmark accepts the following major credit cards: Visa, MasterCard, Discover and AmEx. You can also pay by Wire Transfer, but note that there's a $25 fee. Additionally you can make ACH payments, or pay by check made out to: Polaris Software LLC 3636 S. Geyer Road, Suite 100, St Louis, MO 63127. Paypal is... --- ### Ghosted by Subscribers? Learn How to Re-Engage Your Inactive Email List! Video Guide > Ghosted by Subscribers? Learn How to Re-Engage Your Inactive Email List!   - Published: 2024-11-01 - Modified: 2025-06-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/resource/reengage-inactive-email-list-webinar-video/ Ghosted by Subscribers? Learn How to Re-Engage Your Inactive Email List! --- ### Middle East Email Marketing > Reach Your Audience & Grow Sales in the Middle East Insights from the email marketing experts at Benchmark Email, a global email service provider. Why - Published: 2024-10-15 - Modified: 2024-10-17 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/middle-east-email-marketing/ Reach Your Audience & Grow Sales in the Middle East Insights from the email marketing experts at Benchmark Email, a global email service provider. Why Email Marketing? 95% of businesses in the Middle East report that email is a key channel for communicating with customers. Email marketing has an ROI of 4200% that's $42 for every $1 spent! Middle East Email Marketing by the Numbers 95% of businesses in the Middle East report that email is a key channel for communicating with customers. 1. - Open Rate: 15% to 25% 2. - Click-Through Rate: 1. 5% to 3% 3. - Bounce Rate: 2% to 5% 4. - Unsubscribe Rate: 0. 1% to 0. 3% 5. - Spam Complaint Rate: 0. 1% to 0. 3% 6. - Mobile vs. Desktop Opens: 7. - Conversion Rate: 2% to 5% --- ### Constant Contact vs Mailchimp vs Benchmark Email: Which is Best For Email Marketing In 2025? > Constant Contact vs Mailchimp: one is great for DIY marketers, the other's great for large teams. But both get expensive fast at large sending volumes… - Published: 2024-10-08 - Modified: 2025-03-25 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/constant-contact-vs-mailchimp/ Constant Contact vs Mailchimp vs Benchmark Email: Which is Best For Email Marketing In 2025? Table of Contents Constant Contact vs. Mailchimp Overview What is Constant Contact? What is Mailchimp? What is Benchmark Email? Pricing Comparison Email Builder Comparison Audience Engagement Comparison Optimization Tools Comparison Marketing Automation Comparison Pros & Cons Final Verdict I've been using two of the most popular email marketing platforms, Constant Contact and Mailchimp, for over two weeks now - creating email campaigns, managing contact lists, and optimizing engagement. Here's how they stack up against each other: Constant Contact is a simple email marketing platform that helps small to midsize businesses grow. At its heart is a simple and intuitive email builder that allows quick campaign creation and deployment. It also includes all the basics of email marketing: contact list management, segmentation, event management, forms, and landing pages. However, Constant Contact isn't as powerful as Mailchimp for automation and omnichannel marketing and its campaign optimization tools are subpar. On the other hand, Mailchimp also serves SMBs but focuses on more complex use cases like eCommerce. In addition to an email builder, contact list management, and segmentation, Mailchimp also includes advanced reporting and analytics with online store integration. And, it offers powerful Customer Journeys with multiple starting points, a full website with free hosting, and a domain name at no additional cost. But both platforms have overwhelming feature sets and get expensive quickly at large sending volumes. So we decided to include Benchmark Email in this comparison.... --- ### How to Use Social Media to Grow Your Email List > Grow Your Email List with Social Media: Free Webinar Download   - Published: 2024-09-25 - Modified: 2024-09-25 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/resource/social-media-grow-email-list-webinar-video/ Grow Your Email List with Social Media: Free Webinar Download --- ### Harnessing the Power of AI in Email Marketing > Unlock the Power of AI in Email Marketing Watch Our Webinar On-Demand   - Published: 2024-09-02 - Modified: 2024-09-25 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/resource/ai-email-marketing-webinar-video/ Unlock the Power of AI in Email Marketing Watch Our Webinar On-Demand --- ### Free Email Subject Line Generator (AI-powered) > Our free email subject line generator takes the stress out of crafting headlines that shine in the inbox to drive better email open rates. - Published: 2024-08-12 - Modified: 2024-09-09 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/email-subject-line-generator/ Free Email Subject Line Generator How to get your emails opened Quickly create personalized subject lines that stand out. Copy and paste your email copy into the subject line generator. Then click generate subject lines to get a list of subject lines to help kick-off your email. Learn More How to write subject lines that work Your email subject line is the gateway to your entire email campaign. It's the first thing your recipients see, determining whether they'll stick around or scroll on. In fact, studies indicate that 47% of email recipients decide whether or not they'll even open an email based solely on the subject line. That's a lot of pressure for just a few words! There's both an art and a science to crafting the perfect email subject line. It requires a deep understanding of your audience, a knack for creativity, and the ability to convey a compelling message with just a limited amount of space. On one hand, your subject line needs to be attention-grabbing and intriguing enough to stand out in a crowded inbox. On the other hand, it must also be relevant, transparent, and reflective of the content inside the email. But here's the catch: what works for one audience may not work for another. Trends, industry norms, and even the time of day you send your email can influence what makes a subject line successful. In addition, there is the challenge of avoiding spam filters. It's no wonder so many marketers find creating subject... --- ### Elevate Your Event Promotions with Our Free Email Templates! > Watch Our Webinar: Simplifying Email Design for Optimal Deliverability   - Published: 2024-08-01 - Modified: 2024-08-01 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/resource/elevate-your-event-video/ Watch Our Webinar: Simplifying Email Design for Optimal Deliverability --- ### CTA and logo test - Published: 2024-07-11 - Modified: 2024-07-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/cta-and-logo-test/ --- ### The Fundamentals of Email List Management: Tips and Best Practices > The Fundamentals of Email List Management: Tips and Best Practices   - Published: 2024-06-27 - Modified: 2024-06-27 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/resource/email-list-management-webinar-video/ The Fundamentals of Email List Management: Tips and Best Practices --- ### Celebrating Subscriber Video > Celebrating Subscriber Milestones for Lasting Connections   - Published: 2024-05-31 - Modified: 2024-05-31 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/resource/celebrating-subscriber-video/ Celebrating Subscriber Milestones for Lasting Connections --- ### Email List Verification > Remove Dangerous Addresses From Your Email List Get to the inbox with Benchmark. Your first list verification is free. verify your list Follow These 3 - Published: 2024-05-28 - Modified: 2024-05-28 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/email-list-verification/ Remove Dangerous Addresses From Your Email List Get to the inbox with Benchmark. Your first list verification is free. verify your list Follow These 3 Steps 1. Upgrade from your free plan. Pro and Enterprise plans up to 200,000 contacts are eligible for a free, one-time list verification. Additional lists may be verified for $3 per 1,000 contacts. 2. Upload your contact list. You can verify a list up to the size of the contact limit of your plan for free, up to 200,000 contacts. For instance, if you are on a Pro 50,000 plan, you can verify a list of up to 50,000 contacts one time for free. 3. Request your free verification. Reach out to support to request your free one-time verification. You can use the in-app chat, email support@benchmarkemail. com, or submit a request. What is List Verification? List Verification is the process of removing undeliverable or dangerous emails from your list. Without List Verification, you could be in jeopardy of harming your sending reputation. When you upload your list into our system, it will go through our List Sampling process, in which our system checks for undeliverable emails. Based on the results, the list is either rejected or approved. You can send with confidence knowing that the emails on your list are free of undeliverable emails and spam traps. Learn More --- ### Video: Stay Top of Mind with Minimal > Stay Top of Mind with Minimal Effort Exploring RSS Email Automation   - Published: 2024-04-25 - Modified: 2024-04-25 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/resource/video-stay-top-of-mind-with-minimal/ Stay Top of Mind with Minimal Effort Exploring RSS Email Automation --- ### Moosend vs tinyEmail vs Benchmark Email: What's Better For Email Marketing In 2025? > Moosend is great for personalization and analytics, while tinyEmail is best for Shopify users. But both don’t cater well to high-volume senders… - Published: 2024-04-15 - Modified: 2025-03-26 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/moosend-vs-tinyemail/ Moosend vs tinyEmail vs Benchmark Email: What's Better For Email Marketing In 2024? I spent two weeks using and testing both Moosend and tinyEmail. In this article, I'll share my experience with them and their key differences. Moosend is an all-in-one email marketing platform for engaging with clients, managing contacts, and analyzing customer data. It's great for running personalized email campaigns with AI-powered product recommendations and shopping cart abandonment reminders. However, it's stacked with features that beginners may take longer to get used to. And, its pricing doesn't adapt well for high-volume senders. tinyEmail is on the opposite end of the spectrum. It's a minimalistic tool, designed to handle personalized customer messaging on Shopify stores. It supports customer communication with its AI-powered messaging tool and does much of the heavy lifting with its pre-built templates. However, its simplicity is also its biggest drawback. That's because it offers little customizability for reports and automations, and doesn't include vital email marketing optimization tools like A/B testing and email verification. Since Moosend is a generalist and tinyEmail is a Shopify specialist, and since both tools don't cater to high-volume senders too well, I decided to include Benchmark Email in this comparison. It's a streamlined solution with a simple email designer, powerful automation, an AI email builder, customer segmentation, and more - all that with great user experience and affordable, scalable pricing. It's an ideal solution for businesses and marketers to run large-volume email campaigns. In this article, I'll compare Moosend vs tinyEmail vs... --- ### Design Engaging Emails with Canva > Easily Send Your Canva Email Design - Published: 2024-04-04 - Modified: 2024-05-07 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/canva/ Design Engaging Emails with Canva Easily Send Your Canva Email Design GET STARTED Turning Canva designs into email templates just got easier. Publish your Canva designs to your Benchmark Email image gallery with one click. Then, easily add your Canva designs as images to your email templates. It's easy to build one-of-a-kind emails that get results. GET STARTED Not a designer? Not a problem! Canva offers hundreds of templates that are perfectly suited for email marketing: Email headers Images Email signatures Get Started > What Will You Design Today? Easy-to-use tools that help you flex your creativity work even better together. With Benchmark Email's Canva integration, email marketing is now the easiest - and dare we say, most fun - part of your day! Get Started Email Design Resources Just for You --- ### Email Deliverability Help > Email Deliverability Experts Get more emails to the inbox with help from Benchmark Email Upgrade Today Easily Authenticate Your Email Domain Step-by-Step - Published: 2024-04-04 - Modified: 2024-09-12 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/email-deliverability-help/ Email Deliverability Experts Get more emails to the inbox with help from Benchmark Email Upgrade Today Easily Authenticate Your Email Domain Step-by-Step Instructions To authenticate your email domain, you'll need to add a Benchmark Email SPF and DKIM record, along with a valid DMARC record to your domain's DNS provider. Self-serve resources ensure you have all of the knowledge you need, like this tutorial. Upgrade Today One-on-One Support We know for a fact that deliverability optimizations - like authenticating your email domain - can be a bit confusing. Not to worry! Our team is here to assist you with one-one-one deliverability support. Upgrade Today Access the Latest Email Deliverability Best Practices Training Webinars On-Demand Watch Now: A Tactical List Management Guide for Google & Yahoo's Email Policy Update Deliverability Articles & Resources from Email Experts Emails delivered? Easy-peasy. Upgrade Today --- ### Free Email List Verification OMEAA > Remove Dangerous Addresses From Your List For Free Free email list verification when you share Benchmark Email Hurry! Ends April 30th Follow These 3 Steps - Published: 2024-04-01 - Modified: 2024-04-02 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/free-email-verification-omeaa/ Remove Dangerous Addresses From Your List For Free Free email list verification when you share Benchmark Email Hurry! Ends April 30th Follow These 3 Steps 1. Copy the text to share on your favorite profile: I'm using @BenchmarkEmail to grow sales with email marketing. Start free: https://www. benchmarkemail. com/ 2. Share in your favorite social profile, click the icon: 3. Submit your social media post to redeem your offer SEND Should be Empty: Promotion Details: This promotion is available through April 30th. Available for free and paid active Benchmark Email Plans. If you follow the three steps, you can get a one-time list verification with a 1000 email limit to improve your deliverability and keep your sender reputation positive. Learn more about list verification here. What is List Verification? List Verification is the process of removing undeliverable or dangerous emails from your list. Without List Verification, you could be in jeopardy of harming your sending reputation. When you upload your list into our system, it will go through our List Sampling process, in which our system checks for undeliverable emails. Based on the results, the list is either rejected or approved. You can send with confidence knowing that the emails on your list are free of undeliverable emails and spam traps. Learn More --- ### The Double Engagement Playbook Video > The Double Engagement Playbook   - Published: 2024-03-28 - Modified: 2024-03-28 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/resource/the-double-engagement-playbook-video/ The Double Engagement Playbook --- ### Free Email List Verification > Remove Dangerous Addresses From Your List For Free Free email list verification when you share Benchmark Email Hurry! Ends April 30th Follow These 3 Steps - Published: 2024-03-22 - Modified: 2024-04-02 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/free-email-verification-uk/ Remove Dangerous Addresses From Your List For Free Free email list verification when you share Benchmark Email Hurry! Ends April 30th Follow These 3 Steps 1. Copy the text to share on your favorite profile: I'm using @BenchmarkEmail to grow sales with email marketing. Start free: https://www. benchmarkemail. com/ 2. Share in your favorite social profile, click the icon: 3. Submit your social media post to redeem your offer form input,form textarea{ margin-top:30px; } form button{ background: #4e5ff9; color: #fff; border: 1px solid #4e5ff9; padding-top: 9px; padding-right: 23px; padding-bottom: 9px; padding-left: 23px; text-decoration: none; border-radius: 4px; } SEND Should be Empty: Promotion Details: This promotion is available through April 30th. Available for free and paid active Benchmark Email Plans. If you follow the three steps, you can get a one-time list verification with a 1000 email limit to improve your deliverability and keep your sender reputation positive. Learn more about list verification here. What is List Verification? List Verification is the process of removing undeliverable or dangerous emails from your list. Without List Verification, you could be in jeopardy of harming your sending reputation. When you upload your list into our system, it will go through our List Sampling process, in which our system checks for undeliverable emails. Based on the results, the list is either rejected or approved. You can send with confidence knowing that the emails on your list are free of undeliverable emails and spam traps. Learn More --- ### Customer - Published: 2024-03-12 - Modified: 2024-03-12 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/customer-2/ --- ### Thank You - We'll Be In Touch > Thank You for Submitting One of our support agents will be in touch soon. - Published: 2024-03-08 - Modified: 2024-03-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/thank-you-submitted/ Thank You for Submitting One of our support agents will be in touch soon. --- ### Free Email List Verification > Remove Dangerous Addresses From Your List For Free Free email list verification when you share Benchmark Email Hurry! Ends March 31st Follow These 3 Steps - Published: 2024-03-05 - Modified: 2024-04-01 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/free-email-verification/ Remove Dangerous Addresses From Your List For Free Free email list verification when you share Benchmark Email Hurry! Ends March 31st Follow These 3 Steps 1. Copy the text to share on your favorite profile: I'm using @BenchmarkEmail to grow sales with email marketing. Start free: https://www. benchmarkemail. com/ 2. Share in your favorite social profile, click the icon: 3. Submit your social media post to redeem your offer SEND Should be Empty: Promotion Details: This promotion is available through March 31st. Available for free and paid Benchmark Email Plans. If you follow the three steps, you can get a one-time list verification with a 1000 email limit to improve your deliverability and keep your sender reputation positive. Learn more about list verification here. What is List Verification? List Verification is the process of removing undeliverable or dangerous emails from your list. Without List Verification, you could be in jeopardy of harming your sending reputation. When you upload your list into our system, it will go through our List Sampling process, in which our system checks for undeliverable emails. Based on the results, the list is either rejected or approved. You can send with confidence knowing that the emails on your list are free of undeliverable emails and spam traps. Learn More --- ### Home Nov 2024 - smart design quiet launch > Build beautiful, responsive emails with Benchmark's email marketing platform to engage subscribers, nurture leads, and track results. - Published: 2024-03-05 - Modified: 2024-03-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/mobile-home/ A powerfully simple email marketing platform. Have a minute? Answer a few questions to create your first email in a jiff. CREATE YOUR FIRST EMAIL Sell More Feature your products to grow new and repeat sales. Emails are mobile responsive, easily branded, and ready to delight subscribers in the inbox. Learn More Email Templates for Every Occasion BROWSE ALL TEMPLATES Attract More Build your subscriber list with forms, pop-ups and landing pages. Learn More Integrations Connect with your favorite sales and marketing tools. Easily add contacts to Benchmark Email from your favorite platforms. Connect with more subscribers every month to grow sales. All Integrations Guess Less Keep a pulse on email marketing Our tools let you test, measure and optimize campaigns. So easy, anyone can see a lift in their email marketing results. Learn More Get More Personal Go beyond the basic broadcast email. We've simplified email automation. With Benchmark, you don't need to be an automation expert to send tailored outreach that feels personal. Learn More More Love from Our Customers Free Forever. No Credit Card Required. Recent Posts: Partner & Contribute --- ### Personalize Your Emails with Ease: What to Personalize and How to Do it With Benchmark Email > Personalize Your Emails with Ease: What to Personalize and How to Do it With Benchmark Email   - Published: 2024-03-04 - Modified: 2024-04-03 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/resource/email-personalization-video/ Personalize Your Emails with Ease: What to Personalize and How to Do it With Benchmark Email --- ### Thanks for your feedback > Thanks For Your Feedback! You can close this page or head to our blog for more email marketing goodies. - Published: 2024-02-22 - Modified: 2024-02-22 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/thank-you-feedback/ Thanks For Your Feedback! You can close this page or head to our blog for more email marketing goodies. --- ### Email Marketing Pricing Plans - Benchmark Email > Affordable email marketing solution. A pricing plan for any list size … all features and support included. - Published: 2024-02-21 - Modified: 2024-05-07 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/pricing-mobile/ Large Volume Senders Need pricing based on email sends? We have you covered. High-Volume Large senders and enterprises love the security of sending at high volume with Benchmark Email. See High Volume Pricing Send-Based Ideal for senders who want to pay based on monthly emails sent, rather the size of their subscriber list See Send-Based Pricing Pay As You Go Perfect for businesses and organizations that only plan to send marketing emails occasionally during the year. See Pay as You Go Pricing EXPLORE SEND-BASED PRICING All Features Frequently Asked Questions What payment methods does Benchmark Email accept? Collapse With all types of businesses across the globe using Benchmark Email, we understand the need to offer various payment forms. To be as accommodating as possible, Benchmark Email accepts various forms of payment. Benchmark accepts the following major credit cards: Visa, MasterCard, Discover and AmEx. You can also pay by Wire Transfer, but note that there's a $25 fee. Additionally you can make ACH payments, or pay by check made out to: Polaris Software LLC 3636 S. Geyer Road, Suite 100, St Louis, MO 63127. Paypal is also an option, by making your payment to: Paypal@benchmarkemail. wpengine. com. Learn More. Do we accept payment via Paypal? Expand The short answer is yes! This option is available to you during the checkout process. You can read the steps to paying with PayPal here. What is the Free Plan? Expand The Benchmark Free Plan was created to let you test out all our key... --- ### Hospitality > Marketing Software Guide Table of Contents Table of Contents Understanding Your Audience Building Your Email List Segmenting Your Email List for - Published: 2024-02-12 - Modified: 2024-08-09 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/hospitality/ Marketing Software Guide Table of Contents Table of Contents Understanding Your Audience Building Your Email List Segmenting Your Email List for Personalized Marketing Designing Your Email Campaign Content Creation Measuring Success and Analytics Email Automation: The Tool You Need Mastering Email Marketing in Hospitality: A Comprehensive Guide for Industry Success In the bustling world of the hospitality industry, email marketing emerges as a crucial bridge connecting hotels, resorts, and travel services with their ever-evolving clientele. Unlike transient social media posts or the broad brush of traditional advertising, email marketing offers a unique canvas for crafting personalized narratives that resonate with each recipient. It's not just about promoting a room or a service; it's about weaving stories that invite potential guests into a world of comfort, luxury, and memorable experiences. As the industry thrives on personalization and exemplary service, email marketing becomes an invaluable tool. It allows for direct yet unobtrusive communication with guests, whether they are planning a leisurely getaway, a business trip, or a special event. Through well-crafted emails, hospitality businesses can showcase their amenities, special offers, and unique selling points in a way that aligns with the interests and preferences of their audience. Moreover, in an age where consumers are bombarded with countless marketing messages, email stands out for its personal touch. It can be tailored to celebrate anniversaries, birthdays, and past stays, making each communication feel less like a generic advertisement and more like a note from a thoughtful host. Let's Look at the Stats: Email Marketing... --- ### Modern Email Marketing Quiz > Just how good of an email marketer are you? Take our short quiz to determine your email marketing status and get tons of resources! - Published: 2024-02-05 - Modified: 2024-04-02 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/modern-email-marketing/ --- ### Manufacturing Services > A Comprehensive Email Marketing Manual for Manufacturers For manufacturers, there are a myriad of obstacles that come with the territory. Between supply - Published: 2024-02-02 - Modified: 2025-05-20 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/manufacturing/ A Comprehensive Email Marketing Manual for Manufacturers For manufacturers, there are a myriad of obstacles that come with the territory. Between supply chain issues, global competition, labor shortages, and sustainability concerns, to name a few, the last thing they want to deal with is complex email marketing software But the industry demands effective, clear, and efficient communications. At Benchmark Email, our goal is to empower our users with the tools and insights to not only reach their target audience effectively but also to foster lasting relationships and drive tangible business growth. And we know how to accomplish this in a way that is simple and easy. What could be better? In this guide, we'll provide some practical email marketing advice, strategies, and best practices tailored specifically to the manufacturing industry. From building and segmenting your email list to crafting compelling content and analyzing campaign performance, let's get into it! Why Do Manufacturers Need Email Marketing? Manufacturers need email marketing for several compelling reasons, as it serves as a vital tool to enhance communication, build relationships, and drive business growth. Email marketing is essential for manufacturers because: It offers direct communication. Collapse Email marketing provides a direct line of communication with customers, suppliers, and partners. This allows manufacturers to share important information, updates, and announcements effectively. It's cost-effective. Expand Compared to other marketing channels, email marketing is highly cost-effective. It allows manufacturers to reach a large audience without incurring significant expenses. It helps retain customers. Expand Regular communication through email helps... --- ### Retail > The Retailer's Guide to Email Success Table of Contents Table Contents 1. Email Customer Segmentation 2. Simply Beautiful Email Designs 3. Abandoned Cart - Published: 2024-01-29 - Modified: 2025-05-20 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/retail/ The Retailer's Guide to Email Success Table of Contents Table Contents 1. Email Customer Segmentation 2. Simply Beautiful Email Designs 3. Abandoned Cart Recovery 4. Product Recommendations 5. Promotional Campaigns 6. Customer Loyalty Programs 7. Analytics and Reporting Why Choose Benchmark Email? The Retailer's Guide to Email Success At Benchmark Email, we understand that successful retail businesses rely on effective communication and customer engagement. That's where we come in. Our powerfully simple email marketing solutions can help you connect with you r audience, boost sales, and build long-lasting customer relationships. Explore how we can supercharge your retail business below. Scroll Down Our Retail Email Marketing Solutions 1. Customer Segmentation Our email marketing tool will help you segment your customer base, ensuring that each message is highly relevant to the person receiving it. Here are some common email list segments your retail brand can create using Benchmark Email: New SubscribersPeople who have recently joined your email list. You can send them a welcome series introducing your brand and products. Customer Lifecycle Stages:Segment customers based on where they are in the customer journey, such as prospects, first-time buyers, repeat customers and loyal customers. DemographicsSegment by age, gender, location, or any other demographic information that is relevant to your products and marketing goals. Purchase HistoryGroup customers based on their past purchases. This allows you to recommend related products or upsell and cross-sell effectively. Engagement LevelSegment by engagement, such as frequent openers, clickers, or those who haven't engaged with your emails in a while.... --- ### Smart Design > Bring consistency to your email designs with Brand Kit. Effortlessly access your brand assets when designing your email campaigns. - Published: 2024-01-17 - Modified: 2024-07-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/smart-design/ Email design made effortless with AI Smart Design is your shortcut to building custom, branded email campaigns. Sign up for free to generate your email. CREATE YOUR FIRST EMAIL Email creation made easy. Whether you're a seasoned marketer or new to the world of email campaigns, Smart Design empowers you to create professional-grade emails effortlessly. CREATE YOUR FIRST EMAIL Emails designed to reach your goals. Welcome new subscribers, deliver routine updates, or showcase your latest products with ease. Choose your goal and let Smart Design do the rest! CREATE YOUR FIRST EMAIL Your brand, your way. No more cookie-cutter templates. Smart Design + Brand Kit pulls your logo, brand colors and images from your website to create your emails. Leave a lasting impression with a professional design tailored to your brand. CREATE YOUR FIRST EMAIL Emails that write themselves. Crafting email copy has never been simpler. Smart Design provides you with custom email content that aligns with your business and drives action. CREATE YOUR FIRST EMAIL Smarter subject lines. Writing subject lines can be stressful. After all, they have to deliver. Don't fret! With Smart Subject Lines, you can generate compelling openers that make an impact with every send. CREATE YOUR FIRST EMAIL Work Smarter, Not Harder Sign up for a free account and create your first email with Smart Design. CREATE YOUR FIRST EMAIL --- ### Brand Kit > Bring consistency to your email designs with Brand Kit. Effortlessly access your brand assets when designing your email campaigns. - Published: 2024-01-17 - Modified: 2024-08-02 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/brand-kit/ Keep your style in sync with Brand Kit With Brand Kit, your emails look on-brand and on-point every time. Sign up for a free account to create your own Brand Kit. SIGN UP FREE Never hunt for your logo again. With Brand Kit, the logo of your choice is always easily accessible from the image gallery. No more stalling design to track down the logo you use for email marketing campaigns. SIGN UP FREE Keep brand colors at your fingertips. There's nothing more tedious than searching for your brand color hex codes to copy/paste. With Brand Kit, your chosen colors are always available to you in your color picker. SIGN UP FREE Instantly train Smart Design, our email design AI tool. With Smart Design + Brand Kit, your email campaign designs are on-brand and aligned to your goals. Let our AI do the heavy lifting on design and content, while you add the final touches. SIGN UP FREE Work Smarter, Not Harder Sign up for a free account to try out Brand Kit. SIGN UP FREE --- ### Tactical List Management Video > A Tactical List Management Guide for Google & Yahoo's Email Policy Update   Video Transcript - Published: 2024-01-15 - Modified: 2024-01-15 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/resource/tactical-list-management-video/ A Tactical List Management Guide for Google & Yahoo's Email Policy Update Video Transcript Let's go ahead and get started. I'm gonna take care of a few Housekeeping items first before we dive in. So just so everyone knows, we will be sending out a recording and the slides. After the webinar. So if you have to log off early, no worries. You will be getting, all the materials from this webinar afterwards. So don't worry about that. Also, if you have any questions, please feel free to put them into the question portion. We will be reserving some time at the end of the webinar to answer any questions. Okay. So let's go ahead and get started. I wanna introduce myself. My name is Natalie Slyman. I'm the content marketing manager at Benchmark Email. And, Irene Martinez, she's our training manager. She's co hosting with me, and she's gonna pop on a little later. But today, we are discussing how to optimize deliverability. We're gonna offer a tactical list management guide for Google and Yahoo's email policy updates. So let's dive in. Okay. So today, what we're going to be covering is, you know, how to understand these new email policies, a deep dive into list management. Put it back to these policy changes. And integrating policy changes with list management. Okay. So Understanding the new email policy is an overview of Google and yahoo's email policy updates. So this is a quick overview of what these policy updates... --- ### How Email Marketing Fits Into Your Holiday Marketing Campaign > How Email Marketing Fits Into Your Holiday Marketing Campaign   - Published: 2023-12-06 - Modified: 2023-12-06 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/resource/marketing-fits-video/ How Email Marketing Fits Into Your Holiday Marketing Campaign --- ### Home Nov 2023 - smart design quiet launch > Build beautiful, responsive emails with Benchmark's email marketing platform to engage subscribers, nurture leads, and track results. - Published: 2023-11-06 - Modified: 2025-05-20 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/ A powerfully simple email marketing platform. Have a minute? Create your first email in a jiff with Smart Design AI. CREATE YOUR FIRST EMAIL Design with AI Build custom, branded emails in just a few clicks. Smart Design AI is your companion for creating professional-grade emails featuring your logo, images, colors and messaging. Learn More Sell More Feature your products to grow new and repeat sales. Emails are mobile responsive, easily branded, and ready to delight subscribers in the inbox. Learn More Email Templates for Every Occasion BROWSE ALL TEMPLATES Attract More Build your subscriber list with forms, pop-ups and landing pages. Learn More Integrations Connect with your favorite sales and marketing tools. Easily add contacts to Benchmark Email from your favorite platforms. Connect with more subscribers every month to grow sales. All Integrations Your browser does not support the video tag. Guess Less Keep a pulse on email marketing Our tools let you test, measure and optimize campaigns. So easy, anyone can see a lift in their email marketing results. Learn More Get More Personal Go beyond the basic broadcast email. We've simplified email automation. With Benchmark, you don't need to be an automation expert to send tailored outreach that feels personal. Learn More More Love from Our Customers Free Forever. No Credit Card Required. Recent Posts: Partner & Contribute --- ### Benchmark Email Gratitude Webinar Video Guide > Benchmark Email Mastering Gratitude Webinar   - Published: 2023-11-06 - Modified: 2023-12-06 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/resource/gratitudewebinar-videoguide/ Benchmark Email Mastering Gratitude Webinar --- ### Smart support > Bot test page - Published: 2023-10-06 - Modified: 2023-10-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/smart-support/ Bot test page --- ### Trending - Published: 2023-09-26 - Modified: 2023-09-26 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/trending/ --- ### Archive - Published: 2023-09-26 - Modified: 2023-09-26 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/archive/ --- ### Blog - Published: 2023-09-20 - Modified: 2024-04-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog-023/ --- ### Financial services - Benchmark Email > Financial Services Table of Contents Email Marketing for Financial Services: How to Stand Out in a Crowded Market But first - why should you invest in - Published: 2023-09-12 - Modified: 2025-05-20 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/financial-services/ Financial Services Table of Contents Email Marketing for Financial Services: How to Stand Out in a Crowded Market But first - why should you invest in email marketing? Tips for Designing Financial Service Emails Delivering value through list segmentation Personalizing Financial Services Emails Staying Compliant Financial Services Email Campaign Ideas and Examples Benchmark Email for Financial Service Providers Email Marketing for Financial Services How to Stand Out in a Crowded Market ⭐ Email marketing is a highly effective way for financial services firms to engage with customers and prospects, build brand awareness, and generate leads. Whether you're an asset management company, a bank, an insurance firm, or a financial advisor, email marketing can help you connect with your target audience and achieve your marketing objectives. However, email marketing in the financial services industry is not without its challenges. With regulatory restrictions, high competition, and low open and click-through rates, it can be difficult to create effective email campaigns that drive results. That's why we've put together this definitive guide to email marketing for financial services. In this guide, we'll cover everything you need to know to create successful email campaigns that resonate with your target audience. From building your email list and creating compelling content to optimizing your campaigns for deliverability and engagement, we'll share best practices and practical tips to help you get the most out of your email marketing efforts. So, let's get started! But first Why should you invest in email marketing? Email marketing is a crucial... --- ### Benchmark Email for Nonprofits - Benchmark Email > Send email. Smile. Repeat. Nonprofits love Benchmark Email's easy-to-use email marketing platform for building a community around their cause. SIGN UP - Published: 2023-09-12 - Modified: 2025-05-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/nonprofits/ Send email. Smile. Repeat. Nonprofits love Benchmark Email's easy-to-use email marketing platform for building a community around their cause. SIGN UP FREE Try for free, no credit card required. Ask about our 25% discount for qualifying nonprofits. Email Smarter AI does the heavy lifting so you can send quickly and confidently. Turn your ideas into original email copy in just a click with Smart Content. Rest easy knowing you're achieving maximum deliverability with Smart Sending. Sign Up Free Attract More Build your subscriber list with forms, pop-ups and landing pages. Sign Up Free Happy Customers Use Benchmark to Promote Their Cause "Great Software! " With Benchmark I'm able to communicate with all of my clients, inform them about new deals, and work to promote my business well. Not only that, but Benchmark also provides us with valuable statistics about how well our email was received. This software is extremely organized and user-friendly. I am able to navigate my emailed newsletters with ease and convey everything in one place. Laura D. Owner in the Education Management Industry Link to Full Review "Fantastic" It's so easy to navigate through the whole process from registration to sending a completed email. Micheal J. Political Organization Industry Link to Full Review "New User is Satisfied" It allows me to duplicate my e-mails to reuse the design and format for daily e-mails. Cynthia P. Editor in the Religious Institutions Industry Link to Full Review "Producing campaigns easy and fast" Very intuitive for a beginner/limited user of... --- ### Email Marketing Pricing Plans - Benchmark Email - Benchmark Email > Affordable email marketing solution. A pricing plan for any list size … all features and support included. - Published: 2023-08-22 - Modified: 2023-09-27 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/pricing-single-plan/ Sign up for free, upgrade when you're ready! How many contacts are on your email list? See your price, and get started for free. Sign Up Free Questions about pricing, or need a quote? Let's talk! Includes everything you need to: Design memorable emails Capture new subscribers Segment lists Track email performance Automate customer journeys Build landing pages Optimize campaigns Send 7x your contact limit monthly Sign Up Free See Features Custom Plans Need pricing based on email sends? We have you covered. High-Volume Large senders and enterprises love the security of sending at high volume with Benchmark Email. See High Volume Pricing Send-Based Ideal for senders who want to pay based on monthly emails sent, rather the size of their subscriber list See Send-Based Pricing Pay As You Go Perfect for businesses and organizations that only plan to send marketing emails occasionally during the year. See Pay as You Go Pricing EXPLORE SEND-BASED PRICING All Features Testimonials "Benchmark has made it a quick and easy process for us to create professional looking emails to keep our customers and interested parties engaged. " - Gavin Wieske, Marketing Manager | Sandbox. Frequently Asked Questions What payment methods does Benchmark Email accept? Collapse With all types of businesses across the globe using Benchmark Email, we understand the need to offer various payment forms. To be as accommodating as possible, Benchmark Email accepts various forms of payment. Benchmark accepts the following major credit cards: Visa, MasterCard, Discover and AmEx. You can also pay... --- ### Email Marketing Pricing Plans - Benchmark Email > Affordable email marketing solution. A pricing plan for any list size … all features and support included. - Published: 2023-08-22 - Modified: 2023-08-23 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/pricing-v3-send-based-exp/ It's not complicated. Keep it simple with no-nosense pricing. Basic Access a complete email marketing platform with simple pricing. No setup costs, confusing tiers or hidden fees. sign up free $40/mo up to 10,000 emails Custom Recieve custom pricing - available for businesses with large email volume or unique deliverability needs. talk to sales Volume discounts Contact-based pricing Large-sender tools What's Included --- ### Pricing: Large volume senders > Large Volume Senders Need pricing based on email sends? We have you covered. High-Volume Large senders and enterprises love the security of sending at - Published: 2023-08-17 - Modified: 2023-08-17 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/pricing-large-volume-senders/ Large Volume Senders Need pricing based on email sends? We have you covered. High-Volume Large senders and enterprises love the security of sending at high volume with Benchmark Email. See High Volume Pricing Send-Based Ideal for senders who want to pay based on monthly emails sent, rather the size of their subscriber list See Send-Based Pricing Pay As You Go Perfect for businesses and organizations that only plan to send marketing emails occasionally during the year. See Pay as You Go Pricing EXPLORE SEND-BASED PRICING --- ### test > Expand - Published: 2023-07-24 - Modified: 2023-07-24 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/test/ Expand --- ### Philippine SME Business Network > A powerfully simple email marketing platform. Have a minute? Create your first email in a jiff with Smart Design AI✨. CREATE YOUR FIRST EMAIL Design with - Published: 2023-07-12 - Modified: 2025-03-17 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/go/ A powerfully simple email marketing platform. Have a minute? Create your first email in a jiff with Smart Design AI. CREATE YOUR FIRST EMAIL Design with AI Build custom, branded emails in just a few clicks. Smart Design AI is your companion for creating professional-grade emails featuring your logo, images, colors and messaging. Learn More Sell More Feature your products to grow new and repeat sales. Emails are mobile responsive, easily branded, and ready to delight subscribers in the inbox. Learn More Email Templates for Every Occasion BROWSE ALL TEMPLATES Attract More Build your subscriber list with forms, pop-ups and landing pages. Learn More Integrations Connect with your favorite sales and marketing tools. Easily add contacts to Benchmark Email from your favorite platforms. Connect with more subscribers every month to grow sales. All Integrations Your browser does not support the video tag. Guess Less Keep a pulse on email marketing Our tools let you test, measure and optimize campaigns. So easy, anyone can see a lift in their email marketing results. Learn More Get More Personal Go beyond the basic broadcast email. We've simplified email automation. With Benchmark, you don't need to be an automation expert to send tailored outreach that feels personal. Learn More More Love from Our Customers Free Forever. No Credit Card Required. Recent Posts: Partner & Contribute --- ### The Email Copywriting Guide > Get started with your email marketing efforts in less than a week with this guide and the Benchmark Email email marketing platform. - Published: 2023-06-22 - Modified: 2025-03-07 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/email-copywriting/ Marketing Software Guide Table of Contents Table of Contents Understanding Your Audience Writing Effective Subject Lines and Preview Text Crafting Email Body Copy Tools for Email Copywriting CRAFTING EMAILS THAT CONNECT A Guide to Effective Email Copywriting Email copywriting is the act of creating persuasive and engaging written content for the purpose of promoting a product, service, or idea via email. The goal of email copywriting is to create emails that capture the reader's attention and motivate them to take action, such as clicking on a link, making a purchase, or signing up for a service. Effective email copywriting involves understanding the audience, crafting a compelling subject line, and creating a message that resonates with the reader's needs and desires. It also requires a strong understanding of marketing and copywriting principles, as well as a command of language, grammar, and style. Email copywriting is important for the success of your emails because it directly impacts the effectiveness of your message. Well-crafted email copy can capture the reader's attention, communicate your message clearly, and motivate them to take action, such as clicking on a link, making a purchase, or signing up for a service. In contrast, poorly written email copy can cause your emails to be ignored, deleted, or marked as spam. Effective email copywriting can help you build relationships with your audience, establish trust and credibility, and ultimately drive sales and conversions. Email copywriting also plays a critical role in achieving your marketing goals, such as increasing brand awareness, driving... --- ### Email Marketing Pricing Plans - Benchmark Email > Affordable email marketing solution. A pricing plan for any list size … all features and support included. - Published: 2023-06-21 - Modified: 2023-07-20 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/pricing-june/ Choose the Plan That's Right for You How many contacts do you need? SEE ALL FEATURES Large Volume Senders Need pricing based on email sends? We have you covered. High-Volume Large senders and enterprises love the security of sending at high volume with Benchmark Email. See High Volume Pricing Send-Based Ideal for senders who want to pay based on monthly emails sent, rather the size of their subscriber list See Send-Based Pricing Pay As You Go Perfect for businesses and organizations that only plan to send marketing emails occasionally during the year. See Pay as You Go Pricing EXPLORE SEND-BASED PRICING All Features Testimonials "Benchmark has made it a quick and easy process for us to create professional looking emails to keep our customers and interested parties engaged. " - Gavin Wieske, Marketing Manager | Sandbox. Frequently Asked Questions What payment methods does Benchmark Email accept? Collapse With all types of businesses across the globe using Benchmark Email, we understand the need to offer various payment forms. To be as accommodating as possible, Benchmark Email accepts various forms of payment. Benchmark accepts the following major credit cards: Visa, MasterCard, Discover and AmEx. You can also pay by Wire Transfer, but note that there's a $25 fee. Additionally you can make ACH payments, or pay by check made out to: Polaris Software LLC 3636 S. Geyer Road, Suite 100, St Louis, MO 63127. Paypal is also an option, by making your payment to: Paypal@benchmarkemail. wpengine. com. Learn More. Do we accept... --- ### MailOptin > Import your Google Docs contacts into your Benchmark email lists with this free integration. Click or dial 1-800-430-4095. Free 30-day trial! - Published: 2023-06-14 - Modified: 2023-06-14 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/mailoptin/ Benchmark Email's MailOptin Integration Your email list is one of your most important marketing assets. It offers you a direct line to individuals that are interested in your brand and what you have to say. It's crucial for businesses to dedicate efforts toward building their email list if they want to remain competitive and see consistent revenue come in. Now, building your email list and your lead pool has never been easier. With Benchmark Email's MailOptin integration, you can automatically convert your site visitors into leads and add them to your Benchmark Email email marketing list. With more leads and a growing email list, you're able to spread brand awareness and send tailored email outreach to an interested audience that can ultimately increase your revenue. Let's dive into exactly what MailOptin is and how this integration is beneficial for your business. What is MailOptin? MailOptin is a full-featured lead generation plugin for WordPress and comes with an easy-to-use form builder that allows you to create beautiful lead capture forms that are optimized for the highest conversions. You can add these forms to your website, which will allow you to capture leads and ultimately build your email list. The Benefits of Using MailOptin Forms Website forms play an important role in your inbound marketing efforts. They allow you to turn an average site visitor into a lead - someone you can reach with specific messaging and nurture into a customer. But not all lead capture forms are created equal. Here are... --- ### Marketing Automation Guide > Marketing Automation What Your Small Business Should Know about Leveraging Marketing Automation to Grow Read on for an in-depth guide on what marketing - Published: 2023-05-23 - Modified: 2025-05-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/marketing-automation-info/ Marketing Automation What Your Small Business Should Know about Leveraging Marketing Automation to Grow Read on for an in-depth guide on what marketing automation is, how it works, how it can help your company and your customers, features to look for, and tips and tricks that will make you experience as much success as possible. What is Marketing Automation? Marketing automation is the use of software to assist with lead generation and engagement with contacts in a relevant, personal way, in a simple, repeatable and scalable process. At BenchmarkONE, we know marketing automation. We live and breathe it, and that means we do whatever we can to empower agencies, agency clients, and small businesses to use it to the best of their ability in order to see tremendous results and growth.   If you'd rather skip the guide and dive right into marketing automation software, sign up for a free BenchmarkONE account. You'll get access to our all-in-one CRM, which includes everything you need to kick-start your marketing automation initiatives.   Sign Up for Our Free Marketing Automation Software Marketing automation pulls leads from everywhere into one central location and automates the next step. With marketing automation, you stop costly leaks and drive more customers back into your inbound marketing funnel. 50% of your leads are qualified, but just not ready to buy. (Gleanster) How Does Marketing Automation Work? With marketing automation, you can reach out to the right person with the right email when they are ready instead of... --- ### QuickEmailVerification Integration for Benchmark Email > With our QuickEmailVerification integration you will be able to verify email addresses in your Benchmark contact list. - Published: 2023-04-26 - Modified: 2023-04-26 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/quickemailverification/ QuickEmailVerification Integration for Benchmark Email Add QuickEmailVerification contacts to your Benchmark Email list(s) With our QuickEmailVerification integration you will be able to verify email addresses in your Benchmark contact list. This email verification will remove incorrect, invalid or unsafe email addresses from your list. With a cleaned email list, you'll see a greatly improved email deliverability, practically zero hard bounces and much better campaign performance and ROI. Get Started Requirements: Benchmark Email Account (works with Free Starter Plan) QuickEmailVerification Integration Is Fast & Easy: No download necessary Automatically add leads to your Benchmark Email list(s) Create quality engagement with the power of email marketing How to Integrate QuickEmailVerification: Log in to your QuickEmailVerification account. Click Upload Email List on the top-right of the page. On the pop-up, choose Import From ESP. Now select Import From Benchmark. Enter your Benchmark API Key where prompted then click Connect. Select a list you want to verify from the drop-down menu and click Import. From your QuickEmailVerification panel, under Verification Jobs, click Start next to the list you have chosen to verify. Once the verification process is completed, you'll receive an email from QuickEmailVerification telling you the list is ready. On the QuickEmailVerification panel, under Verification Jobs, click Download and select Export Results to Benchmark. The pop-up page will offer you various choices as to what kind of addresses you'd like to retain in the new contact list in Benchmark (your original list will not reflect these changes). For your convenience, the default settings... --- ### Simplifying Email Marketing for eCommerce > Sign Up Free LOGIN Simplifying Email Marketing for eCommerce Email marketing is a cost-effective way for eCommerce stores to reach their customers, - Published: 2023-03-24 - Modified: 2024-08-09 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/ecommerce/ Sign Up Free LOGIN Simplifying Email Marketing for eCommerce Email marketing is a cost-effective way for eCommerce stores to reach their customers, promote their products and services, and grow their revenue. But reaching your audience in an impactful way isn't always easy. When it comes to email marketing, there's... Managing your list Creating email templates Promoting your products Planning for promotions It's no wonder your head is spinning before you press send. Don't fret; we're here to help! With our free eCommerce email templates, creating an email campaign for your online store is incredibly easy. Here's how to customize an eCommerce email template in a jiff (and for free! ) with Benchmark Email: 1- Choose a template you like from our email template library.   2- Add your logo and brand colors with the easiest-to-use email builder on the block.   3- Use our product block feature to drag and drop your products into your email template from Shopify - or where ever you sell online. 4- Write your email intro, product descriptions and CTA with the help of Smart Content, our AI email copywriting tool (powered by Open AI).   5- Upload your contacts or connect to your online store to send your campaign! Start Here The secret to generating more eCommerce sales? Send personal, polished emails with Benchmark. "Being an online store, it is important to tap into various digital strategies to not only engage efficiently but also convert ads, banners, and discount codes into sales," says Kate... --- ### Thank You - Pay as You Go > You're on the list! You'll be the first to know when we launch new pricing plans. While most businesses get the best ROI from an ongoing email marketing - Published: 2023-02-16 - Modified: 2023-08-18 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/thank-you-vip/ You're on the list! You'll be the first to know when we launch new pricing plans. While most businesses get the best ROI from an ongoing email marketing strategy, some of our customers send emails only seasonally. We'll keep you in the loop around pay as you go pricing options. --- ### Marketing Software > Table of Contents What is Marketing Automation? Why Your Business Needs Marketing Software What Makes BenchmarkONE's Marketing Software Different The Finally, marketing software that’s easy to use, easy to look at and priced nice. - Published: 2023-02-02 - Modified: 2023-07-03 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/marketing-software/ Table of Contents What is Marketing Automation? Why Your Business Needs Marketing Software What Makes BenchmarkONE's Marketing Software Different The Essential Marketing Software Features that Come with Using BenchmarkONE Marketing Software Did you know that marketing software can be easy to use, easy to look at, and priced nicely? If you're interested in learning more about a simpler marketing software solution that won't break the bank, you've come to the right place. Here we'll break down what marketing software is, why your business needs it, and why BenchmarkONE is the cost-effective marketing software you need to make all your marketing tasks easier. possible. What is Marketing Software? Marketing software is any tool that assists your marketing team with their essential tasks, be it social media posting, sending targeted email campaigns, tracking and measuring strategy results, or capturing and storing customer data. Do we sound like a broken record? If you're all-to-familiar with marketing software and would rather skip the deep dive, get started with BenchmarkONE by signing up for our free plan now. Get Started with Free Marketing Software Why Your Business Needs Marketing Software We live in a fast-paced, highly demanding world. And marketing is arguably the most fast-paced, demanding industry out there. Every week there's a new update or rollout that inevitably shakes things up, making teams scramble to adjust and perform. Your business can't afford to miss a step, otherwise, you could find yourself struggling to keep up with competitors and keep your business growing. But when... --- ### Marketing Automation - BenchmarkONE > Marketing automation that's personal Easily nurture B2B relationships with BenchmarkONE Automation Simplified with BenchmarkONE Email marketing is - Published: 2023-01-16 - Modified: 2024-12-03 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/marketing-automation/ Marketing automation that's personal Easily nurture B2B relationships with BenchmarkONE Automation Simplified with BenchmarkONE Email marketing is integral to the success of any business. But as you grow, automation can up your game by standardizing customer journeys and automating workflows. BenchmarkONE (a Polaris Software company) is here to take your marketing to the next level. Explore BenchmarkONE Stay Relevant with Campaigns Stay in their hearts - and in their inbox - with automated drip campaigns. Send your leads targeted, timely emails over time to add value and shorten their path to conversion. Give Hot Leads Priority Hounding cold leads that aren't ready to buy is frustrating - and time consuming. Instead, BenchmarkONE alerts you when hot prospects exhibit buying behavior, like reaching a tag score, clicking a specific link, or visiting a conversion page on your website. Know Where to Invest Reporting shows you which channels are generating the most leads and customers. Make intelligent adjustments to spend and scale revenue - not resources. Marketing Automation Resources Not sure where to get started? Looking for some inspiration? Webinar: How to Create a Welcome Series Automate your welcome email series and onboard subscribers with ease Register Now Blogs Get the latest strategies to use with email automation. Go Find More Customers with BenchmarkONE Learn why thousands of users choose BenchmarkONE to nurture customer relationships. Explore BenchmarkONE --- ### EmailHeatMaps > Benchmark Email now allows you to add Groove contacts to your email list(s). - Published: 2023-01-10 - Modified: 2023-01-10 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/emailheatmaps/ EmailHeatmaps Create heatmaps to easily see the clicks results from all your email marketing campaigns! With our easy 1-step setup process, you can analyze the results of all your email marketing campaigns and truly understand which clicks are hot, which clicks are not and the areas that get the most clicks. Simply connect your Benchmark Email account and we do the magic! EmailHeatmaps is safe, secure and never connects to your mailing list or subscribers! Try it for free today for 14-days (no credit card required) to experience the power of our Email Heatmap tool to visualize the results of your email campaigns. Get Started Email Heatmaps allows you to easily digest information and the click performance of what's hot or not in your email content. Do you get all your clicks on certain products? Do images or the call to actions get most of the clicks?   Compare tool Our compare tool allows you to create an email heatmap then compare against another campaign. This will help you see the click performance in the changes you made or products you chose to promote. (Note: the image using dummy totals) Build the magic of email heatmaps and analyze using this brand new direct integration on all your sent email campaigns and automations. No additional tracking required, no credit card to try, so try today for free and create your own FREE email heatmap.   --- ### Marketing CRM - BenchmarkONE > Relationship Marketing Platform Be the hero with a B2B marketing CRM that turns leads into customers. Meet BenchmarkONE Take email marketing to the next - Published: 2022-12-29 - Modified: 2023-06-05 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/marketing-crm/ Relationship Marketing Platform Be the hero with a B2B marketing CRM that turns leads into customers. Meet BenchmarkONE Take email marketing to the next level with our relationship marketing platform, BenchmarkONE. Perfect for building B2B relationships and measuring your marketing efforts across all channels. Explore BenchmarkONE Leverage Real-Time Signals Track your contacts' activity in real time. Website tracking shows you who's visiting which pages of your site and can automatically trigger personalized campaigns and even send hot lead alerts to your sales team. Social Signals CRM contacts are populated with social media pics and profile links. With social profiles in hand, you have tools to build on customer-centric relationships. Manage Your Day Automated task creation and notifications keep you on point all day. When you know what needs to be done, you have the freedom to prioritize where to spend your time. Track Deals Are you just collecting leads - or actually driving results? The deal pipeline enables marketers to measure the sales process and gives insight into your best sales channels. Keep Tabs on Inbox Conversations When it comes to convos with prospects and customers, context is everything. Integrate with your email client to track inbox correspondence in contact profiles. Filter and Segment Tagging and lead scoring makes it easy to create dynamic lists based on your contacts' interests and readiness to buy. Reach out with the right message at the right time. Capture More Leads Import your existing connections into BenchmarkONE and dynamically collect new contacts with online... --- ### Hustle & Bustle Marketing Bundle - Benchmark Email > It's a Marketing Miracle! We've wrapped up savings on core marketing tools for small businesses. Start Saving It's the most wonderful time of the year for - Published: 2022-11-04 - Modified: 2022-11-24 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/hustle-bustle-marketing-bundle-benchmark-email/ It's a Marketing Miracle! We've wrapped up savings on core marketing tools for small businesses. Start Saving It's the most wonderful time of the year for small businesses - the holiday season. You're no stranger to the hustle and bustle that comes with growing your small business and ensuring it thrives. And nothing makes you jollier than a satisfied customer during a busy season. Whether you're caught up in the bustle of the season, or hustling to sell more before the year is out, every business can use some help spreading holiday cheer. You've been good this year and shouldn't weather the seasonal storm alone. That's why we're gifting some amazing savings on essential marketing tools. Check them out and take advantage of these gifts that will keep on giving into 2023 and beyond! 50% off annual Jotform plans Jotform VALID: Nov. 22 - 28 Upgrade your annual Jotform plan for more forms, submissions, storage, and powerful features in 2023! Get Started Discount up to 40% OFF! Breadnbeyond VALID: Nov. 24 - Dec. 5 High-quality explainer videos without the headache! Get up to $2,500 discount for an ultimate package of explainer videos. Get Started 1 month extra free trial EmailHeatmaps. com Get 6 weeks free instead of 2! Enjoy an extra 30 days free trial on top of our standard 14-day trial. Get Started Flat 30% Off Lifetime on any plan Narrato VALID: Nov. 2 - Dec. 5 Narrato brings you an amazing deal for Black Friday and Cyber Monday... --- ### Small Business Sales and Marketing Bundle > Help Small Businesses Make a Big Impact this November Let's join forces to amplify our reach and give more small businesses better sales and marketing - Published: 2022-10-19 - Modified: 2022-10-25 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/small-business-sales-and-marketing-bundle/ Help Small Businesses Make a Big Impact this November Let's join forces to amplify our reach and give more small businesses better sales and marketing tools. Over 32. 5 million small businesses account for 99. 9% of businesses in the US. Yet, small businesses face the most challenges as we navigate an uncertain economy. Let's work together to give them a leg up as we round out 2022 and head into the new year. Partner up with Benchmark to promote your business and help small businesses tackle their sales and marketing challenges all November long. Submit your company and promotion details to join! JOIN THE SMALL BUSINESS SALES & MARKETING BUNDLE Participating Partners Join now to add your business to the list JOIN THE SMALL BUSINESS SALES & MARKETING BUNDLE Ready to Partner Up? Submit your company and promotion details and we'll work together to reach more small businesses in November. We'll provide: A landing page you can share to promote the Small Business Sales & Marketing Bundle Social assets to help you spread the word As a partner, you'll: Promote the bundle Leverage the promo hashtag, to be provided Share posts from participating partners to amplify our reach Join today, and we'll follow-up with the landing page and assets to share with your audience. JOIN THE SMALL BUSINESS SALES & MARKETING BUNDLE --- ### Work Smarter, Not Harder with Smart Content > Quickly generate fresh email copy to fuel your email campaigns with the help of Smart Content, email copywriting AI. - Published: 2022-09-13 - Modified: 2024-08-29 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/smart-content/ Work Smarter, Not Harder with Smart Content Quickly generate fresh email copy to fuel your email campaigns with the help of Smart Content, email copywriting AI. SIGN UP FREE Generate new ideas to keep email copy fresh. Looking for a new reason to touch base with your audience? Use Smart Content to get a fresh take on evergreen topics. With AI copywriting in your toolkit, you always have something new to say to your audience. SIGN UP FREE Get the most out of existing content. Your existing content aligns with your messaging and value proposition. The only problem is - you've already sent it to your audience! Instead of starting from scratch, turn existing email copy into new content with a click. SIGN UP FREE Take the stress out of subject lines. Successful email sends rely on great subject lines. But between following best practices and brainstorming copy, subject lines can be a daunting task. Not to worry! With Smart Subject Lines, the perfect email opener is always at hand. Overcome the anxiety of a blank page. Committing to the first few keystrokes can be the toughest part of copywriting. Smart Content removes the blank page hurdle. Simply add a few ideas to generate email copy quickly. Then let the fun begin as you mold new content into snappy email copy that converts. SIGN UP FREE Send relevant, personalized emails at scale. The best email campaigns anticipate customer needs in advance. But creating personalized email copy can be time-consuming. Let... --- ### The Email Marketing Guide for Agencies > A successful email marketing strategy takes resources, dedication, and the right email tools. With the best email - Published: 2022-09-08 - Modified: 2022-09-09 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/email-marketing-guide-for-agencies/ Table of Contents The Value of Email Marketing for Agencies Why Email Marketing Works How Agencies Can Leverage Email Marketing to Build Relationships How Agencies Can Leverage Email Marketing to Build Reliable Income Why Does Finding the Right Email Marketing Software Matter? 1. Define your Goals 2. Identify your Target Audience 3. Grow Your Email List 4. Segment Your Email List 5. Create Your Email 6. Track Performance Select Your Email Marketing Tool Ace Email Marketing for Your Agency Sign up for Benchmark's free platform and send your first email in under 15 minutes. The Email Marketing Guide for Agencies We personally believe that email marketing is a powerful and influential channel for agencies, and with good reason. The cost-effective platform helps you generate high-quality leads and engage existing customers to drive high-profit margins while expending a minimal marketing budget. Done well, email marketing for agencies delivers an average of $36 for every dollar spent. The marketing world is vast. Whether you're a social media, web design, adWord/PPC, SEO, or full-service digital marketing agency, you should be getting such ROI or even higher. However, achieving such stellar results is easier said than done. In this guide, we'll show you how to rise above the barriers of email marketing for agencies. Keep reading to learn how you can use email to turn leads into customers and existing clients into brand loyalists. The Value of Email Marketing for Agencies 92% of agency marketers claim email marketing is pivotal to the success of... --- ### Newsletters > Email Marketing Templates: Newsletters Inform, entertain and educate with stunning email newsletters A newsletter is oftentimes the gateway to email - Published: 2022-08-26 - Modified: 2022-11-02 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/email-marketing/newsletters/ Email Marketing Templates: Newsletters Inform, entertain and educate with stunning email newsletters A newsletter is oftentimes the gateway to email marketing. It's an opportunity to humanize your brand, give a look at the inner workings of your business and to keep your subscribers up-to-date with everything new and exciting you offer. It's an extension of your brand. Capitalize on familiarity and use graphics, logos and images. Give a rundown of what's happening in the boardroom. Insert articles, product reviews, how-to's and more. You can use your own template or one of dozens of themed ones we've created just for you. It's your call. Business Preview Medical Preview Seasonal Preview Cooking Preview Music Preview Music Preview Fashion Preview Real Estate Preview Travel Preview Strut your stuff with our email newsletter templates. Get started Free with the Benchmark Starter Plan. Our drag and drop email editor helps you quickly and easily customize responsive email templates that will even look great on every mobile device. Find an HTML email template in the newsletter section of our gallery, use your own, or do both. Give it a go. You don't even need a credit card. Once you've found the perfect newsletter or press release free template, here are a few tips for crafting the best possible newsletter for your subscribers: Some email marketing templates are better than other at informing your subscribers of the goings on at your company. If that's the goal of your newsletter, be sure to find a template that can... --- ### High Volume Email Solutions > Send at Scale - Without Compromise High Volume Email Solutions from Benchmark Email SEE PRICING Need a special plan? Chat with Sales The world's leading - Published: 2022-08-22 - Modified: 2024-08-09 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/high-volume-email/ Send at Scale - Without Compromise High Volume Email Solutions from Benchmark Email SEE PRICING Need a special plan? Chat with Sales The world's leading brands trust their email to Benchmark Dependable Deliverability Get to the Inbox with Machine Learning Get to the Inbox with Machine Learning Every email send is backed by Smart Sending AI, our proprietary machine learning technology that improves email engagement to maximize deliverability. Whether you're sending thousands or millions of emails per month, our email infrastructure is built to scale with you. Email Whitelabeling Dedicated IP Deliverability Monitoring Reliable Support Email Marketing Expertise Since 2004, we've connected businesses with their customers and prospects through email marketing. From deliverability and list management to email marketing strategy, our team of experts is here to help you achieve your goals. 24/7 support Managed Account Setup Account Health Check Ups Send-Based Pricing Scale Your Program With Pricing Based on Email Sends. Pricing starts at $40/mo. for 10,000 email sends per month. Save as you scale your sending limit. SEE PRICING Security and Compliance Putting Data Security & Privacy First Protecting your data and your customers' data is our top priority. With an international presence, we're committed to adhering to the latest Privacy and data compliance standards across the globe. GDPR & CCPA Compliant EU-US and Swiss-US Privacy Shield Certified Dispute resolution through TrustArc TLS data encryption Continuous attack surface monitoring Integrations Fuel Your Email Program Integrate with your favorite tools to seamlessly streamline emailing across marketing, sales and operations.... --- ### Enterprise Email Solutions > Security & Reliability Delivered Enterprise Email Solutions from Benchmark Email SEE PRICING Need a special plan? Chat with Sales The world's leading - Published: 2022-08-18 - Modified: 2024-08-09 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/enterprise-email-solutions/ Security & Reliability Delivered Enterprise Email Solutions from Benchmark Email SEE PRICING Need a special plan? Chat with Sales The world's leading brands trust their email to Benchmark Security and Compliance Putting Data Security & Privacy First Protecting your data and your customers' data is our top priority. With an international presence, we're committed to adhering to the latest Privacy and data compliance standards across the globe. GDPR & CCPA Compliant EU-US and Swiss-US Privacy Shield Certified Dispute resolution through TrustArc TLS data encryption Continuous attack surface monitoring Dependable Deliverability Get to the Inbox with Machine Learning Get to the Inbox with Machine Learning Every email send is backed by Smart Sending AI, our proprietary machine learning technology that improves email engagement to maximize deliverability. Whether you're sending thousands or millions of emails per month, our email infrastructure is built to scale with you. Email Whitelabeling Dedicated IP Deliverability Monitoring Reliable Support Email Marketing Expertise Since 2004, we've connected businesses with their customers and prospects through email marketing. From deliverability and list management to email marketing strategy, our team of experts is here to help you achieve your goals. 24/7 support Managed Account Setup Account Health Check Ups Global Presence Serving You with an International Footprint Our email marketing platform is available in 9 languages and offers local support for 15 regions around the world. No matter where your business takes you, Benchmark Email is there to help you connect to your global customer base. &nbsp English &nbsp Español &nbsp Deutsch &nbsp 繁體中文 &nbsp 简体中文... --- ### Home V04 > Build beautiful, responsive emails with Benchmark's email marketing platform to engage subscribers, nurture leads, and track results. - Published: 2022-08-02 - Modified: 2022-10-21 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/growth/ The Quickest Way to Grow Reach your audience and attract new customers with robust email marketing powered by AI tools, marketing automation, landing pages, and more. SIGN UP FREE Free Forever. No credit card required. Email Smarter AI tools do the heavy lifting so you can send with confidence. Turn your ideas into original email copy in just a click with Smart Content, and rest easy knowing you're achieving maximum deliverability with Smart Sending. Learn More Sell More Feature your products to grow new and repeat sales. Emails are mobile responsive, easily branded, and ready to delight subscribers in the inbox. Learn More Email Templates for Every Occasion BROWSE ALL TEMPLATES Attract More Build your subscriber list with forms, pop-ups and landing pages. Learn More Or, integrate with your favorite sales and marketing tools. Easily add contacts to Benchmark Email from your favorite platforms. Connect with more subscribers every month to grow sales. Learn More Get More Personal Go beyond the basic broadcast email. Email automation keeps communication relevant and timely. Convert more subscribers to customers with outreach that is tailored to their needs. Learn More Guess Less Keep a pulse on email marketing. Our tools let you test, measure and optimize campaigns. So easy, anyone can see a lift in their email marketing results. Learn More Free Forever. No Credit Card Required. Sign Up for a Free Account First Name Last name Email address Recent Posts: Partner & Contribute --- ### Home V03 > Build beautiful, responsive emails with Benchmark's email marketing platform to engage subscribers, nurture leads, and track results. - Published: 2022-07-21 - Modified: 2022-10-21 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/grow/ The Quickest Way to Grow Reach your audience and attract new customers with robust email marketing powered by AI tools, marketing automation, landing pages, and more. SIGN UP FREE Free Forever. No credit card required. Email Smarter AI tools do the heavy lifting so you can send with confidence. Turn your ideas into original email copy in just a click with Smart Content, and rest easy knowing you're achieving maximum deliverability with Smart Sending. Learn More Sell More Feature your products to grow new and repeat sales. Emails are mobile responsive, easily branded, and ready to delight subscribers in the inbox. Learn More Email Templates for Every Occasion BROWSE ALL TEMPLATES Attract More Build your subscriber list with forms, pop-ups and landing pages. Learn More Or, integrate with your favorite sales and marketing tools. Easily add contacts to Benchmark Email from your favorite platforms. Connect with more subscribers every month to grow sales. Learn More Get More Personal Go beyond the basic broadcast email. Email automation keeps communication relevant and timely. Convert more subscribers to customers with outreach that is tailored to their needs. Learn More Guess Less Keep a pulse on email marketing. Our tools let you test, measure and optimize campaigns. So easy, anyone can see a lift in their email marketing results. Learn More Free Forever. No Credit Card Required. Sign Up for a Free Account First Name Last name Email address Recent Posts: Partner & Contribute --- ### Benchmark Email vs. Mailchimp > Sign up free The Best Mailchimp Alternative: Benchmark Email. Choose the best email marketing platform to grow your business. - Published: 2022-07-08 - Modified: 2024-05-29 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/benchmark-email-vs-mailchimp/ Sign up free The Best Alternative to Mailchimp: Benchmark Email Wouldn't life be a lot easier with a simple to use email marketing platform that provides users with great customer service? What if it also cost 16% less than Mailchimp? Meet Benchmark Email! Sign Up Free Benchmark Email vs Mailchimp: Pricing Comparison A good marketer is always looking for ways to reduce costs and increase ROI. If you arrived at this page, you're probably thinking: which one of this email platforms is cheaper? As you can see on the table below, there's a clear winner on this topic! Benchmark Email plans are between up to 25% cheaper than Mailchimp's. PRO PLAN PRICING TABLE Contact Monthly Email Sends Price 500 7,500 $15 2,500 37,500 $35 5,000 75,000 $58 10,000 150,000 $89 25,000 375,000 $169 40,000 600,000 $258 50,000 750,000 $279 75,000 1,125,000 $389 100,000 1,500,000 $449 Standard Plan pricing table Contact Monthly Email Sends Price 500 6,000 $20 2,500 30,000 $60 5,000 60,000 $100 10,000 120,000 $135 25,000 300,000 $310 40,000 480,000 $410 50,000 600,000 $450 75,000 900,000 $630 100,000 1,200,000 $800 Sign up for a free Benchmark account to experience how impactful simple email marketing can be - no strings attached. SIGN UP FREE Hear from our Customers: Why is Benchmark the Best Mailchimp Alternative Pricing might not be your only concern. If you're having a hard time with Mailchimp's complicated set of tools, or you're disappointed with their lack of customer support, you've come to the right place! Listen... --- ### Home V02 > Build beautiful, responsive emails with Benchmark's email marketing platform to engage subscribers, nurture leads, and track results. - Published: 2022-07-07 - Modified: 2022-09-21 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/home-v02/ The Quickest Way to Grow Reach your audience and attract new customers with powerful email marketing, smart sending AI, automation, landing pages, and more. SIGN UP FREE Free Forever. No credit card required. Sell More Feature your products to grow new and repeat sales. Emails are mobile responsive, easily branded, and ready to delight subscribers in the inbox. Learn More Email Templates for Every Occasion BROWSE ALL TEMPLATES Attract More Build your subscriber list with forms, pop-ups and landing pages. Learn More Or, integrate with your favorite sales and marketing tools. Easily add contacts to Benchmark Email from your favorite platforms. Connect with more subscribers every month to grow sales. Learn More Get More Personal Go beyond the basic broadcast email. Email automation keeps communication relevant and timely. Convert more subscribers to customers with outreach that is tailored to their needs. Learn More Guess Less Keep a pulse on email marketing. Our tools let you test, measure and optimize campaigns. So easy, anyone can see a lift in their email marketing results. Learn More Free Forever. No Credit Card Required. Sign Up for a Free Account First Name Last name Email address Recent Posts: Partner & Contribute --- ### Free templates new > Free Responsive HTML Email Templates Simple, free HTML email templates for your email marketing campaigns View all email templates Let Benchmark Email - Published: 2022-05-18 - Modified: 2022-08-24 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/free-templates-new/ Free Responsive HTML Email Templates Simple, free HTML email templates for your email marketing campaigns View all email templates Let Benchmark Email provide you with expertly crafted HTML email templates! When you work hard to grow your email list, it's important that you're able to take advantage of it and see, first hand, email's high return. But if the email you send doesn't grab attention, it's basically dead on arrival. Luckily, stunning HTML email templates can give you the edge necessary to make your email design stand out and your subscribers click "open. " HTML emails have a leg up on plain text emails. They're beautifully crafted, making them great at increasing engagement and adding a little flair to your marketing strategy. And don't worry about dedicating tons of time and money towards nailing the right email design that works for your brand. With our collection of free email templates, we take all the guesswork out of the process so you can focus on sending emails and seeing results. But what about users with different email clients? How will your campaigns look on those various email clients, smartphones, and other platforms? With 85% of smartphone users checking their email from their phones, these are common questions to be asking. But don't worry! Our responsive email templates mean you'll have no problem reaching as many people as possible, no matter which email clients they're using. These responsive email templates are completely compatible with iPhone, Gmail, iPad, Apple Mail, Outlook, Samsung Mail,... --- ### eCommerce > Easily feature your eCommerce products with email marketing. Integrate with Shopify or add your own products on the fly. - Published: 2022-04-27 - Modified: 2024-12-03 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/ecommerce/ Email Marketing for eCommerce Sell more with tools that deliver your products to your customer's inbox. Sign Up Free Showcase Your Products Simple Drag & Drop eCommerce Block Highlight your products in emails and newsletters. With an intuitive email builder and world-class deliverability, It's easy to build and send emails that sell. Sign Up Free Get More Customers with Email Marketing for Shopify Email marketing is the best way to sell more, more often. Integrate with Shopify to meet your customer in the inbox with the products they can't resist. Shopify Your Newsletter Integrate with Shopify to seamlessly add your products to your email or newsletter. Curate the perfect product selection for your target audience with every send. More eyes on your store, more sales every month. Sign Up Free Sync with Your Shopify List No more messy spreadsheets or pesky field-matching. Automatically sync your Shopify lists with Benchmark so you can focus on building great campaigns instead of obsessing over list management. Sign Up Free eCommerce Email Templates Just add your branding, choose your products, and send! Send Timely Offers With Marketing Automation Collapse Every sale is personal for your customer, so don't send one-size-fits-all emails. With Automation Pro, you can create email campaign workflows that send hyper-relevant, conversion-focused messaging that turns window shoppers into customers. Learn More Optimize with A/B Testing Expand Quickly improve your eCommerce email strategy with a/b testing for subject lines, content, time of day, and more. Benchmark samples a portion of your list and... --- ### Testimonials and Reviews > Testimonials & Reviews Noel W. Owner/Yoga Instructor in the Health, Wellness and Fitness Industry Link to Full Review "Easy to use email marketing - Published: 2022-03-23 - Modified: 2022-08-24 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/testimonials-and-reviews/ Testimonials & Reviews Noel W. Owner/Yoga Instructor in the Health, Wellness and Fitness Industry Link to Full Review "Easy to use email marketing software" Pros I like that Benchmark is clean looking and easy to navigate. You can create an email in no time. I like the email templates. Reasons for Choosing Benchmark Email No fuss interfaces and easy to use for my small business. Plus I was connected with a very helpful sales rep Switched From Mailchimp Reasons for Switching to Benchmark Email MailChimp isn't easy to use and has virtually no customer service. I'm a yoga instructor, not an IT specialist Comments (Benefits) Excellent customer service right from the get go Diane K. Director in the Sports Industry Link to Full Review "Great way to Communicate! " Pros Benchmark has provided a consistent marketing opportunity for us. The analytics provided are a great added feature to emails. I love the resend option, and the ability to see failure rate and open rate of each e-mail so that we can adapt our wording. Cons I wish there was an easier way to work with images and templates, and not have to scroll through all uploaded. Comments (Benefits) This has been the best e-mail system we have used. Consistent in delivery, accurate reporting, and analytics. Juan J. WebMaster in the Marketing and Advertising Industry Link to Full Review "The main feature to highlight is the price" Pros The main feature to highlight is the price (what they provide for that... --- ### Register > EN The simplest way to send emails and grow your subscriber list Since 2004, Benchmark Email is trusted email marketing software used by 500,000+ - Published: 2021-10-15 - Modified: 2021-11-17 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/registers/ EN The simplest way to send emails and grow your subscriber list Since 2004, Benchmark Email is trusted email marketing software used by 500,000+ businesses worldwide. Sign up for free to get started. Sign Up for a Free Forever Account (no credit card required) Ignite Customer Relationships Benchmark has made it a quick and easy process for us to create professional looking emails to keep our customers and interested parties engaged. " -Gavin Wieske, Marketing Manager | Sandbox Software --- ### Email Marketing Software > Table of Contents What is Email Marketing Software? Why Does Finding the Right Email Marketing Software Matter? Create Efficiencies Simplify Outreach - Published: 2021-09-28 - Modified: 2023-02-02 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/email-marketing-software/ Table of Contents What is Email Marketing Software? Why Does Finding the Right Email Marketing Software Matter? Create Efficiencies Simplify Outreach Track the Performance of Your Emails Organize and Prioritize Leads Through Segmentation Personalize Every Send Fuel a Lead Nurture Strategy Increase Conversions What are the Most Important Email Marketing Software Features? Email Builder Photo Editing Inbox Preview Free Email Templates RSS Emails Lead Generation Email Drip Campaigns Marketing Automation A/B Testing Reporting Sign up for Benchmark's free platform and send your first email in under 15 minutes. Choosing the Best Email Marketing Software for Your Business A successful email marketing strategy takes resources, dedication, and the right email tools. With the best email service provider for your business, your marketing team can put your email marketing plan into motion. More than that, the right email marketing service will give you insights and provide key findings that allow you and your team to refine your strategy. After all, when it comes to email marketing, complacency can kill performance. In this guide, we'll help you discover what email marketing software is, why it's beneficial for your strategy, and what features will help you take your email strategy from good to great. What is Email Marketing Software? Email marketing software is a tool that enables you to easily send messages to your email subscribers. Through triggers and automation, you're able to facilitate regular email nurture campaigns and send newsletters to your list of leads, providing them with valuable information, resources, and content.... --- ### Email Design > What's in a good email design? Everything you need to know about grabbing your reader's attention and getting them to take action. - Published: 2021-09-17 - Modified: 2025-05-20 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/email-design/ Table of Contents What is Good Email Design? Email Design Best Practices Components of an Effective Email 1. Subject Line 2. Preview Text 3. Email Header 4. Branding 5. Content 6. Email Layout 7. Visual Content 8. Email Personalization 9. Responsive Email Design 10. Email GDPR Compliance 11. Call-to-Action 12. A/B Testing 13. Email Signature Using Benchmark Email Conclusion Sign up for Benchmark's free platform and send your first email in under 15 minutes. 13 Must-Haves for Good Email Design Email marketing is arguably the most successful marketing tactic we have to date, even more than social media. With a reach of 3. 9 billion users as of 2020, it is perfectly suited for both B2B and B2C brands. Brands love email marketing for many reasons:   Email is perfect for lead generation and retention strategies. It has consistent results, with an estimated ROI of 3,800%. It is easy and affordable to automate. Emails are highly targeted and personalized. But, as any marketer will tell you, the biggest problem with email is getting the email opened in the first place. This number stood at 22. 15% in 2019 and will be your biggest headache if you are to become successful at email marketing (especially with the impending rollout of the iOS 15 update.   You may think that what's in your emails is what counts the most. And while your email content does matter, email design plays a huge role in overall email performance and is fundamental to email marketing.... --- ### Stripo > Benchmark Email now allows you to import your Freshbooks contacts to your Benchmark account. - Published: 2021-07-29 - Modified: 2021-07-29 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/stripo/ Stripo Email Integration Access Hundreds of Email Templates and Import them Directly Into Your Benchmark Email Account Stripo is an all-in-one Email Design Platform for creating professional and responsive email templates fast without any HTML skills. Email Testing Tool When building emails with Stripo, you can preview them across 90+ popular environments, including multiple mobile devices. Due to the unique rendering rules that each email client and each device have, you never know what your recipients are going to see when they open your emails. No worries: all email templates designed with Stripo HTML email editor are mobile responsive by default. Moreover, our editor lets you enable VML buttons for Outlook in your emails with 1 just click. Once your email is built, preview it with our embedded testing tool to be sure your customers will see exactly what you want. Advanced Tools for Building Dynamic AMP Emails Create innovative dynamic AMP emails effortlessly with our Drag-n-Drop AMP blocks, prepared AMP HTML email templates, open HTML code editor, and code validator. Advanced controls help you craft a fallback HTML email within your AMP email with a few clicks. When your email is ready, our code validator will check it for errors. Automated Routine Processes Reduce the time for creating similar day-to-day emails. Generate product cards and other modules automatically by specifying a link to the content or fully automated email creation process by using Stripo API. Personal Library of Custom Modules Build custom modules and reuse them across multiple campaigns.... --- ### Co-Branded Marketing Opportunities > Co-marketing is one of the simplest ways to quickly broaden your reach and more efficiently gain connections - Published: 2021-05-03 - Modified: 2025-06-02 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/co-branded-marketing-opportunities/ Co-Marketing Opportunities with Benchmark Email Are you currently looking for valuable, high-quality outlets to contribute your helpful insights to? At Benchmark Email, we're always open to engaging, well-crafted, data-backed content that our audience of small-to-medium-sized businesses will find helpful. . SEE OPPORTUNITIES Want updates when new opportunities are posted? body . formbox-editor-1560179 { background-color: inherit ! important;} Below are some opportunities open for contribution. If any sound appealing or are areas you're an expert in, we want to hear from you! Click the contribute button below the headlines of your choice, fill out the form, and we'll be in touch. Be as specific as possible when filling out the form. We get tons of submissions a day, so make sure yours stands out. And remember, nothing too promotional. We're looking for helpful, educational insights and real-life examples. New Opportunities 2 New opportunities posted this month! To Gate or Not to Gate? How to Decide Which Content Deserves a Form Gating content-putting it behind a form-can be a powerful way to generate leads, but it can also create friction that drives potential readers away. So how do you decide what to gate and what to give away for free? CONTRIBUTE Marketing Budget, Smartly Spent: How to Prioritize Your Resources for Maximum Impact Marketing teams constantly evaluate their budgets-but knowing where to invest isn't always clear. With limited resources and growing expectations, it's critical to allocate spend where it will drive real results. We want to hear your tips for pulling this... --- ### Email Marketing Benchmarks > See how your email marketing benchmarks, like click-through rate, stack up against others standards in your industry and in your region. - Published: 2020-06-15 - Modified: 2025-02-17 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/email-marketing-benchmarks/ Email Marketing Benchmarks By Industry and Region When tracking email marketing ROI, there are a ton of factors to consider. Email marketing practices, and results, vary based on a number of factors. Everything from the time and day of the week to your email subject line can determine whether the email campaigns you send is opened and will drive the desired action. But have you ever wondered how your email marketing results stack up compared to others within your space? We have... which is why we decided to pull email benchmark data, including metrics like average email open rates and average clicks, from Benchmark Email users to gather a more detailed view of email marketing results by industry (from ecommerce, to nonprofits, to real estate even. )   This report pulled information from nearly 35,400 users in 15 different industries across 21 regions The one-size-fits-all approach seldom works when implementing a strategy to capture, nurture, engage, and convert prospects. And while every email marketing strategy is different, the data presented can help shed light on where you need to be, and how you can go about getting there. Industry Average Open Rate Average Click Rate Average Bounce Rate Average Unsubscribe Rate Average Abuse Rate Advertising / Marketing / PR / Media / Design 26. 41% 1. 60% 5. 21% 0. 17% 0. 17% Architecture / Construction 16. 86% 0. 81% 4. 39% 0. 19% 0. 19% Attractions / Entertainment / Hospitality 27. 59% 1. 30% 5. 44% 0. 16% 0.... --- ### Loja > Loja Integrada Integration for Benchmark Email Add Loja Integrada contacts to your Benchmark Email list(s) With our Loja Integrada integration, you’ll be - Published: 2020-06-03 - Modified: 2020-06-03 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/loja/ Loja Integrada Integration for Benchmark Email Add Loja Integrada contacts to your Benchmark Email list(s) With our Loja Integrada integration, you’ll be able to easily push your loja customers into a Benchmark Email list. Send automated follow-ups to all your Loja customers, and stay engaged. Requirements: Benchmark Email Account Free or Paid Loja Integrada Integration Is Fast & Easy: Easily push your customers to a Benchmark Email list Create quality engagement with the power of email marketing How to Integrate Loja Integrada: Log into your Benchmark account. Click on your Username and select Integrations. Scroll to the bottom and click Get Started. Select the Loja integration option. Login to your Loja account and copy your API Key and Application Key. Enter your Loja API Key and Application Key where prompted. Click Save & Next. Choose a list or create a new one to add your Loja contacts to and click Save & Next. Map your fields according to your Loja fields set up. Click Save & Next. If you have any questions on integrating with Loja Integrada, please consult their support. Connect Today --- ### Status > Benchmark Email Status June 12, 2025 3:15 pm PT Benchmark is 100% operational. The image gallery is back to full functionality. June 12, 2025 10:15 am PT - Published: 2020-05-28 - Modified: 2025-06-13 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/status/ Benchmark Email Status June 12, 2025 3:15 pm PT Benchmark is 100% operational. The image gallery is back to full functionality. June 12, 2025 10:15 am PT Our image gallery is currently experiencing a temporary outage due to a Google Cloud disruption, where our images are stored. This is impacting the ability to upload, view and access images within your Benchmark Email account. April 8, 2025 2:00 pm PT Benchmark is 100% operational and emails are sending at a normal rate. April 8, 2025 4:44 am PT We are currently experiencing a delay in email delivery. The team is hard at work to solve this. All other parts of the application are operational. April 5, 2025 9:00 am PT The email queue has fully cleared and Benchmark is 100% operational. April 4, 2025 8:00 am PT The issue affecting campaign sending has been resolved, and emails are now processing normally.   Please note, email delivery may still experience delays as our system works through the backlog.   We appreciate your patience and will provide another update once all queued emails have been delivered and the queue has cleared. April 3, 2025 9:00 am PT The issue affecting campaign sending has been resolved. Emails are now processing. If you have a scheduled email send, it will be sent. However, because there is a large queue of emails, it may take some time for all messages to be sent. We truly appreciate your patience and will update this page once the queue... --- ### Landing pages > Drag & drop landing page builder. Grow your email subscriber list, promote your business and optimize email campaigns with landing pages. - Published: 2020-04-16 - Modified: 2024-12-03 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/landing-pages/ Landing Pages Attract More Leads and Subscribers Drag and Drop Creating branded landing pages in a snap with our easy-to-use drag and drop builder. No coding required. Design with Templates Take the guesswork out of design with our basic landing page template layouts - proven to convert. Grow Your List Embed your Benchmark forms within your landing pages to seamlessly add new contacts to your email lists. Integrate Campaigns Tie your landing pages to your marketing campaigns, emails and automations for a streamlined user journey. Brand Your Link Publish your landing pages to your own subdomain for consistent branding across the entire user experience. Track Your Goals Measure campaign ROI with landing page goals, like page engagement and new subscribers. Ignite Customer Relationships with Benchmark Email A suite of tools designed to make marketing easier for everyone. Email Marketing Stay in touch with your contacts using simple tools to create gorgeous emails. GET STARTED Landing Pages Boost conversions from your marketing campaigns with targeted landing pages. GET STARTED Marketing Automation Create workflows for your contact lists and nurture new leads into loyal customers. GET STARTED Landing Page Resources Updates Introducing Benchmark Landing Pages Take customer experience to the next level and grow your contact lists with Benchmark's new landing page builder. Practical Marketer 5 Things Every Effective Landing Page Should Have Optimizing your landing pages is an essential step for your inbound marketing efforts. Sign Up For Your Absolutely Free Account No Credit Card Required --- ### Upgrade > Regardless of the industry you are in email marketing will help you grow your business with these premium marketing tools starting at only $13.99. - Published: 2020-04-14 - Modified: 2022-08-30 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/upgrade/ STARTING AT ONLY $15 Achieve more with Benchmark Pro Exponentially grow your business with enterprise features without the enterprice UPGRADE NOW A/BTESTING MARKETING AUTOMATION UNLIMITEDFORMS MASTER & SUB-ACCOUNTS DELIVERABILITY COACH TARGETED EMAILING LISTPASSWORD REMOVE BENCHMARK LOGO World Class Support. Worldwide. Dedicated Account Manager Your dedicated Account Manager will: Help you build an action plan for your emails Assist you with list hygiene Offer strategies and tips for automating your emails Delivery Coach A Delivery Coach is available to help you: Set up your SPF Records Create a strategy for optimal sending practices Understand your options for List Verification TALK TO A SPECIALIST No Signup Form Restrictions Did you know on the Benchmark Starter Plan, you can only add 75 subscribers per day through your signup forms? One popular news story or blog post or attend one trade show or expo and you’re leaving opportunities on the table with that limit. Remove Benchmark Logo You can remove the Benchmark logo from the footer of your emails once you upgrade. Automation Pro Save time and increase your efficiency as an email marketer to boost sales Trigger relevant follow-ups based on if a subscriber opened your email or clicked on specific links. Automatically move subscribers to an appropriate list based on specific triggers to ensure they’re always receiving the correct messages. Move a lead to a customer list upon purchase and more! Send additional information to a subscriber based on the pages they visit on your website. Create fully automated journeys that take... --- ### Wistia > Benchmark Email Wistia Integration Videos are engaging, and marketers know it. In fact, 87% of online marketers use video content. And with email being - Published: 2020-04-09 - Modified: 2023-06-28 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/wistia/ Benchmark Email Wistia Integration Videos are engaging, and marketers know it. In fact, 87% of online marketers use video content. And with email being one of the most effective strategies out there, it makes sense for marketers and small businesses alike to incorporate videos into their overall marketing strategy. If you're looking to add videos to your content toolkit, it's likely you've come across Wistia. Wistia is a video hosting platform. But, unlike YouTube, which is geared towards content creators, Wistia helps small businesses capitalize on creative video content to drive engagement and traffic back to their websites. And boy does it. When you post your videos to Wistia, you can access specific information on audience engagement, which can then be used for email marketing campaigns and other marketing efforts. Our Benchmark Email Wistia Integration makes bringing your Wisita leads into your email marketing efforts easy. Let's see how our Wistia integration can benefit your business. Why Use Wistia? Still need some convincing on why Wistia is so great? We'll break it down for you. Have Access To In-depth Analytics A big part of any successful marketing platform is its ability to provide data and analytics on how your efforts are performing. Tracking progress and measuring ROI is essential if you want to know whether or not your audience loves your videos or if you need to change direction. Wistia makes it easy for you to track these metrics. With its in-built analytics and video viewing data, you can measure... --- ### Sitemap > Benchmark Email Sitemap - Published: 2020-04-08 - Modified: 2020-06-22 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/sitemap/ Benchmark Email Sitemap --- ### Media Relations > Get in touch with our media relations representative Need info on a press release? Looking to speak with Benchmark's CEO or other staff members? Just - Published: 2020-02-21 - Modified: 2020-02-21 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/about-us/media-relations/ Get in touch with our media relations representative Need info on a press release? Looking to speak with Benchmark's CEO or other staff members? Just contact our media relations representative with any and all media or press-related requests. Media Relations Contact: Natalie Slyman 866. 991. 4888 x 114 natalie. slyman@benchmarkemail. wpengine. com --- ### Agency Partners Sign-Up > Become an Agency Partner Sign Up Today for Exclusive Agency Benefits Recurring Income Exclusive discounts Marketing material to promote this program A - Published: 2020-02-21 - Modified: 2022-05-16 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/partners/agencies/sign-up/ Become an Agency Partner Sign Up Today for Exclusive Agency Benefits Recurring Income Exclusive discounts Marketing material to promote this program A dashboard to manage clients Dedicated support to the agency and their clients Become a Partner Partner Program Details We offer two types of plans designed for marketing agencies that manage email marketing campaigns for their clients. Master Account & Sub Accounts With this option, the agency is responsible for the payment of the email marketing plan, which is divided between their Sub Accounts. The master account is the one who manages all sharing to sub accounts such as templates, images, and lists. Each sub account, including the master account, will have their own deliverability reputation and work independently. Here is an example: An agency with 3 clients. Client A: 750 Contacts Client B: 3,400 Contacts Client C: 18,800 Contacts The unique total of contacts between the 3 clients sums the amount of 22,950 contacts. Therefore the agency will need to buy List Plan 25,000. This plan can then be divided for the 3 clients using the list plan options offered by Benchmark: Client A: 1,000 Contacts Client B: 3,500 Contacts Client C: 20,000 Contacts With this option, Benchmark will apply a 25% discount to the Plan that the agency buys. Clients Account With this option, the client buys their own plan and the agency can log in to their client's account to manage their campaigns. However, in this option, you can't share images, lists or templates. Yet, they... --- ### Careers > Our headquarters is located in Los Alamitos, California and Benchmark proudly boasts local offices across the globe. We also call Bogotá, Guangzhou, - Published: 2020-01-17 - Modified: 2020-03-12 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/careers/ Our headquarters is located in Los Alamitos, California and Benchmark proudly boasts local offices across the globe. We also call Bogotá, Guangzhou, Guatemala City, Gurgaon, Madrid, Mexico City, Mumbai, Rome, Sáo Paolo, Taipei and Tokyo home (or casa, 家, ホーム). Add in remote teams and employees and the list grows from there. This allows us to offer our services in nine languages, with a local presence and customer support for each one. --- ### Help phone > Give us a call Contact # International # Days open Hours Time Zone 800.430.4095 213.493.6558 M-F 6:00AM-5:00PM PST 52.55.3300.5177 M-F 9:00AM-6:00PM UTC- - Published: 2020-01-14 - Modified: 2021-06-10 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/help-phone/ Give us a call Contact # International # Days open Hours Time Zone 800. 430. 4095 213. 493. 6558 M-F 6:00AM-5:00PM PST 52. 55. 3300. 5177 M-F 9:00AM-6:00PM UTC- 6 Hours (+34) 912 558 876 M-F 9:00AM-6:00PM CEST (+57) 3213109122 M-F 8:00AM-5:00PM UTC -5 Hours 502. 6626-5959 M-F 7:00AM-5:00PM UTC -6 Hours Atendimento Telefônico Indisponível M-F 9:00AM-6:00PM UTC - 3 Hours Atendimento Telefônico Indisponível M-F 9:00AM-6:00PM UTC - 3 Hours (+49) 8341 9753 002 M-F 9:00AM-5:00PM CET (+33) 01 86 26 09 53 M-F 9:00AM-6:00PM CEST 0039 06 94806705 M-F 9:00AM-6:00PM CEST 886-2-2258-5981 M-F 8:30 AM-5:30PM GMT+8 +86 020 8981 0899 M-F 8:30AM-6:00PM GMT+8 (+44) 20 3695 2266 M-F 8:00AM-4:00PM GMT チャット・メールのみ対応 M-F 10:00AM-12:00PM 1:00PM-5:00PM GMT+9 0124 - 419 2601 /02/03/04/05 M-S 24/7 Monday 5:00 AM - Sunday 5:00 AM GMT+05:30 --- ### Servers > Benchmark Email Servers Hello and welcome! You've most likely arrived here because you've researched a link within an opt-in email campaign sent by one of - Published: 2020-01-14 - Modified: 2024-08-30 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/servers/ Benchmark Email Servers Hello and welcome! You've most likely arrived here because you've researched a link within an opt-in email campaign sent by one of our customers. Benchmark Email is a leading email service provider (ESP), having served over 73,000 users with our professional, permission-based email solutions. We require all our customers follow very strict email marketing best practices. Our anti-spam policies ensure that the millions of emails sent from our servers have the highest delivery rates possible. At Benchmark, we easily set the standard for affordable, easy email marketing. Here's a list of some of the companies who use Benchmark Email. Benchmark Email Home Page --- ### Video Tutorials > Email Marketing Video Library Get the most out of Benchmark with these quick and easy-to-follow video tutorials   Your 1st Email Campaign Getting - Published: 2020-01-13 - Modified: 2021-01-28 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/video-tutorials/ Email Marketing Video Library Get the most out of Benchmark with these quick and easy-to-follow video tutorials Your 1st Email Campaign Getting Started Create and send your first professional email campaign using our Email Designer! Import Your First Contacts Getting Started Get an overview of the different ways of creating subscriber lists and importing your contacts. Real-Time Reports Getting Started Track and analyze your email metrics and trends. Dashboard Getting Started Learn how to successfully navigate the Benchmark Email user interface. An Email in Under 90 Seconds? Getting Started We accept the challenge, but could it really be done? Let's see a great looking email being created in just under 90 seconds. Small Embed Forms Getting Started Easily create a small embed form that you can place virtually anywhere such as Facebook, Wordpress, JimDoh and your own website. Automation Lite Overview Getting Started This overview demonstrates how easy it is to use our Automation Lite feature. The Automation Lite feature can send emails based on 3 different triggers. Send an email to all new signups using the trigger "Send emails when contact is added to a list. " Keep your automation short or set up a sequence of emails to go out based on the schedule you select. Automation Pro: A Quick Overview Enterprise Features Automation Pro is a tool that allows you to create and automate customer journeys. Create pathways to convert leads into customers or to re-engage with lost customers, based on emails they open and click on... --- ### SurveyMonkey > SurveyMonkey Integration for Benchmark Email Increase the reach of your surveys with email marketing. With our SurveyMonkey template integration, you can - Published: 2020-01-07 - Modified: 2020-01-13 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/surveymonkey/ SurveyMonkey Integration for Benchmark Email Increase the reach of your surveys with email marketing. With our SurveyMonkey template integration, you can send your surveys to your customers and subscribers. There are a few different templates and layouts to choose from. This integration is available free with every Benchmark Account. Requirements: Benchmark Email Account (free to sign up) SurveyMonkey Account How to Integrate: No download necessary Send surveys to your customers and subscribers with ease Expand the reach of your surveys with the power of email marketing Connect Today --- ### Cookie Policy > Site Terms Privacy Policy Cookie Policy Anti-Spam Policy Terms Of Use Bug Bounty Terms Spam Free Zone User Pledge Cookie Policy This cookie policy only - Published: 2020-01-06 - Modified: 2022-04-14 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/cookie-policy/ Site Terms Privacy Policy Cookie Policy Anti-Spam Policy Terms Of Use Bug Bounty Terms Spam Free Zone User Pledge Cookie Policy This cookie policy only applies to European users affected under GDPR Benchmark Email is owned and operated by Benchmark Internet Group ("Benchmark," "we," "us" and "our"). This is our Cookie Policy, which details how we use cookies in the operation of our business and when the subscribers of our users visit the sites or online stores owned by our users or open and engage with the email campaigns sent through our tools. In this statement, we will explain as to what cookies are and why Benchmark uses them. Additionally, we'll inform you of your rights in regards to controlling our use of them. Our Cookie Policy will stand as a part of our Terms of Use. Terms used in the Cookie Policy not defined here have been outlined in our Privacy Policy. Benchmark may use cookies to collect personal information, or for the collection of information that later becomes personal information when combined with additional information. For further details on how Benchmark processes your personal information, you can review our Privacy Policy and Cookie Settings. What Is A Cookie? Aside from being the favorite snack of a beloved, furry, blue Monster, Cookies are small pieces of data that are placed on site visitors computers or mobile devices. Using cookies is a standard practice across the web by online SaaS companies, such as ours, for the purpose (as an example)... --- ### Sender Pricing > Email Pricing Plans For Large Senders Safely and reliably send at high volumes Email plan Emails sends per month Price / Overage price per email Contact - Published: 2019-12-23 - Modified: 2023-08-31 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/sender-pricing/ Email Pricing Plans For Large Senders Safely and reliably send at high volumes Email plan Emails sends per month Price / Overage price per email Contact Sales 10k 10,000 $39. 00/mo$ 0. 0040 Contact Sales 50K 50,000 $149. 00/mo$ 0. 0030 Contact Sales 100k 100,000 $249. 00/mo$ 0. 0025 Contact Sales 250k 250,000 $449. 00/mo$ 0. 0018 Contact Sales 500k 500,000 $799/mo$ 0. 0016 Contact Sales 1M 1,000,000 $1,299/mo$ 0. 0013 Contact Sales 2. 5M 2,500,000 $2,499/mo$ 0. 0010 Contact Sales 5M 5,000,000 $4,499/mo$ 0. 0009 Contact Sales 10M 10,000,000 $7,999/mo$ 0. 0008 Contact Sales 15M 15,000,000 $9999/mo$ 0. 0007 Contact Sales Add-ons List Verification Ensure the highest quality subscribers and deliverability by having your list(s) verified. Learn more $3. 00 For every 1,000 contacts Image Hosting Upgrade your basic storage so that all of your most engaging images, logos and graphics are at the ready thanks to unlimited image hosting. Learn more $5. 00 Monthly Unlimited storage Dedicated IP Remove yourself from the crowd, taking control of your sending reputation and delivery into the inbox. Learn more $28. 95 Monthly Inbox Checkers View how your email campaigns will appear on any device, in every inbox client and on every browser. Learn more $14. 00 For 100 test Start Sending Today Sending to a large list? It's easy with Benchmark's send-based plans. Speak with sales to find the right plan for you and to get started. Contact Sales --- ### LinkedIn > LinkedIn Integration for Benchmark Email Share Recent LinkedIn Updates with Your Subscribers Turn your subscribers into LinkedIn followers by sharing - Published: 2019-12-19 - Modified: 2023-06-06 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/linkedin/ LinkedIn Integration for Benchmark Email Share Recent LinkedIn Updates with Your Subscribers Turn your subscribers into LinkedIn followers by sharing recent updates with the Benchmark Email LinkedIn Template Integration. Your company's information and three most recent updates are included with the LinkedIn template option. This integration is available free with every Benchmark Account. Requirements: Benchmark Email Account (free to sign up) LinkedIn Account & Company Page How to Integrate: No download necessary Easily share important company information and updates Gain LinkedIn followers with the power of email marketing Connect Today --- ### Ebay > Ebay Integration for Benchmark Email Easily Promote Ebay Items for Sale Bring more attention to your items for sale on eBay thanks to the Benchmark Email - Published: 2019-12-19 - Modified: 2023-06-06 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/ebay/ Ebay Integration for Benchmark Email Easily Promote Ebay Items for Sale Bring more attention to your items for sale on eBay thanks to the Benchmark Email eBay Template Integration. Either promote one or multiple items with the eBay template option. This integration is available free with every Benchmark Account. Requirements: Benchmark Email Account (free to sign up) Ebay Seller ID How to Integrate: No download necessary Automatically add leads to your Benchmark Email lists Create quality engagement with the power of email marketing Connect Today --- ### Spam Free Zone > Site Terms Privacy Policy Cookie Policy Anti-Spam Policy Terms Of Use Bug Bounty Terms Spam Free Zone User Pledge Spam Free Zone Defeating spam one email - Published: 2019-12-19 - Modified: 2023-07-13 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/spam-free-zone/ Site Terms Privacy Policy Cookie Policy Anti-Spam Policy Terms Of Use Bug Bounty Terms Spam Free Zone User Pledge Spam Free Zone Defeating spam one email at a time Benchmark Email takes spam very seriously. If we didn't, our customers wouldn't get the great delivery rates we provide. But there's a lot that goes into building an anti-spam company. Here's what we do on our end to fight the battle against spam: We work closely with email and Internet service providers. Keeping the lines of communication open is great for both sides. We follow our own set of good email marketing practices. We've spent years creating a list of guidelines and we work all the time to make them even better. We're a member of the elite Email Sender & Provider Coalition. This means we agree to follow a charter of the highest quality email marketing rules. We investigate every complaint. If one of our customers gets a spam complaint, we investigate it quickly and thoroughly. We do not take on customers that buy, rent or scrape up lists. All our customers use organic opt-in email lists. This keeps delivery rates high for everyone. If a customer is caught spamming, their account is immediately terminated. If you're thinking of sending non opt-in email on our watch, you have been warned. We use Return Path technology and expertise to improve our delivery rates. This means we work vigorously with one of the top companies to constantly get your emails into the... --- ### YesInsights > YesInsights Integration for Benchmark Email Add YesInsights surveys to your Benchmark Email campaigns With our YesInsights integration, you can - Published: 2019-12-18 - Modified: 2019-12-18 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/yesinsights/ YesInsights Integration for Benchmark Email Add YesInsights surveys to your Benchmark Email campaigns With our YesInsights integration, you can automatically add your YesInsights one-click surveys to a Benchmark Email campaign. Gain valuable feedback from your subscribers with ease. Available free with every Benchmark account. Requirements: Benchmark Email Account (sign up for free) YesInsights Account Integration Is Fast & Easy: No download necessary Automatically add leads to your Benchmark Email lists Create quality engagement with the power of email marketing Connect Today --- ### Woocommerce > WooCommerce Integration For Benchmark Email Do you own an eCommerce store? Did you set up the store using WooCommerce? If you answered yes to both - Published: 2019-12-18 - Modified: 2023-06-28 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/woocommerce/ WooCommerce Integration For Benchmark Email Do you own an eCommerce store? Did you set up the store using WooCommerce? If you answered yes to both questions, then this integration is for you. We know that email marketing remains one of the most powerful marketing strategies for an eCommerce company in this present age. But that is only if you have the right resources. Generating engagement and dealing with abandoned carts are just two of the issues you have to sort out to keep your margins high. We know, email marketing can be frustrating. But it doesn't have to be. So here's what we did. We created Benchmark Email, an easier way for you to take care of your email marketing campaigns and interact with your customers. With our WooCommerce email marketing integration, you'll be able to stay in touch with your customers from the moment they submit their information to you. You'll be able to send abandoned cart emails and create high-quality engagement with your customers. And that's not all. Let's get into the details of why our WooCommerce email marketing integration will be a growth driver for your eCommerce store. Why Use WooCommerce These are some of the reasons why you should use WooCommerce, a customizable eCommerce platform, to launch your online store. It's Free In a world where there are lots of premium eCommerce software options available, it is understandable if you feel dubious about one that lets you get started for nothing. You might be thinking: "Would... --- ### Wishpond > Wishpond Integration for Benchmark Email Send leads you've captured with Wishpond to your Benchmark Email lists. With our Wishpond integration, you can - Published: 2019-12-13 - Modified: 2019-12-13 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/wishpond/ Wishpond Integration for Benchmark Email Send leads you've captured with Wishpond to your Benchmark Email lists. With our Wishpond integration, you can automatically add your Wishpond leads from your landing pages and contests to a Benchmark Email list. Send automated follow-ups from the moment they submit their information. Available free with every Benchmark account. Requirements: Benchmark Email Account (sign up for free) Wishpond Account Integration Is Fast & Easy: No download necessary Automatically add leads to your Benchmark Email lists Create quality engagement with the power of email marketing Connect Today --- ### ViralSweep > ViralSweep Integration for Benchmark Email Send leads you've captured with ViralSweep contests to your Benchmark Email lists. With our ViralSweep - Published: 2019-12-13 - Modified: 2019-12-13 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/viralsweep/ ViralSweep Integration for Benchmark Email Send leads you've captured with ViralSweep contests to your Benchmark Email lists. With our ViralSweep integration, you can automatically add your ViralSweep entries from any of your sweepstakes or contests to any Benchmark Email Lists. Send automated follow-ups from the moment they submit their information. Available free with every Benchmark account. Requirements: Benchmark Email Account (sign up for free) Viralsweep Account Integration Is Fast & Easy: No download necessary Automatically add leads to your Benchmark Email lists Create quality engagement with the power of email marketing Connect Today --- ### Privy > Privy Integration for Benchmark Email Send leads you've captured with Privy forms and pop-ups to your Benchmark Email lists. With Privy's integration with - Published: 2019-12-13 - Modified: 2022-11-01 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/privy/ Privy Integration for Benchmark Email Send leads you've captured with Privy forms and pop-ups to your Benchmark Email lists. With Privy's integration with Benchmark, you can automatically add your Privy leads from your exit intent popups and opt-in forms to the Benchmark Email list you choose. Send automated follow-ups from the moment contacts submit their information. Available free with every Benchmark account. Requirements: Benchmark Email Account (sign up for free) Privy Account Integration Is Fast & Easy: No download necessary Automatically add leads to your Benchmark Email lists Create quality engagement with the power of email marketing Connect Today --- ### Kickbox > Benchmark Email Kickbox Integration As a marketer, you know the importance of having a clean email list. You are always tracking your sender reputation, - Published: 2019-12-13 - Modified: 2023-06-28 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/kickbox/ Benchmark Email Kickbox Integration As a marketer, you know the importance of having a clean email list. You are always tracking your sender reputation, looking for ways to make it better. Even if you use a powerful email marketing platform, like Benchmark Email, your email marketing efforts will be undermined if your list contains invalid emails. Therefore, there is a great need to always maintain a clean email list. And you can do that by using a real-time email verification tool, like Kickbox. The Kickbox verification services allow you to maintain healthy lists by quickly verifying your email lists, which in turn improves the performance of your email marketing campaigns. And the Benchmark Email integration with Kickbox ensures your email marketing efforts do not go to waste as a result of an invalid email address. Let's see why Kickbox is such a useful email verification API and why you need the Benchmark Email Kickbox integration. Why Use Kickbox? Robust Verification Platform Before you send out any emails, you want to make sure that the email address is tied to an inbox, right? After all, what's the point in having a contact's information if it's invalid. Kickbox's complete email verification platform ensures that invalid emails aren't a threat. In fact, if an email is invalid, you can notify your prospects at the point of capture and prompt them to change it. Another option is to import batches of email addresses and, after verification, export them back to an email marketing platform,... --- ### Get Site Control > Getsitecontrol Integration for Benchmark Email Add contacts from forms and popups to your Benchmark Email lists. With our Getsitecontrol integration you - Published: 2019-12-13 - Modified: 2023-06-06 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/getsitecontrol/ Getsitecontrol Integration for Benchmark Email Add contacts from forms and popups to your Benchmark Email lists. With our Getsitecontrol integration you can collect email addresses from your custom opt-in forms, surveys and contact forms. Simply choose the specific mailing list and Getsitecontrol will add every new email subscriber to your Benchmark Email list automatically. Staying connected with your visitors has never been easier. Requirements: Benchmark Email Account (sign up for free) Getsitecontrol Account Integration Is Fast & Easy: No download necessary Automatically add leads to your Benchmark Email list(s) Create quality engagement with the power of email marketing Connect Today --- ### Screenshots > Screenshots Guidelines Downloads Screenshots Downloads Automation PRO Download screenshots Benchmark Email Download screenshots Sign Up For Your - Published: 2019-12-13 - Modified: 2022-11-01 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/about-us/brand-assets/screenshots/ Screenshots Guidelines Downloads Screenshots Downloads Automation PRO Download screenshots Benchmark Email Download screenshots Sign Up For Your Absolutely Free Account No Credit Card Required --- ### Downloads > Downloads Guidelines Downloads Screenshots Logos AI EPS PNG AI EPS PNG AI EPS PNG Sign Up For Your Absolutely Free Account No Credit Card - Published: 2019-12-13 - Modified: 2021-02-25 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/about-us/brand-assets/downloads/ Downloads Guidelines Downloads Screenshots Logos AI EPS PNG AI EPS PNG AI EPS PNG Sign Up For Your Absolutely Free Account No Credit Card Required --- ### Thank You > Thanks for Downloading Your resource is on its way! We're sending it to the email address you provided, so keep any eye on your inbox. - Published: 2019-12-10 - Modified: 2023-10-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/resource/thank-you/ Thanks for Downloading Your resource is on its way! We're sending it to the email address you provided, so keep any eye on your inbox. --- ### Thank You - General > Thank You for Reaching Out We look forward to helping you and will be in touch with you soon. - Published: 2019-12-09 - Modified: 2020-11-13 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/thank-you-general/ Thank You for Reaching Out We look forward to helping you and will be in touch with you soon. --- ### PipelineDeals > Pipeline Integration Do you care about accelerating and optimizing your sales pipeline? For most sales team members, this is their biggest goal. After - Published: 2019-11-22 - Modified: 2023-06-28 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/pipelinedeals/ Pipeline Integration Do you care about accelerating and optimizing your sales pipeline? For most sales team members, this is their biggest goal. After all, it's only when you start making sales that you begin to see your business flourish. Regardless of the product or service you offer, using the right platforms for your business is essential. But, what should you look out for in a good sales platform? For starters, an excellent sales platform should be easy to set up and use, help keep your sales pipeline full, and come with a seamless email integration process. Pipeline software is one such tool. It helps your business take full advantage of your sales opportunities and monitor each deal stage from beginning to end. It's no wonder sales team members love using its reliable features to increase their performance and bottom line. And, since at Benchmark Email we're in the business of enabling sales and marketing teams with efficient and simple email marketing solutions, integrating with Pipeline was a no-brainer. Let's discuss the benefits of a Pipeline and Benchmark Email integration and how to set up the integration for optimal success. Why Use Pipeline? If you don't already use Pipeline to track and manage your sales opportunities, then we're about to tell you exactly what you're missing out on. Pipeline is a powerful and easy-to-use Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software. It's made by salespeople for salespeople, and sales teams across various industries take advantage of its deal stage tracking, so no opportunity... --- ### Wufoo > Build your contact lists using Wufoo forms with a simple integration from Benchmark Email. - Published: 2019-11-22 - Modified: 2023-06-28 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/wufoo/ Benchmark Email Wufoo Integration Customer relationship management starts the minute you convert a new lead on your website. But in order to facilitate adequate relationship management, you need email marketing. At the core of these efforts is the ability to collect the right data from your customers and website visitors. And the easiest and most efficient way to collect this is through a website contact form. You could decide to build your own forms if you have the time and resources. Or you could create a Wufoo account and use an online contact form builder that quickly creates beautiful and interactive forms for you. Wufoo helps you build any type of contact form in no time. You can receive payments and collect crucial information, such as email addresses that you need for your email marketing campaign. Of course for that, you need a powerful email marketing tool to boost your chances of success. This is why we provide our users with a Benchmark Email Wufoo integration that ensures that the email addresses you collect on your website do not go to waste. Let's see how Wufoo and Benchmark Email can help you with relationship management and drive your business forward. Why Use Wufoo? These are some of the reasons why you should use Wufoo to create your online forms. Wufoo Helps You Build Customizable Online Forms Wufoo's simple but powerful online form builder was created to ensure that when you create a Wufoo account, you can have your first Wufoo... --- ### Vcita > Benchmark Email now allows you to add vCita contacts to your email list(s). - Published: 2019-11-22 - Modified: 2023-06-06 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/vcita/ vCita Integration for Benchmark Email Automate engagement and follow-up with your business contacts With our vCita integration, you can automatically add your customers and leads who have engaged with you via the vCita platform to a Benchmark Email list. Create and automate customer journeys from the moment a contact is added to your list. Available free with every Benchmark account. Requirements: Benchmark Email Account (free to sign up) Premium vCita Account Integration Is Fast & Easy: No download necessary Automatically add leads to your Benchmark Email lists Create quality engagement with the power of email marketing Connect Today --- ### Smartsheet > Benchmark Email now allows you to add Smartsheet contacts to your email list(s). - Published: 2019-11-21 - Modified: 2023-06-06 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/smartsheet/ Smartsheet Integration for Benchmark Email Add Smartsheet contacts to your Benchmark Email lists With our Smartsheet integration, you can automatically add your Smartsheet collaborators and contacts to a Benchmark Email list. Stay in touch and top of mind using automation. Available free with every Benchmark account. Requirements: Benchmark Email Account (free to sign up) Smartsheet Account How to Integrate: No download necessary Automatically add contacts to your Benchmark Email lists Create quality engagement with the power of email marketing Connect Today --- ### Recurly > Benchmark Email now allows you to add Recurly contacts to your email list(s). - Published: 2019-11-21 - Modified: 2023-06-28 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/recurly/ Recurly Integration How do you feel when you see your customers renew their subscriptions or promptly send you payment for services? If you're like most business owners and marketers, your hearts (and bank accounts) swell with joy. Recurly is an essential billing and subscription processing tool that helps businesses ensure reliable revenue. It's wonderful for optimizing payment, performing billing and accounting functions, and providing insights so users can offer superior customer experiences and retain customers more easily. Ensuring recurring revenue is essential for businesses if they want to continue operating at peak performance. And when you're able to bring your revenue tool into the fold with your email marketing tool, you can implement strategies that lead to more predictable revenue. Let's explore the unique features and benefits of Recurly and consider why and how you can integrate Recurly with Benchmark Email. Why Use Recurly? No one loves having conversations around money, especially when it involves requesting overdue payments. For eCommerce sites, the solution to avoiding these awkward conversations could be as simple as evolving billing models. So, instead of relying heavily on typical credit card payments that aren't automated and require reminders and invoices, eCommerce businesses can opt for a subscription commerce approach for more reliable revenue (without the hassle). Figuring out how to deliver top-notch services can be a no-brainer. But establishing a payment structure that lends itself to an overall positive experience for your customers and your business is more difficult. The last thing businesses want is issues... --- ### Livechat > Grow your contact list(s) when customers and leads engage with you via LiveChat with this integration from Benchmark Email. - Published: 2019-11-21 - Modified: 2023-06-28 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/livechat/ Benchmark Email LiveChat Integration Your customers are the bosses. Without them, your business won't even survive. And in order to keep them and get them to say nothing but good things about your company, you need to invest in easy access tools that will keep them happy. The ultimate goal of your customer service team is to provide value and to ensure that it doesn't go unnoticed among your customers. But these efforts could use all the help they can get, and it might be time to look into a new tool to help get the job done. A customer experience platform, like LiveChat, could be just what they need to offer high-quality service and support to customers in need. LiveChat allows you to communicate with your website visitors in real-time and resolve customer issues across different support channels. Since one of the most important and popular customer support channels is email, building a Benchmark Email integration with LiveChat was a no-brainer. Let's see why your customer support team needs the Benchmark Email LiveChat integration and why it will soon become their preferred way for facilitating customer outreach. Why Use LiveChat? LiveChat is a great communication tool that will help your customer service team address inquiries in a matter of minutes and import data on your customers safely. Let's take a closer look into what using this tool offers you. Stronger Customer Relationships Trust is the foundation of any lasting relationship, and LiveChat helps you build that trust. With LiveChat,... --- ### Email Builder > Create Engaging Emails That Get Results You don't need to be an email marketing expert or design whiz to create email campaigns that spark interest. - Published: 2019-11-21 - Modified: 2025-06-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/email-builder/ Create Engaging Emails That Get Results You don't need to be an email marketing expert or design whiz to create email campaigns that spark interest. Benchmark Email's suite of email-building tools is crafted with busy marketers in mind. TRY IT NOW AI-Powered Email Design It's never been quicker to send effective email campaigns. Easily generate custom, branded email templates that shine in the inbox with the power of Smart Design AI. Learn more Bring Your Email Vision to Life Our drag-and-drop email builder features everything you need to create marketing emails that convert. No coding skills required. Brand Kit Keep your brand's colors, logos and messaging consistent in every email you create. Learn more Smart Content Avoid writer's block with a prompt. Let Smart Content AI write your email copy in a snap. Learn more Layouts Structure your emails with rows and columns for flexible design. Text + Images Add and edit the building blocks of your email with all of the flexibility you need. Buttons Craft a call-to-action that converts with eye-catching buttons. Product Blocks Highlight your products in your email campaigns to boost sales. Learn more Saved Blocks Easily reuse impactful elements, like email headers and call-to-action sections. Permission Reminders Gracefully remind unengaged users to opt-out, keeping your email reputation pristine. Advanced Editor Our easy-to-use code editor provides a live preview as you code. Seamlessly Design and Edit Images Great images are essential to captivating email design. We make it simple with our integrations and image editing capabilities.... --- ### Slack > Benchmark Email now allows you to add Slack contacts to your contact list(s). - Published: 2019-11-21 - Modified: 2023-06-28 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/slack/ Slack Integration For Benchmark Email A single person can't whistle a symphony. It takes a whole orchestra to do that. Teamwork is one of the critical ingredients for the long-term success of any company. And as such, there are many collaboration tools out there, much more than you think. Our favorite among them all is Slack. And the reason for this is simple: We know how effective it is in helping teams get work done smoothly because we use it in-house. Slack is a channel-based messaging platform that enables teams to work effectively together and connect their software tools - all within a secure environment. It provides a workspace for your marketing and sales team to find and share ideas and work together. But here's the thing: If your marketing and sales team is anything like ours, you use numerous software tools to get work done. This means that your team members will often have to switch between different software tools and platforms, distracting their attention from the most important goal as a marketer: To convert your leads into customers. So we set about working to reduce this friction and created a simplified way for your marketing and sales team to achieve their goals through one of the most trusted marketing methods: email marketing. With Benchmark Email's email marketing software and its integration with Slack, you can easily add your Slack contacts to your email lists, update your prospects' status, and create quality engagement with your customers, right from within... --- ### Google Contacts > Benchmark Email Google Contacts Integration Google Contacts is a tremendous tool for managing contact data. It allows you to keep track of your contacts' - Published: 2019-11-21 - Modified: 2023-06-28 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/google-contacts/ Benchmark Email Google Contacts Integration Google Contacts is a tremendous tool for managing contact data. It allows you to keep track of your contacts' email addresses, phone numbers, physical addresses, and it comes with tons of functionality. Its simple features allow you to segment your contacts, share their information, and make adjustments whenever the need arises. And, since Google Contacts also integrates with our email marketing platform, you can make sure you're getting the most out of every interaction with your contacts. Let's see how you could benefit from using our Benchmark Email Google Contacts integration. Why Use Google Contacts? Appropriate storing and organization of customer data is crucial for lead generation and nurturing efforts. Google Contacts is one of the leading contact management tools, and for good reason. Let's discuss some of the ways this tool benefits businesses and the professionals that use it. Organize Thousands Of Contact Data Google Contacts isn't just an address book, and you can do more than add new contact data to your list. You also have the option to segment and manage your contacts' information. Every contact has basic information like name, email address, phone number, company, and job title, but you can also segment your contacts and label them based on various qualifying factors and identifiers. For instance, you could create a label for "New Leads" and add contacts that you're hoping to convert into customers into that particular contact group. In fact, you can create tons of labels and contact groups... --- ### Groove > Benchmark Email now allows you to add Groove contacts to your email list(s). - Published: 2019-11-20 - Modified: 2023-06-28 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/groove/ Groove Integration Whether you run a small, mid-size, or large enterprise business, you need a leading sales engagement platform. With a leading sales engagement platform, you can efficiently optimize your entire selling process from beginning to end. Doing so ensures you aren't missing any potential opportunities to increase your bottom line, and an excellent platform can go so far as to enhance your email tracking, increase engagement from your leads, and provide real-time account history. Groove is one such tool, and it offers Salesforce users the kind of support they need for their global organizations. When you pair a leading sales tool like Groove with your email automation software, magic can happen for your sales process. Let's learn more about Benchmark Email's integration with Groove, how it offers more sales engagement, and how it compliments your entire selling process. Why Use Groove? Groove is a leading sales engagement platform designed for the needs of full-cycle sellers. As the number one sales engagement platform for Salesforce, Groove can reduce manual data entry by 90% and align workflows so sales teams, large or small, can stay aligned. Let's look at some more specific benefits that come with using Groove. Effective Activity Tracking From email to sales follow-ups, Groove keeps track of all your activities. Instead of cumbersome, manual logging, Groove inputs everything for you in real-time. You can monitor your sales, access accurate account history, track your team's performance, and ensure that all sales activities continue to go as planned. Automated Sales... --- ### Freshdesk > Benchmark Email now allows you to add Freshdesk contacts to your email list(s). - Published: 2019-11-20 - Modified: 2023-06-28 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/freshdesk/ Benchmark Email Freshdesk Integration Keeping your customers happy is a full-time job. Whether it is resolving complaints or helping your customers learn how to use a particular feature of your product, customers have come to expect swift and thoughtful solutions to their inquiries. In order to have your customer support team always ready to provide optimum service, they need to work with the right customer support software. Good customer support software should be easy to set up, allow you to scale seamlessly, and allow your agents to collaborate easily. Freshdesk is one customer support software that checks all of those boxes. It allows you to put all your customers' conversations in one place and collaborate with other teams to work on issues faster. And, since emails have traditionally been the most important customer support channel, we decided to build an integration that combines the powerful features of Benchmark Email and Freshdesk to help you manage your customer support via email. Let's see why Freshdesk is important for your customer support team and why you should use it with Benchmark Email. Why Use Freshdesk? Here's why your customer service team will benefit from using Freshdesk as their preferred helpdesk software. Manage Your Omnichannel Presence Wouldn't you like to track your customers' journey through every communication channel -- chat, social media, phone calls, emails -- till they finally make that purchase? That'd be great, right? Freshdesk is a customer experience and helpdesk software that allows you to do just that. You know... --- ### Cratejoy > Benchmark Email now allows you to add Cratejoy customers to your email list(s). - Published: 2019-11-19 - Modified: 2023-06-28 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/cratejoy/ Benchmark Email CrateJoy Integration You must love subscriptions, right? The prospect of having new and old customers knocking at your door monthly certainly is enticing. It sounds like an endless stream of income. But running a subscription box business comes with its own set of challenges. For instance, you have to look for a platform tailor-made for subscriptions to handle your backend for you. You also need to get your product in front of the right customers. You might be thinking, "What if there is a marketplace for subscription boxes where I could just list my products? " Well, there is such a platform. It's called CrateJoy. CrateJoy is an all-in-one subscription platform to help you create or grow your subscription box business. With CrateJoy, you can host and design custom websites, list your subscription box in an online marketplace, and manage your business. And since we know -- and you should too -- that email marketing is one of the most cost-efficient ways to drive new customers for business (even subscription businesses), we created our Benchmark Email integration with CrateJoy to help you manage your subscription box email marketing campaigns. Let's see why you need the Benchmark Email CrateJoy integration for your subscription box business. Why Use CrateJoy? These are some of the reasons why you need a CrateJoy store for your subscription box business. Access to a New Market One of the biggest perks CrateJoy offers you is its marketplace. As a seller, you can list your subscription... --- ### Contactually > Benchmark Email now allows you to add Contactually contacts to your email list(s). - Published: 2019-11-19 - Modified: 2020-04-15 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/contactually/ Contactually Integration for Benchmark Email Add Contactually contacts to your Benchmark Email lists With our Contactually integration, you can automatically add contacts to a Benchmark Email list. Create and automate customer journeys from the moment a contact is added to your list. Available free with every Benchmark account. Requirements: Benchmark Email Account (sign up for free) Contactually Account Integration Is Fast & Easy: No download necessary Automatically add leads to your Benchmark Email list(s) Create quality engagement with the power of email marketing Connect Today --- ### Zoho > Connect Zoho to your Benchmark Email account and send custom newsletters to your Zoho contacts. Email marketing has never been easier. Click or dial 1-800-430-4095. Free 30-day trial! - Published: 2019-11-18 - Modified: 2020-04-15 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/zoho/ Zoho Integration for Benchmark Email Intelligent Email Marketing for Your Zoho CRM Contacts Import your Zoho contacts into your Benchmark Email account and optimize your email marketing connections. Contacts are sent to an email list of your choosing and can be set up easily in your Benchmark dashboard. Available free with every Benchmark account. Requirements: Benchmark Email account (sign up for free) Zoho Account Integration Is Fast & Easy: No download necessary Import all your Zoho contacts at once Easier than adding Zoho contacts to your Benchmark account manually No setup in Zoho required Connect Today --- ### Zapier > Integrate with 900+ other web services like Gmail, Evernote, Facebook and Google Docs with our Zapier integration. - Published: 2019-11-18 - Modified: 2023-06-14 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/zapier/ Zapier Integration for Benchmark Email Integrate with 1500+ of your favorite apps with just a click. With our Zapier integration, you can integrate with more than 1500 other web services like Gmail, Evernote, Facebook and Google Docs. Now your Benchmark account is more powerful than ever. Here are just a few ways you can automate your email marketing with the power of Benchmark and Zapier: Add emails from your Gmail account to a Benchmark Email list. Connect GoToWebinar attendees and registrants to your Benchmark Email account with ease. Add Eventbrite attendees to a Benchmark Email list automatically. Add Benchmark Email subscribers from Google Docs spreadsheet rows or send Benchmark Email subscribers to a spreadsheet. Add subscribers to your Benchmark Email account with Wufoo. Add Desk. com customers to a Benchmark Email list or vice-versa automatically. Pass contacts back and forth between Benchmark Email and Capsule CRM. Pull your customer’s information from LiveChat and add it to a list in your Benchmark Email account.   How does it work? The Zapier integrations allows for two functions. A push and a pull. If an individual signs up on one of your Benchmark Email signup forms, it will trigger a 3rd party app also integrated with Zapier into action. This could mean a Benchmark Email user is alerted to schedule a call or an appointment. Inversely, when someone interacts with one of the 3rd party services also integrated with Zapier, their email address can be pulled into your contact list. For example, if... --- ### Shopify > Benchmark Email now allows you to add customers to your mailing list when they buy products from you through Shopify store. - Published: 2019-11-14 - Modified: 2022-10-12 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/shopify-email-integration/ Benchmark Email's Shopify Integration Looking for an effective way to sell more of your Shopify products and services? Send targeted emails to your Shopify customers and showcase your products with our Benchmark Email Shopify integrations. Staying top-of-mind and selling more, more frequently, has never been easier. Seamlessly Add Contacts from Shopify to Benchmark Email with Shopify Sync Wouldn't it be nice if your email marketing channel was magically synchronized with your Shopify store? Now it can be. Sync any customer segment in your Shopify account to a Benchmark Email list. As your Shopify customer segments grow, your contacts are automatically added to your Benchmark Email account. This ensures all your important contacts are in one place, without any need for manual updates and refreshing. Ready to get started? Learn how to sync your Shopify customer segments with your Benchmark Email lists in the Shopify Sync help article. Showcase Your Shopify Products with Email Marketing The Shopify Product Block allows you to drag and drop your Shopify product listings to your emails, leading to maximized product exposure with your audience - with every send! Connect your Shopify store in Benchmark Email to pull your products right into your email templates. Create eye-catching, professional emails to market and sell your products in just a few steps. Learn how to add your Shopify products to your Benchmark emails in the Shopify Product Block help article. It's Easy to Sell More with Shopify Sync + Shopify Product Block The right tools can help your... --- ### Google Sheets > Import your Google Docs contacts into your Benchmark email lists with this free integration. Click or dial 1-800-430-4095. Free 30-day trial! - Published: 2019-11-14 - Modified: 2023-06-20 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/google-sheets/ Benchmark Email's Google Sheets Integration For marketers and business owners, finding a simple way to organize and keep track of important information is invaluable. Whether it's customer data, analytics, reporting, or budgets, an organizational tool that comes packed with several features to help them run their businesses more efficiently is an absolute must. And if the tools makes collaboration and sharing simple, it's going to be near to impossible to replace. If all of this sounds familiar, then chances are you're currently using, or have used, Google Sheets. Do you have a ton of email addresses to sort? Use Google Sheets. Or, do you need a simple way to manage your customer list? Google Sheets works for that, too. What if you're looking for a tool that merges with email marketing software? Yup, you guessed it. Google Sheets. How? Well, it depends on the email marketing automation tool you're using. With the use of Google spreadsheets coupled with Benchmark Email's unique email tools, you can automatically add contacts from your Google Sheets spreadsheet to your Benchmark Email account. This sets you up for more organization and an effortlessly effective way to send email messages to your customers. Let's dive into how Google Sheets integrates with Benchmark Email and why it's a terrific solution for more personalized email outreach. We'll also touch on the essential requirements for this integration, so you'll know exactly how to get started using our Google Sheets integration. What is Google Sheets? If you aren't as familiar... --- ### WordPress Plugin > WordPress Email Plugin As a marketer, you're constantly hearing about and looking into various marketing solutions. Solutions to help you increase your - Published: 2019-11-14 - Modified: 2023-06-28 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/wordpress-plugin/ WordPress Email Plugin As a marketer, you're constantly hearing about and looking into various marketing solutions. Solutions to help you increase your email subscribers, lead conversions, or make your email campaigns more compelling. Maybe we're a little biased, but at Benchmark Email, we firmly believe that email marketing remains one of the best solutions for achieving a variety of marketing objectives. However, email marketing is only a third of the equation. You need valuable, high-quality content to fuel that email marketing and a content management system to help you build and host all that great website content. There are numerous CMS solutions out there. However, WordPress is one of our favorites (and it's what we use at Benchmark Email). But how do you bridge the gap between your content management software and email marketing? How do you use your content to reach a wider audience and generate more leads? Enter our WordPress Email Plugin. But, before we get into the specifics around this feature, let's dive deeper into why WordPress is a great solution for your content creation and management needs. Why Use WordPress? Every brand needs a content marketing strategy. And part of implementing that content marketing strategy is using a tool that manages content. But, content marketing aside, WordPress helps you create pages for your entire website. It's simple to use, and it has built-in tools and plugins that help you optimize each page so you can get as much traffic as possible. Here are some specific benefits... --- ### Glossary > Email Marketing Glossary 50+ must-know terms to help you master email marketing Above-the-Fold Affirmative Consent API (Application Programming Interface) - Published: 2019-11-04 - Modified: 2019-11-19 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/resources/email-glossary/ Email Marketing Glossary 50+ must-know terms to help you master email marketing Above-the-Fold Affirmative Consent API (Application Programming Interface) Auto Responder Blacklists Blocking Bounced Email Calls to Action Campaign CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 Click-Through Confirmed Opt-In Content Conversion Rate Double Opt-In Email Blocking Email Deliverability Feedback Loop Hard Bounce / Soft Bounce Header House List HTML (HyperText Markup Language) Mailing List Landing Page Open Open Rate Opt In (or Subscribe) Opt Out (or Unsubscribe) Permission-Based Email Personalization Phishing Privacy Recipient Rental List (or Acquisition List) Reputation Segmentation Sender Spam Spam Complaint Spoofing Subject Line Subscribe Targeting Tracking UCE Unique Click Universal Resource Locator (URL) Unsubscribe Voice Whitelists WIIFM or “What’s in It for Me? ” A Above the Fold The part of an email or web page that is visible without scrolling. It is generally more desirable placement because of its visibility. Affirmative Consent Another word for permission. The recipient of your email has been clearly and fully notified of the collection and use of his email address and has consented prior to such collection and use. Affirmative consent is not only a best practice; it is required by all reputable email marketing services. API Also known as Application Programming Interface, an API is a programming tool to enable separate software programs to communicate with each other or work harmoniously within an operating system. Good examples are Java and Microsoft DirectX, a bundle of APIs that enable game programming and video on PCs. Auto Responder A program or a script... --- ### Author - Published: 2019-10-28 - Modified: 2019-10-28 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/author/ --- ### Affiliate Partners > Become a Benchmark Affiliate You're passionate about sharing your expertise to help businesses and entrepreneurs grow. Recommend our email marketing - Published: 2019-10-09 - Modified: 2024-12-03 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/partners/affiliates/ Become a Benchmark Affiliate You're passionate about sharing your expertise to help businesses and entrepreneurs grow. Recommend our email marketing platform and receive a recurring 30% commission for as long as your referral is a customer. It's simple - and free - to begin earning monthly commission as a Benchmark Affiliate. Join Now How does the affiliate program work? Our top affiliate partners are generating thousands of dollars every month just by spreading the word about Benchmark. If you recommend digital marketing tools to your clients or audience, you too can add passive income as a Benchmark affiliate. We provide you with a unique tracking URL that you can include anywhere you share content. Users create an account through your partner URL will be tracked as a referral. When your referrals upgrade to a paid account, you will receive a 30% commission for every payment they make. Join Now Earn 30% commission as a Benchmark affiliate partner JOIN NOW AND START EARNING Earn passive income with Benchmark It's easy to get started and free to sign-up Share your partner URL Share your partner URL on your website, social media posts, and emails. We even provide ready-made banners with your account. Track performance You can track how many referrals are signing up for free and paid accounts, as well as how much commission you're earning each month. Earn passive income Earn 30% commission every time your referral makes a payment - for the lifetime of your account. Create an account to... --- ### Become a Benchmark Email Agency Partner > Offer your clients the email marketing and automation tool that best fits their needs, boosting your agency's success. - Published: 2019-10-08 - Modified: 2024-12-19 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/partners/agencies/ The Simple Recipe for Scaling Your Agency Become a Benchmark Agency Partner Ready to soar? Your expertise plus Benchmark's email marketing and marketing automation tools is a recipe for success. Join Now How does the Benchmark Agency Program work? The Benchmark Agency Program is, above all, a strategy to scale your agency's business. It allows you to offer packaged digital marketing solutions that, when combined with your services, will bring you greater profits. Discounts? Certainly! We assist you from the beginning. You can choose between a 30% DISCOUNT if you work with a Master Account (Agency) and Subaccounts (Clients) or a 30% COMMISSION if your clients pay for their own plan. Become an Agency Partner Enrich Your Service Offering. Increase Your Revenue. Extend email marketing services to your customers and grow your retainer revenue every month. Manage email marketing campaigns for your clients and resell a powerfully simple email marketing platform as your agency soars above the rest. Perks That Put the Fun Back in Growing Your Agency Focus on the Creative Work You Love Recurring Income Package Benchmark's email marketing platform with your email marketing services to generate predictable monthly revenue. Exclusive Discounts It's easy to resell Benchmark to your clients and earn. Receive a 30% ongoing discount or commission for every client you sign. Reseller Tools Leave the marketing to us! We'll provide you with the assets you need to attract new clients and turn current clients into Benchmark customers. Client Management Unlock agency-focused tools within Benchmark's app.... --- ### Integration Partners > Integrate with Benchmark Integrating with Benchmark means much more than a simple collaboration. It means partnering with an incredible company (if we say - Published: 2019-10-08 - Modified: 2025-05-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/partners/integrations/ Integrate with Benchmark Integrating with Benchmark means much more than a simple collaboration. It means partnering with an incredible company (if we say so ourselves) with great values ... that is a world leader in online marketing tools. You'll also gain exposure to the dedicated and passionate professionals who are using Benchmark to earn money for their businesses. Our simple, well-developed API allows us to integrate in a very easy way, with the supervision of an awesome team of experts. View API Docs Become an Integration Partner Today Connect with the Benchmark Integrations team to become a partner. Our integration partners enjoy several opportunities to enrich their customer's experience and reach a new audience: Exclusive developer support. Promotion of your services in our newsletter and on our website. Exposure of your brand through Benchmark in-app. Marketing opportunities, such as co-branded webinars, blog posts and reports. Become a Partner Contact Us Should be Empty: --- ### Developers > BENCHMARK EMAIL DEVELOPER Save Time With our Robust RESTful API With billions of emails sent monthly all around the world, our RESTful API provides you - Published: 2019-10-07 - Modified: 2025-05-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/developers/ BENCHMARK EMAIL DEVELOPER Save Time With our Robust RESTful API With billions of emails sent monthly all around the world, our RESTful API provides you with the scalability and methods to partner, integrate and let your ideas shine with one of the world's top email marketing services. EXPLORE OUR API WE RUN ON POSTMAN Get your Benchmark API Key Signup to Postman Free Get your Benchmark API Key Developers all around the world have integrated with us using our API Our paid clients are constantly looking for ways to save time and better manage their contact lists and activity. "Recently Benchmark introduced a new REST API. Overall this API was much better suited for us than the original one. The documentation on it is also quite clear. We did still have some questions, and the Benchmark team was very helpful and willing to do some improvements for us. So overall very happy about the process in the past few months. " Laura Lee Schultz Head of Partner Marketing "The Benchmark API is great: clear and intuitive. In fact, it's way better than many others We've worked with. The integration went smoothly and works like a charm" Nina Delacruz Inbound Marketing Consultant "We recently utilized Benchmark Email's ReST API for our WooCommerce integration plugin project. We used this API for searching/adding contact lists and searching/adding/updating/removing contacts on a list and found no problems. Thanks to the Benchmark team for always supporting its app developers! " Sean Conklin Founder at Coded Commerce... --- ### Lead Generation > Publish online forms, pop-ups, polls and surveys to grow your subscriber list and engage your contacts. - Published: 2019-10-03 - Modified: 2024-12-03 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/lead-generation/ Growing an Audience is Easy Use Forms, Landing Pages, Automations, Surveys & Polls to build a loyal fanbase that engages with your message. List Building Design the user experience you want for your site visitors with popup and embeddable signup forms. Connect with them at the exact moment they'd be inclined to subscribe. Put your signup form on your website Grab new contacts with a custom Signup Form. Place it on your site, blog or favorite social network and watch your list grow. Landing Pages Attract More Leads and Subscribers with Our Drag & Drop Landing Page Builder Learn More List Management Segmenting, importing and integrating are all easy to do with our list management tool.   Segment Break down your lists by demographics, customer likes and dislikes and more. Send the most relevant content to all your subscribers.   Import Create lists by importing contacts, adding contacts one by one or cutting and pasting in email addresses. Easily import . xls, . csv. and . txt files.   Integrate We make it easy to upload an existing list and integrate with services such as: Wordpress, Salesforce, Unbounce, Zapier and others. Know the Value of Each Subscriber See how engaged each contact is on a scale of 0-5 stars. Improve your deliverability, reward loyal subscribers and re-engage inactive ones by segmenting your email sends based on Contact Rating. Learn More Automations Save time, boost engagement and increase customer loyalty with automated email sequences. Contact List Automation Automatically send a birthday,... --- ### Terms of Use > Site Terms Privacy Policy Cookie Policy Anti-Spam Policy Terms Of Use Bug Bounty Terms Spam Free Zone User Pledge BENCHMARK TERMS OF USE PLEASE READ THIS - Published: 2019-09-16 - Modified: 2024-05-28 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/terms-of-use/ Site Terms Privacy Policy Cookie Policy Anti-Spam Policy Terms Of Use Bug Bounty Terms Spam Free Zone User Pledge BENCHMARK TERMS OF USE PLEASE READ THIS AGREEMENT CAREFULLY BEFORE USING ANY OF THE SERVICES AVAILABLE AT BENCHMARKEMAIL. COM. IF YOU DO NOT ACCEPT THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT, DO NOT USE THE SERVICES. This agreement sets out the legally binding terms of your use of the services provided by Polaris Software, LLC (hereinafter referred to as "Benchmark" or "Services") to you (hereinafter referred to as "End User," "You" or "Your"), and may be modified by Benchmark from time to time, such modifications to be effective upon posting of the modified agreement. By accessing, using and/or registering for the services provided by Benchmark, you agree that you have read and understand this End User Terms of Service and all of its contents (hereinafter referred to as this "Agreement"), intend this Agreement to be the legal equivalent of a signed, written contract and equally binding, and that you will be subject to all of the terms and conditions set forth herein. You agree to review the Agreement periodically to be aware of any such modifications, additions, deletions or other changes, and your continued access, registration and/or use of the Services shall be deemed your acceptance of the modified agreement. The last effective update to these terms of use was 01/01/2022.   OVERALL AND GENERAL TERMS Benchmark (also, "we" or "us") provides products, services, related offerings, software, websites and sub-websites (BENCHMARKEMAIL. COM, all... --- ### Anti-Spam Policy > Site Terms Privacy Policy Cookie Policy Anti-Spam Policy Terms Of Use Bug Bounty Terms Spam Free Zone User Pledge Anti-Spam Policy Where Benchmark stands - Published: 2019-09-16 - Modified: 2023-07-13 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/anti-spam-policy/ Site Terms Privacy Policy Cookie Policy Anti-Spam Policy Terms Of Use Bug Bounty Terms Spam Free Zone User Pledge Anti-Spam Policy Where Benchmark stands on spam At Benchmark Email, we've crafted a strong, zero-tolerance anti-spam policy to protect the delivery rates and reputations of our customers. If you feel one of our customers has sent you spam, please email us below and we'll immediately take steps to solve the problem. Our Anti-Spam Policy Simply stated, we at Benchmark Email are anti-spam. We hold the privacy of all users in the highest regard, as well as the recipients of emails sent by our customers. The Federal CAN-SPAM Act The Federal CAN-SPAM Act, put into law in 2003, dictates rules in sending commercial email. We at Benchmark vigorously follow these rules and add a few more for added safety, they include: If you are sending commercial email, non-personal, business-focused email, you must have specific permission to email your recipients. You can do this by using opt-in or closed loop opt-in to sign up subscribers. When you use opt-in, you must make a reasonable effort to make certain the person who signed up to receive communications from you is who they say they are. You must hang on to evidence that subscribers have given you permission, and must be able to produce that evidence within 72 hours of request. You must tell you recipients, in your email, where you got their info. This might include a line that says "you received this email... --- ### Partners > Partner program for marketing agencies and affiliates. Free to join. Earn commission for every email marketing account you sign. - Published: 2019-09-16 - Modified: 2023-06-07 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/partners/ Partner with Benchmark Partner with a company filled with people as passionate about sales and marketing as you. We give you the opportunity to grow your business right along with ours, making marketing easier and more rewarding. Check out our different partnership opportunities and choose the one that is the best fit for you and your business. Integrations Grow exposure for your app by integrating with Benchmark and working with our team to reach a whole new audience. Learn More Affiliates Promote Benchmark's marketing platform and start earning a 30% commission on every referral. Signing up is simple and it's free to join! Learn More Agencies Extend email marketing services and more to your clients to generate monthly recurring income. Enjoy agency tools and special discounts. Learn More --- ### Contact Us > Contact Us Have a question? Drop us a line and a friendly Benchmark specialist will respond in no time.   Polaris Software LLC 3636 S. Geyer Road, - Published: 2019-09-16 - Modified: 2023-09-07 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/contact/ Contact Us Have a question? Drop us a line and a friendly Benchmark specialist will respond in no time.   Polaris Software LLC 3636 S. Geyer Road, Suite 100 St Louis, MO 63127, USA Call us: 800. 430. 4095 We're available Monday through Friday between 6:00 am and 5:00 pm PST First Name* Last Name* E-mail* Area Code Phone Number Your Message Contact Us Should be Empty: --- ### Brand Assets > Benchmark Brand Assets Thank you for your interest in the Benchmark brand, feel free to navigate through our guidelines and downloads Guidelines Downloads - Published: 2019-09-16 - Modified: 2022-08-26 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/about-us/brand-assets/ Benchmark Brand Assets Thank you for your interest in the Benchmark brand, feel free to navigate through our guidelines and downloads Guidelines Downloads Screenshots The Benchmark Logo Variations The Benchmark logo can only appear in the three variations shown below. The logotype can never appear without the mark. Colors The Benchmark logo can appear in the light and dark swatches below. It will never appear in a color. If color is not available for technical reasons, you may use black. Midnight gray #1D202D White #FFFFFF Benchmark blue #4E5FF9 Minimum Space Clearance Keep a minimum space between the logo and other elements. This zone is equal to half the height of the sized logomark, as indicated by the "x" below. Horizontal logo space clearance Vertical logo space clearance Logomark space clearance What Not To Do Don't In writing, the "m" is never capitalized. Don't use our logo in the middle of a sentence. Don't use any color other than white and the specified midnight gray. Don't separate "Benchmark" from the mark. Don't replace or attempt to recreate our company name with another font. Don't use the old Benchmark logo.   Try Color the background behind the logo. Use a background image that doesn't impede logo recognition or have elements within the clearance zone. Friendly reminder These graphics are property of Benchmark and they are protected by intellectual property laws. By using our logo, third parties agree that these resources will not be displayed in any way that may be confusing or... --- ### About > Since Day One We help businesses thrive with online sales and marketing solutions. Our tools help you grow your audience, engagement and sales. Benchmark - Published: 2019-09-16 - Modified: 2025-05-20 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/about-us/ Since Day One We help businesses thrive with online sales and marketing solutions. Our tools help you grow your audience, engagement and sales. Benchmark Email offers an integrated, automated and robust feature set built to help the enterprise of any size. A powerfully simple and simply powerful email marketing solution designed to help you create and send compelling campaigns with ease. Engagement tools designed to help your business guide your customers through the customer journey. Bring customers in with signup forms that automatically fit into any space on your site you want. Automated and triggered follow up tools to stay in touch with your subscribers. Target, Test and Track success. World Class Support. Worldwide. Benchmark recognizes the importance of being represented locally, having native speakers to assist in support and a friendly face to welcome you at any local trade shows and events. That's why Benchmark is available in nine different languages and has offices in fifteen countries across the globe. 100+ Employees in 15 countries 9 Supported Languages #1 Customer Support in 2015 by PC Magazine Our Team Curt and Denise Keller started Benchmark with hard work and a dream. Today, the business they created has grown into an international company that impacts businesses and marketers around the globe. A world class leadership team continues to push the limits and give people the tools they need to ignite customer relationships. Jonathan Herrick CEO Curt Keller CIO Denise Keller CFO Matt Rhodes Chief Technology Officer Paul Rjinders Product Manager Raquel... --- ### Updates > What's new in email marketing? Check out the latest product updates from Benchmark Email. - Published: 2019-09-16 - Modified: 2023-01-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/product-updates/ --- ### Customers > Over 500,000 users - from small businesses to global brands use - our email marketing tools to connect with their audience. - Published: 2019-09-16 - Modified: 2022-05-16 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/customers/ Meet Our Customers Of over 500,000 users, we are pleased to thank some local names Each one of our customers, from small businesses to international brands, is very important to us. How we deliver for our largest and best known clients is also important to you. Al Kline OWNER, CEO CANTERBURY GARDENS "I am very pleased with our email marketing because that is our connection to our customers. We're constantly using this marketing tool to enhance our web presence. " Brian Harrington OWNER, CEOSUNRISE POS "We started using Benchmark about 5 years ago and we will absolutely continue to use here on out. It's been an incredible utility for us. " Brandon Beechler OWNER, CEO BMB DEZINES "The best feature I found was the use of my own HTML code. It allows full control over my emails and how they interact with my clients. " Jerry Rice OWNER, CEO RICE GENERAL "My favorite feature is multiple lists, and being able to send out to customers who have different needs. Benchmark has made life easier for me, keeping my office organized. " Mariana Gatto OWNER, CEO ITALIAN MUSEUM OF LA "We use Benchmark to promote membership and awareness of the goals of the museum. It's pretty much limitless in the ways that we use Benchmark. " Marcy Feldman OWNER, CEO STITCH CAFE "My degree is in Accounting, so I love graphs and charts. The first time I actually saw how many people opened my emails? That made me happy! " Larry... --- ### Email Marketing > Get started with your email marketing efforts in less than a week with this guide and the Benchmark Email email marketing platform. - Published: 2019-09-16 - Modified: 2025-05-20 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/email-marketing/ Table of Contents 1. What is email marketing? 2. What is the buyer's journey? 3. How do I find subscribers and grow my email list? 4. How do I write a great welcome email for new subscribers? 5. How do I set up an email campaign? 6. How do I re-engage lost customers? 7. How do I get customer feedback? 8. How do I retain customers? 9. How do I measure success? Sign up for Benchmark's free platform and send your first email in under 15 minutes. SIGN UP FREE The Ultimate Email Marketing Guide Email marketing can result in the highest ROI of any marketing channel. But successful email marketing is more than sending an eNewsletter to your email list every month. If you want to capture, engage, nurture, and convert your prospects, you need a full understanding of every step that goes into an effective email marketing strategy. And, you need the right email marketing service to help you pull it off. We know it can be daunting and often overwhelming, but for every dollar spent on email, you get $42 in return. With stats like that, it isn't just cost-effective, it's 100 percent worth what you put into it. Plus, your email list is full of people who have opted-in and want to hear from you. Having a direct line to reach your audience, using tailored email marketing campaigns is invaluable. We've seen first-hand the benefits and ROI email marketing has to offer, and we know that... --- ### Resources > Learn Email Marketing Our free email marketing resources cover frequent mistakes as well as best practices in email marketing. - Published: 2019-09-13 - Modified: 2020-08-24 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/resources/ Learn Email Marketing Our free email marketing resources cover frequent mistakes as well as best practices in email marketing. --- ### Integrations > Improve your email marketing workflow by integrating with your favorite apps and services, like Zapier, Wordpress, Facebook and more. - Published: 2019-09-13 - Modified: 2024-12-23 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/integrations/ Integrate with Your Favorite Sales and Marketing Apps Simplify Email Design CanvaDesign engaging emails with the help of Canva, the graphic design platform for everyone. Learn more ShopifyEasily add your Shopify products to your email campaigns. Learn more StripoAdd your email templates from Stripo's extensive email template library. Learn more LinkedinQuickly share your latest LinkedIn updates with your subscribers. Learn more EbayPromote your eBay items for sale in your email campaigns. Learn more Design Sell Promote Automate Your Workflow Automate your email marketing workflows with Zapier. It's the easiest way to connect your sales and marketing tools to Benchmark Email. Learn more Instantly Grow Your Email List Add customers to your mailing list when they buy products from you through Shopify. Learn more Tracking contacts in Google Sheets? Add them to a Benchmark email list with this fast, easy integration. Learn more Integrate with 1500+ web services like Gmail, Evernote, Facebook and Google Docs with our Zapier integration. Learn more Send your Zoho contacts professional newsletters by integrating with your Benchmark Email account. Learn more Keep the conversation going in the inbox. Add Slack contacts to your Benchmark Email lists. Learn more Turn cold leads into hot deals with the PipelineDeals integration for Benchmark Email. Learn more Create heatmaps to easily see and compare click results from all of your email campaigns. Learn more Add Groove contacts to your Benchmark Email lists and stay in touch with your customers. Learn more Create email templates in Stripo and send them to... --- ### Reporting > Track and measure email marketing metrics to understand how subscribers interact with your emails, and which campaigns are driving results. - Published: 2019-09-13 - Modified: 2025-05-19 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/reporting/ Track. Report. Improve. Our AB Testing, Inbox Checker and Reporting features help you create better campaigns by understanding how subscribers interact with your emails. Reports overview social geotracking overview Know where your successes are by tracking opens, links clicked and customer activity in real time. See which emails bounced and how you can improve future campaigns. social See who shared your email campaign via social media or if they Liked it. You can tailor future social media-based campaigns to those subscribers. geotracking Discover where in the world your subscribers are opening your emails. Segment lists based on timezones to make sure your emails are always delivered at the time you want. A/B Testing subject lines compare delivery time subject lines Pinpoint the best times to send your email to your lists. Find out when your subscribers are most likely to open your email campaigns, whether it be morning, noon or night. compare Test campaign vs. campaign to see which one will produce a higher click rate. Compare your campaigns against one another to discover the best one. delivery time Pinpoint the best times to send your email to your lists. Find out when your subscribers are most likely to open your email campaigns, whether it be morning, noon or night. Always look good with Inbox Checker Web-based Preview your email in Firefox, Internet Explorer and Chrome, in every web-based email clients. Mobile Views See how your email will appear on any mobile device. Windows & Mac OS Test your email... --- ### Email Automation > Our marketing automation builder - Automation Pro - makes it simple to build email campaigns and workflows that personalize the experience for prospects and customers. - Published: 2019-09-13 - Modified: 2023-02-24 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/email-automation/ Be an Email Automation Pro Send automated email series that are triggered by website and email engagement. Start your automation See it in action Relax, Let Automation Pro do the Follow Up for You Drive revenue with timely, personalized automated emails WELCOME SERIES Abandoned Cart Follow up series WELCOME SERIES Abandoned Cart Follow up series Get Straight To Growing Your Business Use one of our email automation templates or create your own Welcome Subscriber Automate your welcome email series and onboard subscribers with ease Convert Leads Use this template to turn subscribers into customers Purchase Confirmation Automatically move subscribers from your leads list to your customers list start your automation Email Automation Resources Not sure where to get started? Looking for some inspiration? Webinar: How to Create a Welcome Series Automate your welcome email series and onboard subscribers with ease Register Now Blogs Get the latest strategies to use with email automation. Go --- ### Features > Design professional emails. Grow your subscriber list. Automate campaigns. Build beautiful landing pages. Track your email marketing metrics. - Published: 2019-09-13 - Modified: 2022-10-24 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/features/ Email Marketing Made Simple Shine in the Inbox and Beyond with Powerful Email and Automation Tools SIGN UP FREE EMAIL MARKETING Boost Engagement with Gorgeous Emails and Campaigns. Sending email is fun again with our easy to use email checklist and drag & drop builder TRY IT FOR FREE Learn more Lead Generation Grow Your Subscriber List with Forms and More. List building is fun with subscriber forms that blend in seamlessly with your website, polls, and surveys. TRY IT FOR FREE Learn more MARKETING AUTOMATION Turn Subscribers into Customers with Automated Emails. Send timely, highly-relevant offers to your contact list. Let our simple automation tool take care of follow-up, and watch the sales roll in. TRY IT FOR FREE Learn more ECOMMERCE Feature Your Products and Sell More. Easily add your products to email templates and segment your lists to create instant demand. Paired with marketing automation, our eCommerce tools make it simple to reach the right customer with the right offer every time. TRY IT FOR FREE Learn more REPORTING Measure, Improve and Grow with Reports. Track important email marketing metrics and increase engagement with A/B testing and reports. TRY IT FOR FREE Learn more Sign Up For Your Absolutely Free Account No Credit Card Required --- ### Blog > The email marketing blog for busy marketers & business owners. Over 100,000 subscribe for expert email marketing, marketing, & sales advice. - Published: 2019-09-13 - Modified: 2024-04-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ --- ### Privacy Policy > Site Terms Privacy Policy Cookie Policy Anti-Spam Policy Terms Of Use Bug Bounty Terms Spam Free Zone User Pledge Privacy Policy Where we stand on - Published: 2019-08-19 - Modified: 2025-03-03 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/privacy-policy/ Site Terms Privacy Policy Cookie Policy Anti-Spam Policy Terms Of Use Bug Bounty Terms Spam Free Zone User Pledge Privacy Policy Where we stand on gathering, sharing and protecting your info Privacy Policy for Benchmark Email Effective Date: January 2022 Welcome to Benchmark Email, owned and operated by Benchmark Internet Group (herein after referred to as "Benchmark," "company," "us," "we," and/or "our"). This document/page lays out our privacy policy in regards to information that we may collect on our website benchmarkemail. wpengine. com and through the associated Benchmark Email Service. This includes personal information (personal data) of customers, registered users, interested parties and non-registered visitors of the websites of Benchmark. The use of information collected through our Service shall be limited to the purpose of providing the service for which our customers have engaged us. Your data and privacy are of utmost importance to Benchmark, and this privacy policy was created to emphasize that. This policy will explain how we use and protect your personal data and any other information gathered with the service as well as the human resources data of our employees. It also describes the choices available to you regarding the use of, your access to, and how to update and correct and erase your personal information. Controller of the Data File The controller of the data file within the meaning of data protection law is Benchmark Internet Group: Erin Posey - Director of Customer Success & Support Benchmark Email 3636 S. Geyer Road, Suite 100 St... --- --- ## Posts ### 5 Winning Tactics for Short-Form Video Marketing Trends in 2025 > This guide breaks down the five most crucial video marketing trends to help you dominate short-form content in 2025. - Published: 2025-06-12 - Modified: 2025-06-02 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/short-form-video-marketing-trends/ - Categories: Social Media Over 82% of all internet traffic in 2025 will be video content, and this number is only growing. It’s essential to stay informed about video marketing trends that are shaping how brands connect with their audiences. If you're struggling to keep up with the latest trends and techniques, you're not alone. Many marketers find themselves overwhelmed by the constant updates to platforms and shifting viewer expectations. This guide breaks down the five most crucial video marketing strategies to help you dominate short-form content in 2025. The Current State of Video Marketing in 2025 Video consumption has reached unprecedented levels. The average person now watches nearly 100 minutes of online video daily across multiple platforms. This represents a 25% increase from just two years ago. Platform-specific statistics tell an even more compelling story: TikTok has more than 2 billion monthly active users Instagram Reels have higher engagement than static posts YouTube Shorts see at least 50 billion daily views LinkedIn video posts earn 3x the engagement of text-only content The shift toward short-form video content continues to accelerate. Platforms that once prioritized long-form content have pivoted to accommodate shorter attention spans and more immersive experiences. For businesses, adapting to these changes isn't optional—it's essential for survival in the digital marketplace. Companies that fail to incorporate video into their marketing strategy risk becoming invisible to their target audience. Key takeaway: If you're not using short-form video in your marketing mix, you're missing a massive opportunity to connect with potential customers. 5 Video... --- ### Recession-Proof Your Business with Email Marketing: Strategies for Stability and Growth > Amidst uncertainty, email marketing has emerged as one of the most powerful tools. Recession-proof your business with these email tips. - Published: 2025-06-11 - Modified: 2025-06-02 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/recession-proof-with-email-marketing/ - Categories: Email Marketing During times of economic uncertainty, business owners deal with some real challenges. The biggest being finding a balance between growth and stability. Staying afloat, let alone thriving, is nearly impossible. Yet, amidst this uncertainty, email marketing has emerged as one of the most powerful, cost-effective, and consistent tools for maintaining customer relationships, driving revenue growth, and ensuring business resilience. In this article, we’ll explore how businesses can recession-proof their operations with email marketing, using it as a strategic lever to weather economic storms, nurture customer loyalty, and drive sustainable growth. Why Email Marketing Is Essential in Tough Times Email marketing and digital marketing are old friends. But, during times of economic uncertainty, its value becomes even more obvious for the following reasons: Cost: Compared to other marketing channels, email is drastically more affordable. The overhead is extremely low, and you can reach a large audience for practically nothing, making the ROI high. Directness: Email enables businesses to communicate directly with their customers. Take social media, for example. Algorithms change almost daily, which limits your reach. Email, however, delivers your message straight to a customer’s inbox, so you don’t have to rely on unpredictable third-party platforms. Retention: Acquiring new customers? In this economy? That seems impossible. Instead, try focusing on retaining your existing customers by way of email marketing. It’s a great way to keep your customers happy and increase ROI. Data: By signing up for an email marketing platform, like Benchmark Email, you’re also signing up for access to tons... --- ### 7 Long-Term Growth Marketing Tactics Every Business Needs to Adopt > Discover 7 essential long-term growth marketing tactics every business needs, plus common mistakes to avoid. - Published: 2025-06-10 - Modified: 2025-06-02 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/growth-marketing/ - Categories: Marketing You’re a business owner focused on growth — and rightly so! However, when it comes to marketing, every decision can feel like walking a tightrope. Do you focus on quick wins that will make your metrics look great and get you through the quarter? Or do you take the long way around, and focus on a long-term marketing plan that will strengthen your business through brand recognition, customer loyalty, and higher revenue... but wait a little longer to see the results? Your company shouldn’t just be surviving; it should thrive on a marketing strategy that focuses on SaaS link building, strategic partnerships, and improving customer retention. Let’s take a look at some powerful, evergreen marketing tactics every business should be adopting to get ahead. Why Does Long-Term Growth Marketing Matter? Ultimately, every business, from plucky startups vying for a position to established companies trying to stay competitive, should focus on adopting a long-term marketing strategy. Why? Long-term growth marketing focuses on sustainable success. By choosing to invest in strategies that build lasting brand trust and boost customer loyalty, rather than quick wins, you’re setting your business up to successfully manage market changes, to stay competitive, and to stay relevant. 7 Long-Term Growth Marketing Tactics There are many long-term growth marketing tactics your business could use. Here are seven of the best to get started with. Build Your Owned Media Channels Many businesses rely heavily on social media platforms to reach potential customers and to find leads. While this approach can... --- ### Content Automation in Email Marketing: What It Is and How Marketing Managers Can Leverage It > Let's break down what content automation is, why it matters, and how you can start using it to drive better results with less manual effort. - Published: 2025-06-05 - Modified: 2025-06-09 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/content-automation/ - Categories: Email Marketing, Content Marketing Email marketing is effective at connecting with an audience, but creating fresh, personalized content for every campaign can quickly become challenging. That’s where content automation comes in. By utilizing innovative tools and strategies, marketing managers can deliver relevant and engaging emails at scale, without having to write every message from scratch. In this post, we’ll break down what content automation means, why it matters, and how you can start using it to drive better results with less manual effort. What Is Content Automation? Content automation uses technology to create, schedule, distribute, and personalize content with minimal manual intervention. It allows businesses to reach their audiences at the right time, freeing up marketing teams to focus on strategy and creative tasks. In email marketing, content automation involves setting up rules and workflows to send personalized messages, such as welcome emails, abandoned cart reminders, or product recommendations, based on customer behavior, segmentation, and timing. Why Marketing Managers Should Embrace Content Automation Automation makes a marketer’s life so much easier. Like email automation, content automation offers several benefits for marketing teams: Efficiency: Automating routine tasks reduces manual workload, allowing teams to focus on more strategic initiatives. Personalization at Scale: Automation allows us to tailor content for individual subscribers based on preferences, behaviors, or demographics. Consistency: Automated workflows ensure messages are sent at the correct times, maintaining brand consistency and engagement. Improved ROI: Personalized, well-timed emails often increase engagement and conversions, ultimately boosting ROI. How Marketing Managers Can Use Content Automation in Email Marketing... --- ### The EU Accessibility Act Takes Effect This Month: What Email Marketers Need to Know > The EU Accessibility Act goes into effect this month. Here's what marketers need to know and how to adhere to it. - Published: 2025-06-03 - Modified: 2025-06-10 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-eu-accessibility-act/ - Categories: Email Marketing, Marketing The EU Accessibility Act, set to take effect this month, introduces new digital accessibility standards that businesses across Europe must comply with, including email marketers. While compliance helps avoid potential penalties, the bigger picture is about fostering inclusivity and reaching everyone in your audience. Let’s break down what the law requires, how it impacts email design and content, and the steps marketers can take to ensure their emails meet accessibility standards while maintaining engagement and effectiveness. Understanding the EU Accessibility Act The EU Accessibility Act aims to create a more inclusive digital landscape by ensuring websites, mobile apps, and digital services, such as email, are accessible to all users, including those with disabilities. The law is aligned with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), which outline best practices for making digital content perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust. Failure to comply could result in fines or restrictions, making it crucial for businesses to understand their responsibilities and take proactive steps toward compliance. How the EU Accessibility Act Affects Email Marketing 1. Designing for Visual Accessibility Use Sufficient Color Contrast: Low-contrast text can be complex for visually impaired users to read. Make sure your emails have adequate contrast between text and background colors. Avoid Color-Only Indicators: Important information, such as call-to-action buttons, should not rely solely on color to convey meaning. Use text labels or icons for clarity. Provide Alternative Text for Images: Subscribers using screen readers need alt text to understand visual elements. So, when adding images or buttons to your... --- ### How to Promote Your Blog Posts Using Email Marketing > Getting your blog posts out there to the right people is super important. Here's how you can use email marketing to help. - Published: 2025-06-01 - Modified: 2025-06-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/promote-blog-posts-using-email-marketing/ - Categories: Email Marketing Email marketing remains one of the most direct and reliable ways to share your blog content because it lands right in your audience’s inbox, encouraging higher engagement. If you don’t think strategically about how to promote your blog, you're simply creating content for the void, not for your audience. Ross Simmonds, CEO of Foundation Inc , advises marketers to create content once and distribute it forever. The reason is simple: the more people who see your content, the more leads it generates. While there are many ways to get your content in front of your audience, email marketing is often underutilized. This guide will show you how to leverage email marketing as an effective content distribution channel to drive more traffic and generate leads. We’ll show you examples of drip campaigns you can use to give your content more eyeballs, as well as discuss how to leverage newsletters to promote blog posts and improve traffic to your website Using drip campaigns to promote blog posts Drip campaigns serve different purposes - from nurturing leads to re-engaging inactive subscribers. Here are some drip email campaigns and how to use them to promote your blog posts effectively: 1. Lead nurturing series Leads who show interest in your product and subscribers who join your email list want to learn more about your product before making a purchase decision. Don't neglect these engaged audience members after the welcome email. Create an email series, also known as an email drip campaign, that doles out information... --- ### The Unsubscribe Opportunity: How Exit Emails Can Strengthen Brand Affinity > Just because someone unsubscribes doesn't mean you can't save the relationship. Here's how to craft exit emails that bring subscribers back. - Published: 2025-05-29 - Modified: 2025-05-20 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/exit-emails/ - Categories: Email Marketing In email marketing, few things sting more than seeing a subscriber hit that dreaded "unsubscribe" button. After all, it can feel like a rejection, especially after investing time and resources into crafting emails that resonate with your audience. But what if we told you that the unsubscribe moment is a golden opportunity to enhance your brand's reputation and, in some cases, bring subscribers back down the line? Exit emails, or "unsubscribe emails," often carry a negative connotation. They are typically seen as the end of a customer relationship, a sign that a subscriber is no longer interested in your brand. However, if approached thoughtfully, these emails can act as a final brand impression that leaves people with a positive perception, and perhaps even leads to a reconnection in the future. This article will explore how exit emails can be a powerful tool to strengthen brand affinity, foster goodwill, and create the conditions for re-engagement. It’s time to rethink the unsubscribe moment. The Psychological Impact of Unsubscribing When someone unsubscribes from your emails, it's easy to view it as a loss. After all, they’ve consciously decided to sever ties with your communications. However, suppose you understand the psychology of unsubscribing. In that case, it becomes clear that this action is often less about rejecting your brand entirely and more about needing a break or feeling overwhelmed. The unsubscribe process often relieves subscribers. If your emails are too frequent, irrelevant, or simply not what they signed up for, unsubscribing allows them to... --- ### Benchmark Email Recognized with the 2025 “Best Ease Of Use” Award for Content Marketing Category And More > Benchmark Email has been recognized as 2025 Best Ease of Use Award from Capterra, along with other recognitions. - Published: 2025-05-28 - Modified: 2025-05-27 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/benchmark-2025-best-ease-of-use-award/ - Categories: Email Marketing, Benchmark Recommends Saint Louis, MO 5/28/2025 - Benchmark Email We are excited to share that Benchmark Email, a dynamic email marketing solution, has been recognized with multiple awards, like 2025 “Best Ease of Use" and more badges from Gartner Digital Markets platforms: Capterra, Software Advice, and GetApp. With customizable templates and automated email sequences, Benchmark Email enables marketers to optimize their outreach and drive results efficiently. These recognitions and awards are based on independent reviews collected by Gartner Digital Markets. The company highlights top-rated tools in different categories to help buyers identify the highest-rated software companies that users love and trust. “We’re honored to be recognized for what matters most to our customers—simplicity, speed, and results,” said Jonathan Herrick, CEO of Benchmark Email. “These awards reinforce our mission to make powerful email marketing easy and accessible for every marketer, no matter their size or experience. ” Here’s what some of our users have to say about their experience with us: Content Marketing, Lead Generation Email Management, Lead Capture Email Marketing, Marketing Automation All-in-One Marketing Platform “Setting up the account is easy, it has an intuitive user interface, and starting the first campaign was very easy. The builder is optimized very well for mobile devices, as almost all users use the phone the most. ” by Andrei B. Content Marketing, Email Management “I use Benchmark Email for email marketing. It helps create, send, and track emails for campaigns (opens and clicks included! ) It's a great alternative to more expensive email campaign software.... --- ### The Silent Growth Channel: How Smart Email Marketing Is Outpacing Social in ROI > When it comes to ROI, smart email marketing greatly outpaces social media. Read on as to why it's a silent growth channel. - Published: 2025-05-27 - Modified: 2025-05-20 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/smart-email-marketing-is-outpacing-social/ - Categories: Email Marketing In a digital world dominated by TikTok trends, Instagram influencers, and LinkedIn thought-leaders, it’s easy to assume social media is the undisputed king of marketing. But behind the flashy videos and shrinking organic reach lies a quiet powerhouse—email marketing. It’s consistent, cost-effective, and incredibly underappreciated. Despite the surge in social media marketing tools and AI-generated content strategies, email continues to deliver where it matters most: return on investment. And as social algorithms become increasingly erratic and pay-to-play models push organic reach to the sidelines, email is emerging as the silent growth channel savvy marketers are doubling down on. Let’s explore why email is winning the long game, what businesses are doing right, and how to build a smarter email strategy that leaves social in the dust. The Social Media Reality Check Social platforms are often the shiny object in a marketing strategy—and for good reason. They offer massive reach, engaging formats, and cultural capital. But here’s the problem: Organic reach is tanking. Facebook’s average organic reach is around 5%, and Instagram's isn’t much better. You're renting your audience. If a platform changes its algorithm—or shuts down—you lose access overnight. Engagement doesn’t always convert. Likes, shares, and views often don’t translate into sales or loyalty. Even if you “go viral,” the effects are usually short-lived. And building a reliable, consistent channel for growth on social is becoming more complex and more expensive by the month. That’s where email comes in. Why Email Is Quietly Dominating Email isn’t sexy. But it works—well.... --- ### The Psychology of “Not Opening”: What Non-Opens Can Tell You About Your Audience > One of the most discouraging email marketing metrics for any marketer is the open rate. After spending hours crafting the perfect subject line, designing - Published: 2025-05-22 - Modified: 2025-05-13 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-psychology-of-not-opening-what-non-opens-can-tell-you-about-your-audience/ - Categories: Email Marketing One of the most discouraging email marketing metrics for any marketer is the open rate. After spending hours crafting the perfect subject line, designing compelling content, and ensuring everything looks just right, it can feel like a personal rejection when your emails go unopened by a portion of your list. But instead of viewing non-opens as a source of frustration, it’s time to shift your perspective and recognize them as an opportunity for insight. Understanding the psychology behind why some subscribers don’t open your emails can unlock powerful opportunities for re-engagement and help you refine your overall strategy. Let’s look at some non-open behavioral patterns, explore why some subscribers simply don’t engage, and discuss how to ethically re-engage them or learn from their behavior. Why Do People Not Open Emails? To begin with, let’s explore the reasons why subscribers might not open your emails. These reasons vary widely, from timing issues to content irrelevance. By understanding these patterns, you can begin to tailor your approach to better meet your audience's needs and expectations. 1. Too Many Emails, Too Little Time One of the simplest and most common reasons for non-opens is sheer email fatigue. In today’s digital world, people receive countless emails daily—some important, others not. Over time, your subscribers may simply feel overwhelmed by the volume of messages they receive. When faced with an inbox full of promotional emails, newsletters, and notifications, it’s easy for your messages to get lost in the shuffle. It’s not uncommon for the average... --- ### Why AI Alone Won’t Save Your Marketing Strategy > AI is a gift for most marketers, however you cannot rely on it alone to save your marketing strategy. Here's what else you need. - Published: 2025-05-20 - Modified: 2025-05-13 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ai-wont-save-your-marketing-strategy/ - Categories: Marketing Artificial intelligence is everywhere. From content generation and customer segmentation to chatbots and predictive analytics, AI is transforming marketing at an unprecedented pace. In fact, it’s not just a trend—it’s a revolution. But here’s the uncomfortable truth: AI alone won’t save your marketing strategy. Yes, it’s fast. Yes, it’s efficient. And yes, it can help you scale like never before. But if you’re treating AI as a silver bullet, thinking it will magically fix weak messaging, poor positioning, or disjointed customer experiences, you’re not just misusing the technology. You’re putting your brand at risk. AI is a powerful tool, not a replacement for the fundamentals of great marketing. To build something lasting, something customers actually care about, you still need three things that no machine can replicate: human leadership, customer empathy, and a strong brand voice. The Hype Is Real. The Results? Not Always. Marketers are understandably drawn to AI. With tools that can write blog posts, generate subject lines, schedule campaigns, analyze performance, and even respond to DMs, the appeal is obvious. AI promises speed, consistency, and scale—everything busy marketers dream of. But let’s be honest: efficiency isn’t the same as effectiveness. AI can churn out a thousand words in seconds—but is it saying anything original? It can analyze data patterns—but does it understand why customers behave the way they do? It can automate responses—but can it connect on an emotional level? What good is AI-generated content if it sounds like every other brand in your space? What value... --- ### How to Drive Website Traffic from ChatGPT and AI Search Engines > With more people using ChatGPT to find information, it's important for brands to look into ways to drive traffic from ChatGPT. - Published: 2025-05-15 - Modified: 2025-05-06 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/drive-website-traffic-from-chatgpt/ - Categories: Inbound Marketing, Marketing With the rise of AI-driven search engines like ChatGPT and Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE), businesses and content creators face new challenges in driving website traffic. Unlike traditional SEO, where appearing on a search engine results page (SERP) can directly lead to clicks, AI-generated responses often summarize content without linking to the source. However, that doesn't mean leveraging these AI tools to drive traffic is impossible. By adapting your content and strategies, you can still capture attention and increase website traffic even in the era of AI-driven search. 1. Building Authoritative Content AI tools like ChatGPT rely heavily on high-quality, well-researched, and authoritative content to respond accurately to users' queries. Creating high-quality content should be your priority if you want your website to be a top source for AI-generated information. Focus on producing in-depth articles, research papers, guides, and long-form content that covers topics comprehensively. This type of content provides value to users and increases the likelihood that it will be referenced by AI models when answering questions. Additionally, keeping your content relevant with regular updates and refreshes ensures it remains an authoritative resource. Tips for Building Authoritative Content: Conduct thorough research and cite reputable sources. Include expert opinions, case studies, and data-backed insights. Use clear, engaging language that resonates with human readers and AI algorithms. Structure content to answer frequently asked questions in a concise, accessible manner. 2. Optimizing for AI Summaries AI-driven tools like ChatGPT often pull content from websites to generate summaries. Optimizing your content specifically for... --- ### The Lean Campaign: How to Launch and Test Ideas Fast Without Big Budgets > The lean campaign is great for teams that need a big impact but have limited budgets. Here's how to get one off the ground. - Published: 2025-05-13 - Modified: 2025-05-06 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-lean-campaign/ - Categories: Marketing As a marketer, you’re constantly pressured to innovate and deliver results without the luxury of hefty budgets or extended timelines. Enter the "lean campaign" concept—a strategic approach designed to enable businesses to launch and test ideas rapidly, ensuring that marketing efforts are efficient and effective. This article explores lean marketing campaigns' principles, benefits, and actionable steps to implement them without breaking the bank. Understanding Lean Marketing The lean marketing methodology borrows concepts from lean manufacturing, which emphasizes maximizing value while minimizing waste. In marketing, this means focusing on delivering value to customers quickly and efficiently while continuously testing and iterating based on feedback and data. The core principles of lean marketing include: Customer-Centric Focus: Addressing customer needs is a priority. Lean campaigns prioritize customer feedback and insights to guide decision-making. Rapid Testing and Learning: Instead of investing significant time and resources into a single campaign, lean marketing advocates for launching small-scale tests to gather data and insights quickly. Iterative Improvement: Based on the feedback from testing, marketers can refine and optimize their campaigns, ensuring they are constantly evolving and improving. Minimal Viable Product (MVP): The MVP concept, borrowed from product development, emphasizes launching a basic version of a campaign or idea that meets the essential customer needs. This allows for quicker market entry and feedback collection. The Benefits of Lean Campaigns 1. Cost Efficiency One of the most significant advantages of lean campaigns is their cost-effectiveness. Marketers can significantly reduce expenses by focusing on smaller tests and iterations rather than... --- ### Beyond the Blog: Innovative Strategies to Transform Your Articles into Engaging Social Media Content > Your blog content can be repurposed into various other pieces of content, including social media content. Here's how. - Published: 2025-05-08 - Modified: 2025-04-30 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/transform-articles-into-social-media-content/ - Categories: Social Media Creating high-quality blog content requires time, effort, and a significant investment of resources. But once your article is published, the work shouldn't stop there. Repurposing blog content for social media is an effective way to extend its lifespan, reach a broader audience, and maximize its value across multiple platforms. In this article, we’ll explore creative ways to adapt blog content into engaging social media formats. From crafting compelling X threads and informative SlideShares to producing engaging video snippets and eye-catching GIFs, we’ll show you how to tailor your content for different platforms. Additionally, we will discuss how AI tools can streamline the repurposing process, ensuring your content remains fresh and impactful. Why Repurpose Blog Content for Social Media? Maximizing Content Value A well-researched blog post has the potential to engage audiences beyond just your website. Repurposing allows you to squeeze more value from your existing content. Expanding Your Reach Different social media platforms appeal to distinct audiences. Adapting your content ensures that it resonates with a broader range of users. Boosting Engagement Visual and interactive formats often perform better on social media than text-heavy blog posts. Repurposing helps you meet audience preferences and increase engagement. Improving SEO and Brand Visibility Sharing variations of your content across multiple channels reinforces your brand’s authority and can drive more traffic back to your website. Creative Ways to Repurpose Blog Content for Social Media 1. Transform Blog Posts into X Threads X (formerly Twitter) thrives on concise, engaging content. Convert your blog post into... --- ### Generative Marketing: Harnessing AI to Revolutionize Customer Engagement > Generative marketing is all about harnessing the power of AI to revolutionize the way you go about your marketing strategy. - Published: 2025-05-06 - Modified: 2025-04-30 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/generative-marketing/ - Categories: Marketing One of the most transformative innovations in recent years is generative marketing, a strategy that leverages artificial intelligence to create personalized content, automate complex tasks, and enhance customer engagement. As businesses strive to stay competitive, understanding and implementing generative marketing is becoming increasingly essential. Let’s break down the fundamentals of generative marketing and provide insights into how businesses can adopt this game-changing approach. What is Generative Marketing? Generative marketing refers to the use of AI-driven technology to create content, optimize marketing campaigns, and deliver highly personalized customer experiences. Unlike traditional marketing, which relies on human effort for content creation and campaign execution, generative marketing automates these processes, allowing for greater efficiency and scalability. Key Components of Generative Marketing: AI-Powered Content Creation – AI tools generate high-quality text, images, and videos tailored to audience preferences. Automated Personalization – AI analyzes user data to create customized messages, product recommendations, and dynamic email campaigns. Predictive Analytics – Machine learning models assess customer behavior and predict trends to optimize marketing strategies. Conversational AI – Chatbots and virtual assistants engage customers in real-time, enhancing the user experience and lead generation. Real-World Examples of Generative Marketing in Action Many leading brands have already embraced generative marketing to boost efficiency and engagement. Here are some standout examples: 1. Coca-Cola: AI-Generated Advertising Coca-Cola has experimented with AI-generated advertising content, using platforms like OpenAI’s DALL·E to create compelling visuals. This approach enables the brand to scale its creative process and maintain high engagement across multiple markets. 2. Netflix: Personalized... --- ### Boost Your Email Marketing With User-Generated Content > When combined with email marketing strategies, UGC can help you boost engagement and foster brand trust. Learn how to use it. - Published: 2025-05-02 - Modified: 2025-05-21 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-ugc/ - Categories: Email Marketing One of the downfalls of email marketing is over-saturation. Creating original and fresh content while striving to sound honest is not as easy as it once was. The truth is that people are sick and tired of being bombarded with traditional call-to-action campaigns, starting with unwanted spammy emails. To address this negative trend, marketers have been combining email marketing strategies with User-Generated Content (UGC). UGC is any content generated by users, such as reviews, unboxing videos, tutorials, and testimonials. To put it simply, UGC is pretty much the digital equivalent of word-of-mouth. When combined with email marketing strategies, UGC can help you boost engagement and foster brand trust, while also reducing the constant stress of regularly creating original content. In this article, we’ll explain how to use UGC in email marketing campaigns. What Is User-Generated Content and Why Does It Work So Well in Email User-Generated Content (UGC), also known as User-Created Content (UCC), is any brand-specific content published by users on social media or other channels. Types of UGC Text-based: Reviews Testimonials Tips and hacks Blog posts Social media captions Forum discussions (Reddit posts, AMA threads, Q&A, etc. ) Video-based: Video reviews Product demos Unboxings Stories (Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, etc. ) TikToks YouTube shorts Image-based: Social media posts Product in use photos Before and after photos Memes GIFS Audio-based: Podcasts User remixed audio or jingles There’s no lack of options with UGC, and the truth is that it can have a significant impact on sales and brand growth. In... --- ### Navigating the Digital Recession: Strategies for Maintaining Engagement Amidst Changing Algorithms > There's a digital recession happening, where organic reach and engagement is suffering at the hands of paid advertisement and posts. - Published: 2025-04-30 - Modified: 2025-04-22 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/digital-recession/ - Categories: Social Media Social media has been the cornerstone of digital marketing for a while now. Still, recent shifts in platform algorithms and declining organic engagement rates have left many brands struggling to connect with their audiences. As platforms prioritize paid content and user-generated interactions over brand visibility, marketers must rethink their approach. But why is social media engagement declining? And how do algorithm changes impact marketing efforts? Read on as we uncover these points and provide actionable strategies to adapt by focusing on high-quality content and alternative distribution channels. Understanding the Decline in Social Media Engagement Several factors contribute to the decrease in social media engagement, including: Algorithm Shifts – Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter) now prioritize personal interactions and user-generated content, making it harder for branded content to reach audiences organically. Content Saturation – With millions of posts shared daily, standing out in a crowded feed is more challenging than ever. Changing User Behavior – Users are becoming more selective, favoring authentic, value-driven content over traditional promotional posts. Platform Monetization – Social networks are increasingly pushing paid advertising, which reduces organic reach for brands. Strategies to Adapt to Lower Engagement and Algorithm Changes 1. Prioritize Quality Over Quantity Instead of churning out frequent posts, focus on creating high-value content that your audience will enjoy. Well-researched articles, in-depth guides, and visually engaging posts are more likely to be shared and saved. 2. Diversify Distribution Channels Relying solely on social media is no longer a sustainable approach. Consider expanding your... --- ### 100 Spammy Words and Phrases to Exclude from Your Email Subject Lines > Do not include these 100 spammy words or phrases in your email subject lines if you want to make it to the inbox. - Published: 2025-04-29 - Modified: 2025-04-22 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/spammy-words/ - Categories: Email Marketing Crafting compelling email subject lines is crucial for engaging your audience and boosting open rates. However, certain words and phrases can trigger spam filters, causing your carefully crafted emails to be sent straight to the junk folder. To enhance deliverability, it’s essential to understand which terms to avoid. In this guide, we’ll explore why spam filters flag certain words, highlight 100 common spam triggers, and provide tips for crafting subject lines that improve email performance. Why Do Spam Filters Flag Certain Words? Email providers like Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo use advanced filtering systems to detect and block unwanted emails. These filters analyze subject lines, content, formatting, and sending behavior to identify potential issues. Words commonly associated with scams, aggressive sales tactics, or misleading claims can raise red flags, increasing the likelihood that an email will be marked as spam. By avoiding these terms, marketers can improve deliverability, maintain sender reputation, and enhance overall engagement. 100 Words and Phrases to Avoid that Trigger Spam Filters 1. Financial and Money-Related Terms Free money Cash bonus Get paid Make money Earn extra cash Unlimited income Fast cash Increase sales Financial freedom Work from home 2. Urgency and Pressure Words Act now Urgent Limited time Don’t miss out Hurry Final notice Once in a lifetime Instant access Time-sensitive Exclusive deal 3. Overpromising and Misleading Claims Risk-free No hidden fees Guaranteed 100% free Promise you No catch No obligation You have been selected Congratulations Click below 4. Sales and Discount Phrases Lowest price Best price... --- ### Refining Your Email A/B Testing with AI > A/b testing is an important step in your email marketing. Here's how to refine and perfect it using AI and other tools. - Published: 2025-04-24 - Modified: 2025-05-29 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/a-b-testing-with-ai/ - Categories: Email Marketing What if we told you that AI isn't just a buzzword here—it's an actual performance multiplier for your email campaigns? With 97% of business owners believing AI tools will help their business, it’s no surprise that email marketing is one of the first channels they’re optimizing with AI-driven testing. Instead of manually running experiments and waiting days for statistical significance, AI enables faster decision-making, personalized insights, and better performance. So, let’s talk about how you can refine your A/B testing game with AI and get ahead of the curve instead of just keeping up. The Traditional Email A/B Testing Grind You know the drill. Waste a whole week creating subject lines, send version A to one group, version B to another, wait, compare open rates, repeat. This method works, but it has some pain points: It takes time to collect significant data You're often limited to testing one variable at a time Results can be skewed by factors like send time, list segmentation, and even the weather Manual A/B testing still has value, but let’s face it—you’re operating on gut instinct half the time. And when the pressure's on to deliver quick results, that guesswork can get costly. Enter AI: Your New Email A/B Testing Sidekick AI doesn’t eliminate the need for A/B testing—it makes it more dynamic. Think of AI as the high-powered engine under the hood of your testing process. Instead of just showing you what worked, AI helps you understand why it worked and predicts what will... --- ### The Rise of Lo-Fi Marketing: Embracing Authenticity in a High-Tech World > What is lo-fi marketing? We dive into this marketing approach and why you should embrace it for your strategy. - Published: 2025-04-22 - Modified: 2025-04-15 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/lo-fi-marketing/ - Categories: Marketing Due to a constant emphasis on polished, high-production content, a new trend is reshaping how brands engage with audiences—lo-fi marketing. This approach prioritizes authenticity over perfection, leveraging unpolished, relatable content to foster deeper consumer connections. But why is lo-fi marketing gaining traction, and how can brands implement it effectively? In this post, we explore the rise of lo-fi marketing, its benefits, and strategies for integrating it into your content strategy. What is Lo-Fi Marketing? Lo-fi marketing (short for low-fidelity marketing) focuses on creating simple, raw, and often imperfect content that feels more human and relatable. Instead of investing in expensive production, brands use everyday tools like smartphones, screen recordings, and user-generated content to communicate their messages. There’s an increasing demand for transparency and realness in digital marketing, which this approach addresses. Why Lo-Fi Marketing is Gaining Popularity Consumers Crave Authenticity: Audiences are becoming increasingly skeptical of overly polished advertising. Lo-fi marketing provides a sense of genuineness, making brands feel more approachable and trustworthy. Lower Production Costs: High-quality video production, photography, and design can be costly. Lo-fi content reduces expenses while maintaining engagement and effectiveness. Increased Engagement on Social Media: Platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube have normalized casual, behind-the-scenes content. Consumers engage more with brands that showcase personality and real-life experiences rather than staged advertisements. Faster Content Creation & Agility: Lo-fi marketing enables brands to produce and publish content quickly, allowing them to stay relevant, capitalize on trends, and keep up with evolving consumer interests. Key Elements of a Successful... --- ### How to Optimize (and Test) Your Email for Dark Mode > It's important to test and optimize your emails for dark mode so you can cater to those that prefer that type of design. - Published: 2025-04-17 - Modified: 2025-04-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/dark-mode/ - Categories: Email Design Dark mode is a standard feature across devices, operating systems, and email clients, yet many brands still neglect to optimize their emails. This oversight can result in poor user experiences, readability issues, and brand inconsistency—potentially harming engagement and deliverability. In this article, we’ll explore why so many marketers overlook dark mode, the consequences of doing so, and actionable steps to ensure your emails look great no matter how your subscribers view them. Why Are Marketers Ignoring Dark Mode? Despite dark mode’s increasing popularity, many marketers fail to consider it in their email designs. Several factors contribute to this oversight: Lack of Awareness Many email marketers aren’t aware of the impact dark mode can have on their emails. Since they typically design emails in a well-lit environment, they might not test how their messages appear in darker themes. Email Client Variability Dark mode rendering varies across different email clients and devices. Unlike websites, which marketers can control more easily, emails rely on how each client interprets and applies dark mode. This inconsistency can make it challenging to develop a one-size-fits-all solution. No Immediate Negative Feedback Unlike broken links or unresponsive layouts, dark mode issues often don’t generate immediate complaints from subscribers. However, a poor dark mode experience can still impact engagement rates and brand perception over time. Perceived Low Priority With many factors to consider in email marketing—deliverability, personalization, automation, and compliance—dark mode optimization may seem a lower priority. However, as more users adopt dark mode, failing to optimize for it... --- ### The Decline of Organic Reach: Are Social Media Ads the Only Way Forward? > With the decline of organic reach, many people are wondering if the only way to grow your audience is through paid ads. - Published: 2025-04-15 - Modified: 2025-04-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-decline-of-organic-reach/ - Categories: Social Media In the early days of social media, organic reach—connecting with followers without paid promotion—was a powerful tool for brands. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and X allow businesses to build communities and engage with audiences directly, fostering trust and visibility. However, organic reach has steadily declined, forcing marketers to rethink their strategies. With algorithms now prioritizing paid content, many wonder whether social media ads are the only viable path forward. This is a reason to understand the reasons behind the decline of organic reach, examine whether ads are the only solution, and discuss alternatives businesses can consider to maintain engagement without relying solely on paid promotions. The Decline of Organic Reach: What Happened? 1. Algorithmic Changes Favoring Paid Content Social media platforms have evolved from chronological feeds to algorithm-driven systems. Algorithms now prioritize content that generates engagement, retains users, and maximizes revenue. As platforms like Facebook and Instagram became ad-heavy, business posts were pushed down, giving preference to personal posts or paid content that aligns with user interests. In 2018, Facebook’s algorithm update explicitly shifted focus to "meaningful interactions" with posts from friends and family, making it harder for organic content from business pages to appear in users’ feeds. This trend has continued, with organic reach for brand pages plummeting. 2. Increasing Competition for Attention As more businesses join social media platforms, the competition for attention has become fierce. With millions of posts published daily, the platforms must limit content visibility to avoid overwhelming users. This saturation has diluted organic reach,... --- ### Social Media Detox Trends: Should Brands Care About Digital Minimalism? > Engaging in a social media detox is popular for consumers, but what can brands learn from this trend to use with their own social media? - Published: 2025-04-10 - Modified: 2025-03-31 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/social-media-detox/ - Categories: Social Media As technology becomes an increasingly integral part of daily life, social media detoxes and digital minimalism have emerged as popular movements. People intentionally disconnect from social platforms to reclaim time, improve mental well-being, and reduce digital clutter. While this shift signals positive changes for personal health, it raises questions for businesses. Should brands be concerned about this growing trend? Can companies remain relevant in a world that increasingly values less screen time? Let’s look into the rise of social media detox trends, the principles behind digital minimalism, and whether brands need to adjust their strategies to stay connected with an audience seeking less digital noise. What is Digital Minimalism? Digital minimalism is a philosophy that encourages people to use technology and social media intentionally and sparingly, prioritizing quality over quantity. At its core, digital minimalism promotes mindful usage, focusing only on tools and platforms that add real value. Many individuals practicing digital minimalism aim to: Reduce time spent on social media. Avoid content overload by limiting the number of platforms they use. Engage only with meaningful content that aligns with their values or interests. A related trend is the social media detox, where people take temporary breaks from platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and X. Detoxes can last anywhere from a few days to several months as users seek relief from constant notifications, information overload, and the pressures of comparison culture. Why Are Social Media Detoxes Becoming Popular? Several factors are driving the rise of these trends: 1. Mental Health Awareness... --- ### How to Create a Customer Onboarding Email Series That Runs on Autopilot > Having a customer onboarding series can make or break the experience your customers have with your brand. Here's how to create one. - Published: 2025-04-08 - Modified: 2025-03-31 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/customer-onboarding-series/ - Categories: Email Marketing Customer onboarding can make or break your customers’ experience with your brand, as well as set the groundwork for their customer journey. A well-designed onboarding email series can help new customers become familiar with your product or service, understand its value, and drive engagement and retention. By automating this series, marketers can nurture new customers effectively without needing constant manual input. Below we walk you through a detailed step-by-step guide process for creating a fully automated customer onboarding email series that runs on autopilot, ensuring that your customers receive the correct information at the right time. Why Customer Onboarding Matters Before diving into the steps to create an onboarding email series, it’s essential to understand why this process matters. Effective onboarding can: Increase Customer Retention: A smooth onboarding experience helps customers understand how to use your product, leading to higher satisfaction and reduced churn. Enhance Product Adoption: Proper onboarding can guide customers through features and functionalities, ensuring they derive maximum value from your offerings. Drive Engagement: A well-crafted email series keeps customers engaged during early interactions with your brand, helping build a strong relationship from the start. Step 1: Define Your Onboarding Goals The first step in creating an automated onboarding email series is to define your goals. What do you want to achieve with this series? Common objectives include: Introducing the brand and product features. Educating customers on how to use the product effectively. Encouraging users to complete specific actions (e. g. , setting up their profile, making their... --- ### Avoiding Costly Compliance Mistakes in Email Marketing: A 2025 Legal Guide > To keep your email marketing legal, you must abide by certain regulations. Do not make these compliance mistakes. - Published: 2025-04-03 - Modified: 2025-03-25 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-compliance-mistakes/ - Categories: Email Marketing Despite the barrage of digital marketing strategies companies use year after year, email marketing remains one of the most stable, highly targeted, and accurate marketing efforts. Statista projects the email marketing market will be valued at $18. 9 billion by 2028, up from $8. 3 billion in 2023. With the right strategies to maximize email marketing's benefits today, an effective email marketing campaign can generate a significant return on investment compared to other digital marketing efforts. It is generally less costly and scalable and can generate information that yields measurable results, particularly key indicators like unsubscribe, engagement, click-through, and conversion rates. However, as popular and cost-effective email marketing is, it can also have its share of pitfalls if not correctly used. In this article, we will share some insights on the legalities of email marketing and how your business can avoid costly compliance mistakes. Can Email Marketing be Illegal? The short answer—yes. All things involved in marketing, including data gathering, are governed by specific laws and policies, which, when violated, can constitute illegality. Email marketing, in particular, can be illegal, especially during the following scenarios: You have not obtained consent from your targets to send marketing emails. You do not provide an unsubscribe option from your marketing emails. You don’t include a clear subject line or a valid email address. When you have obtained email addresses illegally. When you are not transparent about how consumer data, especially email addresses, will be used, When email addresses are obtained through medical information.... --- ### Beyond Email: Why an Integrated Marketing Campaign is Essential for New Rollouts > When introducing a new rollout or promotion, it's essential to use an integrated marketing campaign as opposed to just sending an email. - Published: 2025-04-01 - Modified: 2025-05-21 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/integrated-marketing-campaign/ - Categories: Marketing When rolling out a new product, service, or feature, businesses often turn to email marketing as their go-to strategy for promoting their latest offering. Email is undeniably a powerful marketing tool, but relying solely on this one channel for a product launch can severely limit your reach and engagement potential. According to our recent email quiz, 36% of respondents claimed they only use email to promote a new product or rollout, which raises the question: Are they missing out on valuable opportunities? To truly maximize the success of your product launch, it’s essential to incorporate an integrated marketing campaign that leverages multiple channels like social media, paid ads, content marketing, and influencers. This article explores why an email-only strategy may fall short, the benefits of a multi-channel approach, and how to create a cohesive, engaging campaign that connects with your audience across various touchpoints. The Limitations of Email-Only Promotions Email marketing is great for directly reaching those who want to receive your content, relying solely on email for product promotions can limit your reach and engagement. Here's why: Limited Reach: Not every customer is subscribed to your email list, and even those who are might not open every email you send. The average email open rate is only around 20%, which means a significant portion of your audience might never even see your product launch announcement. Lack of Visibility: Inboxes are crowded, and consumers are becoming more selective about the emails they engage with. Even if you have a sizable... --- ### Cold Email and Email Marketing: The Differences and When to Use Each > Some people get tripped up over the difference between cold email outreach and email marketing. We explain each and how to use them here. - Published: 2025-03-27 - Modified: 2025-03-18 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/cold-email-and-email-marketing/ - Categories: Email Marketing Email marketing is by no means a new strategy. Although it’s been around for years, many people confuse cold emailing with it. Although similar, these two strategies serve different purposes and require distinct approaches. For businesses that want to use email effectively to engage prospects and build relationships, they have to know the difference between these two approaches. So, we’ve decided to explain cold emailing and email marketing, compare their key differences, and explain when to use each approach. What is a Cold Email? Cold emailing is reaching out to potential customers without a relationship with your brand. Email outreach typically occurs when a business wants to initiate a conversation with someone who may not yet be familiar with its products or services. Cold emails are sent to people or companies who fit your ideal customer profile but who have not yet opted in to receive marketing materials or established any form of communication with your business. Purpose of Cold Emailing: Cold emailing aims to introduce your brand to new prospects, generate leads, and start a conversation. Sales teams and business development professionals often use it to initiate relationships with potential clients. Why It’s Different from Spam: While cold emails may feel unsolicited, they are not the same as spam. The key difference lies in their intent and execution. Spam involves sending unsolicited, irrelevant emails to a mass audience with no personalization or targeted approach, often for fraudulent or misleading purposes. Cold emails, on the other hand, are personalized and... --- ### Why You Need to Show Unengaged Subscribers the Door > Removing unengaged subscribers from your email list is a must for your deliverability. We explain why in this blog post. - Published: 2025-03-25 - Modified: 2025-03-18 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/show-unengaged-subscribers-the-door/ - Categories: Email Marketing Let us share a widely unknown fact: keeping your subscriber list pristine is just as important as growing it. When we discovered that an alarming 32% of respondents from our email quiz revealed that they do not remove unengaged subscribers from their lists, we were shocked. While adding new subscribers is often the focus, the health of your email list is equally important to your long-term success. Maintaining a clean list isn’t just about eliminating dead weight—it’s about optimizing your campaigns for maximum engagement and ensuring your emails reach their intended recipients. Let’s examine why removing disengaged subscribers is essential and how doing so can significantly improve email marketing performance. The Impact of Inactive Subscribers Inactive subscribers no longer open, read or interact with your emails. Keeping them on your list can negatively affect your email marketing efforts, especially regarding deliverability. Email service providers (ESPs) like Gmail, Yahoo, and Outlook closely monitor user engagement to determine whether your emails should land in the inbox or be sent to spam. Low engagement signals, such as a high number of unopened emails or a lack of interaction with your content, can indicate that your emails are no longer relevant or wanted by your subscribers. As a result, your sender reputation could suffer, causing your emails to be filtered into spam or promotions folders—potentially out of sight for even your engaged audience. Inactive subscribers tarnish your sender reputation and decrease the likelihood of your emails reaching the inbox. This is why regularly cleaning... --- ### Breaking Through AI Noise: How to Create Unique, High-Value Content > Generating content with AI is beneficial for your strategy. However, it can be hard to make your AI generated content stand out. - Published: 2025-03-20 - Modified: 2025-03-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ai-content/ - Categories: Content Marketing Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing content creation. This means marketers and creators face a new challenge: standing out in an increasingly saturated digital world. AI tools can churn out content quickly, often covering general topics and providing quick, digestible summaries. However, while AI effectively generates volume, it lacks the depth, creativity, and human connection audiences crave. This is where savvy marketers and creators can carve a niche, using strategies that set their content apart and resonate with their audiences in ways AI simply can’t. Here’s how you can differentiate your content in the AI-dominated landscape: 1. Authenticity & Personal Voice: Developing a Brand Voice That AI Can’t Replicate Authenticity has become the key to standing out in a sea of AI-generated content. Audiences want to connect with brands and creators that feel real, relatable, and transparent. While AI can produce grammatically correct, well-structured content, it lacks the emotional intelligence and nuanced voice that human creators bring to the table. How to Stand Out: Develop a Unique Brand Voice: Define a tone and personality for your content that aligns with your brand values. Whether friendly, approachable, authoritative, or humorous, ensure your voice resonates with your audience. Share Personal Stories: Share behind-the-scenes insights, personal experiences, and anecdotes that AI cannot replicate. These stories build a sense of connection and trust with your audience. Be Transparent: Authenticity isn’t just about the content you produce; it’s also about how you engage with your audience. Be open about your processes, challenges, and successes. Why It Works:... --- ### Mastering ChatGPT for Marketing: What You Need to Know to Get Started > ChatGPT is a great tool for various marketing efforts. Read our blog post for tips on how to master it and make your life easier. - Published: 2025-03-18 - Modified: 2025-03-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/chatgpt-for-marketing/ - Categories: Marketing As AI continues to reshape the marketing industry, ChatGPT is one of the most powerful tools at a marketer’s disposal. From content creation to data analysis, ChatGPT can help automate tasks, create workflow efficiencies, and generate high-quality output with minimal effort. However, for many marketers, the concept of AI can feel overwhelming. The good news is that you don’t need to be a tech expert to leverage ChatGPT in your marketing strategy. Let’s explore the basics of ChatGPT, how to customize it for your specific needs, and the essential marketing tasks it can handle. The Basics of ChatGPT What Is ChatGPT? ChatGPT is an AI language model developed by OpenAI. It’s designed to understand and generate human-like text based on the input provided. This tool can read and respond to your queries, creating coherent and contextually appropriate responses. ChatGPT can be an invaluable resource for marketers, whether you’re asking it to write blog posts, generate email subject lines, or research keywords. How Does It Work? ChatGPT works by analyzing the patterns and structures in the data on which it was trained. It uses deep learning techniques to generate text that mimics human conversation. It can create text, summarize information, or even write content based on short prompts. For marketers, you can save work hours and maintain high-quality output. Writing Effective Prompts for Better Responses Knowing how to write clear, effective prompts is essential for success with ChatGPT. Here are a few tips for crafting the best prompts: Be Specific. Give... --- ### Leveraging Sensory Marketing in Emails: Adding a Multi-Sensory Appeal Through Design > Here's what sensory marketing is, why it's appealing, and how to leverage it to your benefit in your email marketing. - Published: 2025-03-13 - Modified: 2025-03-05 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/sensory-marketing/ - Categories: Email Marketing Email marketing constantly evolves, with marketers seeking fresh ways to captivate audiences. In an age of spam, endless follow-ups, and AI-generated drivel, sensory marketing is an approach that can elevate the effectiveness of your email campaigns and make them stand out. Effective email use can evoke robust emotional responses by targeting multiple senses—even indirectly —ultimately enhancing engagement and conversions. Below, we explore applying sensory marketing principles to email design. We incorporate visual, tactile, and auditory cues that can strengthen your email campaigns. Visual Stimuli: Designing Beyond the Ordinary Visual elements are foundational in email design, but taking a sensory approach means enhancing these visuals to evoke a more profound response. Use imagery that looks appealing and suggests texture, temperature, or even sound. For instance, an image's soft, plush blanket might evoke warmth and comfort, helping the reader imagine how the product feels without physically touching it. Colors can also have a significant psychological impact; deep blues might suggest calmness and trust, while vibrant reds can generate energy and excitement. Green, as we all know, has an environmentally friendly connotation. But why stop at static colors? Dynamic visuals can also boost sensory appeal. Instead of mere images, consider adding subtle animations—such as a shimmering effect on a product or a looping clip that shows movement, like pouring a refreshing drink. These elements bring visuals closer to life and add a sensory dynamism that invites engagement. If you want to add a Evoking Auditory Imagination Through Text and Imagery Emails, being a... --- ### AI Copywriting Tools: Can They Replace Your Content Writer? > Using an AI copywriting tool can help you get more done quickly. But, will these kinds of tools replace your content writer completely? - Published: 2025-03-12 - Modified: 2025-03-05 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ai-copywriting-tools/ - Categories: Content Marketing AI has revolutionized various industries, and content creation is no exception. AI copywriting tools, capable of generating high-quality text in seconds, have gained significant traction among marketers, business owners, and content creators. But as these tools evolve and advance, we’re left wondering: Can they replace human content writers? In this article, we’ll explore the capabilities of AI copywriting tools, their advantages and limitations, and the implications for the future of content writing. The Rise of AI Copywriting Tools AI copywriting tools leverage advanced algorithms and machine learning to generate content miming human writing. They can create social media updates, blog posts, product descriptions and email campaigns, just to name a few. Notable AI tools like OpenAI's ChatGPT, Jasper, and Copy. ai have made headlines for their ability to generate coherent, contextually relevant text often indistinguishable from human-written content. The surge in AI adoption is attributed to several factors: Efficiency: AI tools can generate content at unprecedented speeds, allowing marketers to produce articles and posts in minutes rather than hours. Cost-Effectiveness: For businesses operating on tight budgets, AI tools offer a more affordable alternative to hiring full-time content writers or freelance professionals. 24/7 Availability: AI doesn’t need breaks or sleep, making it a reliable option for generating content around the clock. Advantages of AI Copywriting Tools 1. Speed and Scalability One of the most significant advantages of AI copywriting tools is their speed. They can generate content almost instantly, enabling businesses to scale their content production rapidly. This capability is particularly... --- ### Generative Engine Optimization (GEO): SEO for ChatGPT and AI-Driven Search Engines > SEO remains important, however, showing up in AI-driven searches is too. Read on to learn more about Generative Engine Optimization (GEO). - Published: 2025-03-11 - Modified: 2025-03-05 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/geo-seo/ - Categories: Marketing, Content Marketing SEO has long been the key to ranking on Google, but as AI-driven search engines like ChatGPT, Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE), and other generative models become more prevalent, a new optimization strategy is emerging: Generative Engine Optimization (GEO). Unlike traditional SEO, which focuses on keywords and backlinks, GEO ensures your content is optimized for AI-generated responses, conversational search, and contextual relevance. In this article, we’ll explore what GEO is, why it matters in the age of AI-powered search, and how you can adapt your content strategy to stay ahead. Understanding GEO and Its Importance As AI-driven search engines reshape how users find information, traditional SEO tactics are no longer enough. Instead of simply ranking on a search engine results page, brands, and content creators must ensure their content is surfaced and referenced within AI-generated responses. Here’s why GEO matters: Changing Search Behavior – Users increasingly rely on AI-driven search for direct answers, summaries, and recommendations instead of clicking through multiple search results. GEO ensures your content is included in these AI-generated responses. AI-Curated Results Over Traditional Rankings – Unlike search engines that display a list of ranked links, generative engines synthesize information from multiple sources. It may be overlooked if your content isn't structured and optimized for AI. Conversational and Contextual Relevance—AI-powered search generates responses using natural language processing. GEO helps you align your content with how users phrase questions and interact with AI, improving visibility. New Opportunities for Brand Visibility – As AI-powered tools recommend products, services, and... --- ### The 80/20 Rule for Marketing: How to Focus on What Drives Results > Ever heard of the 80/20 rule for marketing? Read our blog post to learn what it means and how understanding it can impact your strategy. - Published: 2025-03-06 - Modified: 2025-03-26 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/80-20-rule-for-marketing/ - Categories: Marketing With limited resources and a vast array of strategies to choose from, marketers must prioritize their efforts to maximize results. This is where the 80/20 Rule, or the Pareto Principle, comes in. Initially observed by Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto in the late 19th century, the principle states that around 80% of effects come from 20% of causes. Translation: a small number of your efforts often drive most of your results. Understanding and applying the 80/20 Rule can help marketers streamline their strategies, allocate resources more effectively, and ultimately achieve better outcomes. Let’s examine how to implement this principle in your marketing efforts and focus on what actually drives results. Understanding the 80/20 Rule in Marketing The 80/20 Rule suggests that not all efforts yield equal results. For example, in a typical marketing scenario: 80% of sales may come from 20% of customers. 80% of website traffic might originate from 20% of content. 80% of social media engagement could be driven by just 20% of posts. Marketers can optimize their strategies and improve overall performance by identifying and concentrating on the critical 20%—the high-impact actions and customers. Identifying the Key 20% To apply the 80/20 Rule effectively, marketers must first identify which 20% of their efforts lead to the most significant results. Here are several areas where this analysis can be beneficial: 1. Customer Segmentation Understanding your customer base is crucial for pinpointing the most valuable segments. Businesses can use data analytics to identify the customers who contribute the most to... --- ### A Marketer’s Guide on When to Automate and When to Delegate > Automation and delegation are both tactics that should be used to help marketers. But it isn't easy to know when to pick one over the other. - Published: 2025-03-05 - Modified: 2025-02-25 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/when-to-automate-and-delegate/ - Categories: Marketing As a marketer, you juggle multiple tasks—creating content, managing campaigns, analyzing data, and engaging with audiences—all while trying to meet deadlines. In this hectic environment, you’re probably wondering if you should automate tasks or delegate them to other team members (if you’re lucky enough to have them). The answer isn’t one-size-fits-all; instead, it requires careful consideration of the nature of the tasks, team capabilities, and overall business goals. Let’s look into the benefits and challenges of both automation and delegation so you can make informed decisions on how to work smarter, not harder. Understanding Automation and Delegation Fully understanding these two concepts is essential before diving into the specifics of automation and delegation. Automation Automation is when you employ technology and software tools to complete tasks with very little human intervention. In marketing, automation can streamline repetitive processes such as: Email Campaigns: Automating email marketing allows for the timely delivery of messages based on user behavior, preferences, and segmentation. Social Media Management: Scheduling posts and automating responses can save time and ensure consistent platform engagement. Analytics Reporting: Tools that generate reports on campaign performance can greatly reduce the manual work (and headache) involved in data collection and analysis. Delegation Delegation, on the other hand, involves assigning tasks to team members or external partners. Effective delegation can enhance productivity and leverage the skills of individuals within the team. Delegation can take various forms, such as: Assigning Specific Projects: Handing off content creation, graphic design, or campaign management to skilled team members.... --- ### Marketing in the Morning: How a 30-Minute Routine Sets You Up for Success > For busy marketers, having a morning routine down pat can help determine how successful their marketing tactics will be. - Published: 2025-03-04 - Modified: 2025-02-25 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/marketing-morning-routine/ - Categories: Marketing As marketers, looming deadlines and creativity are at the forefront of every project. Establishing a solid morning routine can be the secret weapon for achieving peak performance. With the right strategies, a mere 30 minutes each morning can significantly enhance your productivity, increase your ability to focus, and set a positive tone for the day ahead. Let’s explore an effective 30-minute morning routine specifically tailored for marketers, examining how each element contributes to a successful day. The Importance of a Morning Routine Mornings are often the most crucial part of our day. They set the tone for what’s to come, influencing our mindset and performance. According to research, individuals who establish consistent morning routines report higher levels of productivity, improved mood, and better overall health. The benefits of a structured morning routine are particularly pronounced for marketers, who often juggle multiple tasks and face constant pressure to innovate. Here’s how dedicating just 30 minutes each morning can elevate your marketing game: Enhanced Focus: A well-defined morning routine helps clear mental clutter, allowing you to concentrate on high-priority tasks. Increased Productivity: By actively planning out your day, you can accomplish more in less time. Stress Reduction: A consistent morning ritual can lower anxiety levels, helping you approach your work calmly and positively. Boosted Creativity: Engaging in creative exercises in the morning can stimulate innovative thinking, essential for marketing success. Crafting Your 30-Minute Morning Routine To harness the benefits of a morning routine, consider incorporating the following elements into your 30-minute plan:... --- ### Beyond Likes: How to Measure Real Engagement in 2025 > Real social media engagement is more than just tracking likes. Here's a guide to tracking accurate engagement from your social media. - Published: 2025-02-27 - Modified: 2025-02-19 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-measure-real-engagement/ - Categories: Social Media As social media continues to evolve, vanity metrics like likes, follower counts, and impressions are no longer reliable indicators of success. In 2025, measuring real engagement means going deeper than surface-level metrics and focusing on meaningful interactions that drive brand growth, foster loyalty, and generate conversions. As algorithms become more complex and audiences become more selective, understanding and measuring authentic engagement has become necessary and a competitive advantage. Let’s explore the limitations of traditional metrics, introduce key engagement indicators for 2025, and provide actionable strategies for businesses to measure and optimize real engagement effectively. Why Vanity Metrics Are Losing Relevance For years, social media platforms emphasized visible engagement metrics like likes, views, and followers. These numbers were easy to track, providing a sense of accomplishment for brands and influencers. However, as audiences and platforms matured, businesses realized that high numbers don’t always translate to meaningful engagement or business outcomes. Here’s why vanity metrics are becoming obsolete: Algorithms Prioritize Quality Engagement: Social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok have shifted their algorithms to prioritize content that fosters interaction and engagement, like comments, shares, and saved posts. Simply generating likes is no longer enough to improve visibility. Passive Engagement vs. Active Engagement: A like is a passive form of engagement, often given with minimal effort. It doesn’t provide insight into how audiences feel about the brand or if the content has impacted them. In contrast, comments, messages, and meaningful conversations reflect active engagement that builds stronger relationships. Inauthentic Follower Growth... --- ### The Science of Sales Timing: When is the Best Time to Send a Sales Pitch Email? > Timing is everything when it comes to sending a sales pitch email. In this blog post, we break down when it's the best time to hit send. - Published: 2025-02-26 - Modified: 2025-02-19 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/when-to-send-a-sales-pitch-email/ - Categories: Uncategorized, Sales Timing is everything when it comes to making a sales pitch. Even the most persuasive pitch can fail if it’s delivered at the wrong moment. But what exactly is the right time? Research shows that specific days, times, and even psychological patterns can significantly influence how receptive a person will be to a sales offer. Understanding these insights can help sales professionals optimize their outreach strategy, close more deals, and build better relationships with prospects. In this article, we’ll explore the science of sales timing, examining when prospects are most likely to respond, how to align pitches with decision-making processes, and practical strategies for timing your outreach effectively. Why Timing Matters in Sales Timing impacts a prospect’s mindset, attention, and willingness to engage. People are more open when their minds are free of distractions and in the right frame of mind to make decisions. On the other hand, a poorly timed pitch email—during a busy period or at the end of a long day—can feel intrusive and easily dismissed, no matter how good your offer is. Research from multiple studies in sales psychology and behavioral science shows that: Prospects are more likely to engage when they’re mentally fresh. Specific days of the week are better for outreach than others. Decision fatigue can lower a person’s ability to evaluate offers. Sales timing isn’t just about catching prospects when they’re available—it’s about finding windows when they are ready to engage and make decisions. The Best Days of the Week to Send a... --- ### The More You Send, The More You Know: Key Takeaways from Benchmark Email’s Email Marketing Quiz > How does your email marketing stand up? See the results from our very own email marketing quiz to determine where you stand. - Published: 2025-02-25 - Modified: 2025-02-19 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/benchmarks-email-marketing-quiz/ - Categories: Email Marketing, Benchmark Recommends Email marketing success often depends on experience, strategy, and consistency. To better understand marketers' strengths, we launched our email marketing expertise quiz, which assesses everything from list management to automation and deliverability. One key trend stood out: marketers who send newsletters more frequently tend to have more knowledge and know-how of most email marketing practices. Their consistency helps them refine their strategies, improve engagement, and optimize deliverability over time. So, let’s break down the results and explore common strengths and challenges. We’ll also offer tips to help you reach the next level—no matter where you scored. Are you sending enough emails to stay ahead? Let’s dive into the insights! The State of Email Marketing Report Results Below are the questions we asked quiz-takers and the results we’ve seen so far. 1. List Hygiene Practices Implication: Many marketers are not prioritizing list hygiene, which can lead to lower engagement rates and deliverability issues. 2. Email Sending Frequency Implication: While some marketers actively send emails, a significant portion are inconsistent or inactive, potentially losing engagement opportunities. 3. Email Authentication & Compliance Implication: While most marketers comply with unsubscribe policies, a lack of domain authentication can negatively impact email deliverability. 4. Performance Tracking & Testing Implication: While many marketers track performance, there is room for improvement in email testing and metric tracking to optimize results. 5. Segmentation & Personalization Implication: Marketers leveraging segmentation and personalization will likely see higher engagement rates. However, a quarter of marketers are missing out on these best practices.... --- ### Work Less, Achieve More: Why Marketers Need to Embrace Asynchronous Workflows > Embracing asynchronous workflows means busy marketers can get their work done according to a schedule that is more beneficial for them. - Published: 2025-02-20 - Modified: 2025-02-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/asynchronous-workflows/ - Categories: Marketing The current work climate will be characterized by rapidly evolving workplace dynamics. The traditional 9-to-5 work model is increasingly becoming outdated. As organizations strive for flexibility and efficiency, asynchronous workflows have emerged as a powerful solution, particularly for marketers. We’ll explore the concept of asynchronous work, its advantages for marketing teams, and practical implementation strategies. We'll also highlight why adopting this approach can increase productivity and job satisfaction. Understanding Asynchronous Workflows Asynchronous work refers to a mode of operation where team members do not need to be online or available simultaneously to collaborate or complete tasks. Unlike synchronous workflows, which rely on real-time communication—think meetings, video calls, or instant messaging—asynchronous work allows individuals to contribute at their convenience, accommodating diverse schedules and work styles. The rise of remote work has made asynchronous workflows increasingly viable, enabling marketers to leverage global talent, balance workloads effectively, and enhance productivity. According to a study by Buffer, 98% of remote workers prefer to work remotely at least some of the time, demonstrating a strong desire for flexibility in the workplace. The Benefits of Asynchronous Workflows for Marketers 1. Increased Flexibility and Autonomy One of the most significant advantages of asynchronous workflows is their flexibility. Marketers often juggle multiple projects, deadlines, and creative tasks that require focused, uninterrupted time. With asynchronous work, individuals can tailor their schedules to fit their peak productivity hours. This autonomy leads to higher job satisfaction, reduced stress, and improved outcomes. For example, a content marketer may find they write best... --- ### Mastering Social Commerce: How TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook are Changing Retail > Social commerce is changing the game when it comes to retail, selling more products, and your customers' shopping experience. - Published: 2025-02-19 - Modified: 2025-02-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/social-commerce-changing-retail/ - Categories: Social Media, Ecommerce Social commerce has emerged as a powerful force in the retail landscape. By integrating shopping capabilities directly into social media platforms, brands are redefining the customer journey, turning casual browsers into enthusiastic buyers. Platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook are at the forefront of this transformation, creating immersive shopping experiences that enhance engagement and drive sales. Let’s examine the evolution of social commerce, explore how these platforms are changing retail, and provide insights into best practices for brands looking to capitalize on this trend. Social Commerce on the Up Social commerce is using social media platforms to facilitate online buying and selling. It combines the social interactions of traditional social media with the transactional capabilities of e-commerce, offering a seamless shopping experience directly within the platform. The concept has gained traction as consumers increasingly seek convenience and personalization in their shopping experiences. According to a recent report, 90% of shoppers are more likely to purchase products from brands they follow on social media. This shift highlights the importance of leveraging social media to connect with consumers deeply. Key Factors Driving Social Commerce Growth Mobile-First Generation: With most users accessing social media via mobile devices, platforms are optimizing their features for on-the-go shopping. Increased User Engagement: Social media fosters community and interaction, allowing brands to engage with customers directly making shopping feel more personal. Influencer Marketing: Influencers serve as a major drive of social commerce. They promote products to their followers and lend authenticity and trust to the brands they endorse.... --- ### From Leads to Champions: How to Turn Clients into Brand Advocates > Acquiring leads is important, but it's even more important to turn those leads into brand advocates. Here's how. - Published: 2025-02-18 - Modified: 2025-02-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/leads-to-brand-advocates/ - Categories: Marketing Acquiring new leads is a constant struggle in and of itself, but turning those leads into loyal clients—and eventually brand advocates—is what can deliver long-term value. A brand advocate is a satisfied customer who organically promotes your product or service through positive word-of-mouth, referrals, and testimonials. Unlike traditional marketing, advocacy marketing relies on genuine customer enthusiasm, making it a powerful tool for building trust and credibility. This article explores how businesses can strategically convert leads into brand advocates, unlocking the potential for sustained growth through meaningful customer relationships. Why Brand Advocacy Matters in Modern Business Modern consumers are increasingly skeptical of direct advertising. Research shows that 92% of people trust recommendations from friends and family more than ads, making word-of-mouth referrals and advocacy a cornerstone of trust-building. Brand advocates bring in new customers and help enhance a company’s reputation by sharing their authentic experiences. Advocates are also more likely to make repeat purchases and participate actively in your business, from leaving positive reviews to providing valuable feedback. This reduces the cost of customer acquisition while increasing customer lifetime value. The Journey from Lead to Brand Advocate Transforming a lead into a loyal brand advocate doesn’t happen overnight. It requires careful nurturing across multiple stages of the customer journey. Below is a step-by-step guide to developing advocates from your client base. 1. Nurture Leads with Personalized Experiences The first step in creating brand advocates is to convert prospects into clients through personalized engagement. From the first touchpoint, the goal is to... --- ### The Rise of Interactive Marketing: Why Engagement Matters More than Reach > Engagement matters more than ever, even more than certain metrics. Here's why interactive marketing is great for engagement. - Published: 2025-02-13 - Modified: 2025-02-05 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-rise-of-interactive-marketing/ - Categories: Marketing The shift from traditional to interactive marketing signals a fundamental change in how brands communicate with their audiences. True marketing success is no longer measured solely by reach and impressions. Now, engagement has taken center stage. Consumers expect personalized experiences and meaningful interactions that build trust and connection, making engagement more important than ever. Let’s explore the rise of interactive marketing and explain why engagement is now the key metric to drive sustainable business growth. What is Interactive Marketing? Interactive marketing refers to campaigns encouraging consumers to participate actively in the brand experience. Unlike passive forms of advertising, such as display ads or commercials, interactive marketing invites users to click, swipe, answer questions, or provide feedback. These two-way interactions create unique, personalized experiences tailored to users’ preferences and behaviors. Examples of interactive marketing include: Quizzes and polls on social media platforms Augmented reality (AR) product demos Interactive emails with embedded surveys or videos Chatbots that offer tailored customer service Gamified campaigns that reward participation These interactive tactics can strengthen relationships with consumers and increase their loyalty to your brand. Why Engagement Outweighs Reach in Modern Marketing Marketers used to measure success based on metrics like impressions and audience reach. However, as consumer behavior evolves, these metrics are becoming less relevant. A large audience is no longer sufficient if the audience is not actively engaging with the brand’s content. Below are several reasons why engagement matters more than reach: 1. Quality Connections Build Brand Loyalty Engagement allows brands to create deeper... --- ### Creating a Year-Long Email Marketing Calendar in Less Than an Hour > Make your job easier by creating your email marketing calendar a year in advance. Here's a step-by-step guide to help you get it done. - Published: 2025-02-12 - Modified: 2025-02-05 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-calendar/ - Categories: Email Marketing Do you ever feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day? There are so many things to accomplish for marketers that it can sometimes feel impossible. Take email marketing, for example. Developing a comprehensive email marketing strategy can often feel overwhelming, especially when juggling various tasks and deadlines. However, a well-structured email marketing calendar can streamline your efforts, enhance your communication with your audience, and maximize engagement. Let’s take a look at how you can create a year-long email marketing calendar in less than an hour. Why You Need an Email Marketing Calendar An email marketing calendar is essential for several reasons: Consistency: Regular communication with your audience builds trust and keeps your brand top-of-mind. Organization: A calendar helps you plan and prioritize your campaigns, reducing the risk of last-minute rushes. Strategy Alignment: It ensures that your email campaigns align with your marketing goals, seasonal events, and product launches. Performance Tracking: With a clear calendar, you can more easily analyze the performance of your campaigns and make informed decisions for future content. Getting Started: Gather Your Resources Before we get to the creation of your email marketing calendar, let’s gather the following resources: Email Marketing Platform: Ensure you can access an email marketing tool with scheduling capabilities, such as Benchmark Email. Content Ideas: Brainstorm a list of potential email topics, campaigns, and promotions you want to include throughout the year. Important Dates: Note key dates such as holidays, industry events, product launches, and relevant marketing campaigns. This could include... --- ### The Burnout Cure: Time-Management Hacks for Marketers Under Pressure > Marketers never have enough hours in the day to get everything done. Here are some time-management hacks for marketers to avoid burnout. - Published: 2025-02-11 - Modified: 2025-02-05 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/time-management-hacks-for-marketers/ - Categories: Marketing If you’re in the marketing field, you’ve probably been extremely busy almost every day. Constantly thinking on your toes, meeting deadlines, and thinking ahead to create the most effective campaigns can take a toll. Long hours, constant connectivity, and the pressure to deliver results often lead to emotional exhaustion, decreased productivity, and a lack of job satisfaction. However, a power antidote to burnout is simple: practicing effective time management. This article will explore practical time-management hacks to help marketers regain control, reduce stress, and enhance overall well-being. Understanding Burnout What is burnout, and how does it manifest? You’ve probably experienced burnout at least once and recognize it as a state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion caused by prolonged stress. Some symptoms include: Chronic fatigue Irritability Reduced performance Physical symptoms like headaches or stomach aches Time-Management Hacks for Marketers 1. Prioritize with the Eisenhower Matrix The Eisenhower Matrix helps you prioritize tasks based on urgency and importance. Its four quadrants are: Urgent and Important: Tasks needing immediate attention, such as a client presentation due tomorrow. Important but Not Urgent: Tasks that are essential but can be scheduled, like long-term marketing strategy planning. Urgent but Not Important: Tasks, such as routine administrative tasks, can be delegated. Not Urgent and Not Important: Tasks that you can eliminate or postpone. By categorizing tasks in this way, marketers can avoid being overwhelmed by a lengthy to-do list and only focus on what really matters. 2. Set SMART Goals SMART stands for setting goals that... --- ### CTA >     - Published: 2025-02-10 - Modified: 2025-02-10 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/cta/ - Categories: Uncategorized --- ### How to Analyze Your Email Marketing Campaigns with ChatGPT > Discover how ChatGPT can help you analyze your email marketing campaign results with our and Email Metrics Wizard 🚀 - Published: 2025-01-22 - Modified: 2025-01-22 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/analyze-email-marketing-results/ - Categories: Email Marketing, Benchmark Recommends In the world of email marketing, every piece of data matters. Open rates, clicks, and conversions are more than just numbers—they are clear indicators of whether your campaigns are connecting with your audience and achieving your goals. Analyzing your email marketing campaign results not only helps you understand what works and what doesn’t, but also allows you to refine your strategies for better outcomes in the future. However, marketers often face packed schedules, leaving little time to dive into complex analyses or create detailed reports for their teams. This makes it essential to have tools that simplify the process of analyzing email marketing metrics, saving time and effort. Benefits of Analyzing the Results of Your Email Campaigns Achieve Continuous Optimization Analyzing your email campaigns helps you identify which aspects yield the best results and which need adjustments. Are your open rates high, but conversions low? That could mean your content or CTAs need improvement. By spotting patterns and areas for improvement, you can optimize every campaign to maximize its impact. Enhance Segmentation and Personalization Data is key to understanding your audience better. Metrics like open behavior or clicks on specific links enable you to segment your lists more precisely. This allows you to create content tailored to the needs and interests of each group within your subscriber list, resulting in more relevant and effective email campaigns. Show Impact Within Your Team Often, data isn’t just for you—it needs to be shared with team members or presented to your superiors. Turning... --- ### Canva’s Visual Economy Report: Important Takeaways for Marketers > Discover key insights from Canva’s Visual Economy Report and learn how visuals drive productivity, enhance business performance, and transform marketing with design tools, AI, and seamless workflows. - Published: 2025-01-16 - Modified: 2025-03-18 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/canva-visual-economy-report/ - Categories: Marketing, Benchmark Recommends, Email Design The latest Canva Report breaks down the visual economy and how it’s shaping the way we work, collaborate and market products and services. For marketers, this report offers invaluable insights into how design, technology, and innovation are transforming their craft. Whether you’re aiming to boost efficiency, streamline workflows, or leverage AI for better results, these takeaways from the report will help you navigate the evolving visual economy and its impact on marketing. Visuals Have Economic Impact Marketing with visuals isn’t just creating pretty pictures and videos. Visuals communicate ideas instantly, increasing productivity for the viewer. The viewer could be an employee, learning a new process or product. Or the viewer could be a buyer, deciding to make a purchase. 91% of business leaders surveyed in the report believe that visual communication increases efficiency, while 77% believe that visual communication increases business performance. We’ve all heard “a picture is worth 1,000 words”, but the Canva report effectively illustrates the visual economy - how visuals increase productivity, giving visuals real weight when it comes to economic performance. Design Isn’t Just for Designers Design tools and platforms for sharing designs have become democratized, giving everyone in the workplace the ability to create and communicate visually. In fact, 92% of leaders surveyed in the report expect employees in non-design roles to have design skills and knowledge. With the ability to create spread across every individual in your organization, design principles and brand guidelines have never been more important in keeping your brand’s design system... --- ### 10 Social Media Experts Keeping Busy Marketers Informed (& Entertained) on LinkedIn > Marketers carry a lot of weight on their shoulders. Social platforms, algorithms and strategies change at the speed of light, and not always for the - Published: 2025-01-08 - Modified: 2025-01-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/10-social-media-experts-keeping-busy-marketers-informed-entertained-on-linkedin/ - Categories: Social Media, Benchmark Recommends Marketers carry a lot of weight on their shoulders. Social platforms, algorithms and strategies change at the speed of light, and not always for the better (we’re looking at you, Meta). It can be daunting to keep up with trends while doing your day job at the same time. To help, we've curated this list of influential and inspiring social media marketing experts who actively share on LinkedIn. Whether you’re looking to go from marketing generalist to social media specialist, wear the social media hat on occasion, or just want to commiserate over the constant expectation to create, post and go viral - there’s something for you! Here (in no particular order) are 10 Social Media Experts to keep you up-to-speed on the latest developments. And - like any decent social media expert knows - delivering insight in entertaining, digestible, actionable chunks. Madison Schidlowski "i’m just a girl strategizing and creating rad content " Follow Madison specializes in: ⭐ Organic social strategy ⭐ Content writing that feels authentic ⭐ Video content creation ⭐ LinkedIn ghostwriting This account is perfect for: Marketers who want to know they aren’t in the trenches alone. And they’re not crazy - this job can be really, really tough! Give Madison a follow! Heike Young “Hi! My name is pronounced like Micah with an H. Innovative content that grows brands has been my thing for 14+ years. ” Follow Heike specializes in: ⭐ Managing social for brands with 1M+ followers ⭐ Content marketing ⭐ Marketing strategy... --- ### Cold Emails vs. Marketing Emails: What’s the Difference? > What is the difference between cold emails and marketing emails? We define each, including who sends each kind of email and why. - Published: 2024-12-18 - Modified: 2024-12-18 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/cold-emails-vs-marketing-emails/ - Categories: Sales Email marketing is still one of the most versatile tools in the marketing toolbox. There are many types of emails you can send your prospects and customers, and when you incorporate email automation, you can get creative and personalize your content, doubling down on email engagement. For marketers balancing multiple responsibilities and priorities, understanding the difference between cold emails and marketing emails is key to achieving quick and impactful results. What Are Cold Emails? Customers usually opt-in to marketing emails on their own because they’re fans of your brand. They do this through subscriber forms, website forms or landing pages. Marketing emails are a way to engage with and retain your existing customers by sending them resources that educate them and move them through the buyer’s journey. When you reach out to a potential customer with a cold email, that person has likely never heard of your business or interacted with you before. The point of cold emails is to pursue potential new leads with the hopes of turning them into paying customers. Key Cold Email Strategies To send out cold emails, you need to do research to find potential prospects, and LinkedIn is a great tactic. For instance, you could find decision-makers at companies on LinkedIn and reach out to them with a cold email introducing yourself and the solutions your company could provide for their business. The success of cold emails really depends on the care you take in targeting an audience and personalizing your outreach. The average... --- ### Appreciating The Art of Crafting Unmissable Holiday Email Subject Lines > This holiday season, make sure your emails stand out in the inbox. Here's how to craft unmissable holiday email subject lines. - Published: 2024-12-12 - Modified: 2025-01-16 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/unmissable-holiday-email-subject-lines/ - Categories: Email Marketing Similar to the concept of ‘banner blindness,’ where website viewers unconsciously or otherwise ignore online advertising banners, ‘inbox blindness’ is when recipients stop noticing certain emails in their inbox. Usually, the average officegoer receives 121 emails per day. It makes sense to ignore certain emails. However, this is no gospel for brands, particularly during the holiday season when people are generally highly motivated to make purchases. Naturally, you want to draw their attention to your emails. Psychologically speaking, you want to ‘re-sensitize’ your audience to marketing stimuli. In this post, we will learn how to do that. We will try and understand the psychology behind how users view email subject lines during this time. Accordingly, we will give you actionable tips on how to craft unmissable subject lines and round off email marketing this holiday season. Let’s get crafty! Cognitive Load Too many emails during the peak season increase the cognitive load on recipients. Now, when you see the latest messages on Gmail, you look at the subject lines and process them very quickly. The ease with which you process the information affects your perception. You will gravitate toward subject lines that are short and direct. The point is: subject lines that are easy to understand are more likely to be clicked. The same goes for holiday subject lines. Embrace simplicity, clarity, and brevity. Emotional Triggers There are two types of emotional triggers: positive and negative. Positive emotions include joy, excitement, and anticipation. Whereas negative emotions comprise urgency and anxiety.... --- ### Best 18 Marketing Platforms for New Businesses > Today, more than ever, digital marketing is a gamechanger for small businesses—new or old. With a digital presence through different marketing platforms, - Published: 2024-12-09 - Modified: 2025-03-07 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/best-marketing-platforms/ - Categories: Marketing Today, more than ever, digital marketing is a gamechanger for small businesses—new or old. With a digital presence through different marketing platforms, small businesses can now compete with top players in the industry in order to secure their share of profits from the target audience. Marketing platforms can help you to generate revenue for your small business, and they can also help you analyze your marketing efforts and optimize them, by measuring your ROI for each marketing campaign. This guide walks you through the best marketing platforms for new small businesses. 18 Marketing Platforms for New Small Businesses Website Analytics Website Builders Email Marketing Software Social Media Scheduler Landing Page Builders Live Chat Tool with AI All-In-One Marketing Platforms Vs. Best of Breed Marketing Platforms 18 Marketing Platforms for New Small Businesses Small businesses must consider marketing platforms to generate more leads and convert prospects to customers. Maximizing marketing platforms will help you to bring your A-game to digital marketing strategy. There’s an abundance of tools to pick from, and to make things easy, I'll be grouping these marketing platforms based on the purpose, and what they can help you to achieve. Website Analytics Website analytics tools give you detailed insights into your customers' interaction with your website. It shows you how prospects land on your website, the pages they visit and spend more time on, and the keywords that attract them to your website. With website analytics tools, you have access to data that can help you optimize your... --- ### 10 Email Newsletter Ideas to Boost Engagement During the Holiday Season > The holidays are busy and your email engagement may be suffering. Here are some ideas to give your email newsletters a boost. - Published: 2024-12-06 - Modified: 2025-01-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/10-email-newsletter-ideas-to-boost-engagement-during-the-holiday-season/ - Categories: Email Marketing The festive period is drawing closer, and customers are ready to spend big bucks on holiday gifts for their nearest and dearest. Holiday shopping research by Adobe predicts that the U. S. online spending will be $241B during the holiday season, with 53% of revenue produced from purchases on mobile devices. For brands of any size, it means an opportunity to drive sales - the key is standing out from the millions of other businesses hoping for the attention. There are many types of emails you can send to connect with customers, however, few are as perfect as email newsletters. They're a great way to communicate new ideas and events to subscribers who are interested in your product. Moreover, email newsletters can boost engagement. Although Black Friday is considered to be the unofficial kickoff to the holiday shopping season, it’s not too late to jump on the bandwagon and start a holiday sales campaign, promoting it in your email newsletter. To make the most out of your email marketing in the holiday season, it’s important to understand key principles of writing newsletters that get clicks and engagement. How to Write Email Newsletters for the Holiday Season Before your subscribers want to open and read your emails, making up holiday newsletter ideas is a waste of time. Thus, it’s important to know how to write email newsletters for the holiday season that will help you stand out from the crowd. Let’s take a look at key principles of effective email marketing:... --- ### Check Content Planning Off Your List with our ChatGPT Content Plan Maker > Put a bow on your content strategy with the Content Plan Maker GPT. Plan the next quarter with ease - Published: 2024-12-04 - Modified: 2025-01-09 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/chatgpt-content-plan-maker/ - Categories: Content Marketing, Benchmark Recommends - Tags: Content Marketing, content calendar, AI, ChatGPT December is crunch time for marketers. You’re juggling holiday campaigns, wrapping up year-end reports and trying to maximize sales during the most lucrative time of the year. At the same time, new year planning looms ahead. Wouldn't it be nice if you could check one thing off of your list with ease and enjoy your holiday without worrying about the workload for the new year? Enter our Content Plan Maker for ChatGPT, a simple yet powerful tool that does the heavy lifting for you. Whether you’re brainstorming fresh campaign ideas, outlining your content for the next quarter, or putting together a content distribution game plan, we designed this GPT to create the perfect plan for engaging your audience. Why Marketers Love the Content Plan Maker This tool was designed with busy marketers in mind, especially those who wear many hats. If you're responsible for driving web traffic, designing the holiday party invitation, and posting to social media, we want to help you! This GPT the stress out of content planning by generating actionable, ready-to-use plans in minutes. Here’s why it’s a game-changer: Saves Time You could spending hours researching content creation best practices, brainstorming topics and organizing your distrubution plan. Instead, the Content Plan Maker creates a tailored plan in just a few clicks. Imagine starting the new year with a complete roadmap for your articles, social media, and email campaigns—all without lifting a finger. Boosts Creativity We're just rolling off of Thanksgiving and ramping up speed into the holiday... --- ### When to Use AI and When to Add a Human Touch: A Guide for Marketers > As a well-rounded marketer, you’re juggling countless responsibilities across channels. Your time is limited, and the pressure to deliver results is - Published: 2024-11-27 - Modified: 2024-11-25 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ai-vs-human-touch/ - Categories: Marketing As a well-rounded marketer, you’re juggling countless responsibilities across channels. Your time is limited, and the pressure to deliver results is constant. It’s no wonder artificial intelligence (AI) is top of mind. From streamlining repetitive tasks to crafting personalized experiences, AI is a game-changer—but only when used thoughtfully. The magic of effective marketing lies in knowing when to lean on AI and when to infuse your campaigns with that irreplaceable human touch. Here's how to strike the perfect balance: When to Use AI AI shines in tasks that require speed, consistency, and data-driven insights. Here are some practical ways to leverage AI in your marketing efforts: 1. Email Personalization at Scale Your audience expects tailored experiences, but manually personalizing emails for thousands of subscribers is impossible. AI tools can segment your list, predict user preferences, and recommend content or products based on past behaviors. This ensures your emails feel relevant without consuming hours of your day. 2. Subject Line Optimization Crafting the perfect subject line can feel like a guessing game. AI subject line generators can suggest subject lines designed to boost open rates. They take the guesswork out of writing and help you get your emails noticed. 3. A/B Testing and Analytics AI can automate A/B testing for your campaigns, analyzing performance data in real-time to identify what works best. This means you can focus on strategizing while AI takes care of the number crunching. 4. Repetitive Tasks Let AI handle tasks like scheduling social media posts, sending out... --- ### Unlock Your Best Sales Yet with Benchmark Email's Black Friday Templates > You're just a few steps away from sending Black Friday email campaigns that drive results. Grab ready-made Black Friday email templates from Benchmark Email. - Published: 2024-11-25 - Modified: 2024-11-25 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/black-friday-email-templates/ - Categories: Email Marketing, Retail, Email Design There's still time to grab your audience's attention with show-stopping Black Friday emails that drive clicks and sales. With Benchmark Email's Black Friday templates, crafting the perfect email is easier than ever. For busy marketers juggling a thousand tasks before the year ends, our templates are designed to save you time and deliver results. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the benefits of using our templates, share creative subject line ideas to supercharge your campaigns, and help you maximize your Black Friday ROI. Why Use Benchmark Email's Black Friday Templates? Creating emails from scratch can be time-consuming and stressful, especially during the holiday rush. That’s where our Black Friday email templates come in: Time-Saving Design: Pre-built layouts let you focus on your message instead of the design. Eye-Catching Visuals: Professional graphics and responsive designs ensure your emails look great on any device. Customizable for Your Brand: Personalize fonts, colors, and images to make your campaigns uniquely yours. They're Free! No commitment required, just get your template pack and start designing. Send with your favorite email service provider, or sign-up for a free Benchmark Email account. Get started with our Black Friday templates today! Tips for Getting the Best Results from Our Black Friday Templates Add Your Own Branding Elements: Showcase your logo in the email header. Change button, text and background colors to match your unique brand. Adjust fonts to align with your tone. These little changes customize our templates to make your email come across as authentically you.... --- ### How to Write Click-Worthy Subject Lines for Your Black Friday Email Campaign > Looking to boost sales this Black Friday? Check out this guide for tips on writing click-worthy Black Friday email subject lines. - Published: 2024-11-22 - Modified: 2024-11-22 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/black-friday-email-subject-lines/ - Categories: Email Marketing With the holidays fast approaching, are your Black Friday email campaigns optimized and ready to go? You've got a great offer in store for your audience, your email creative is on-point, and your list is clean and ready to go. But how good are your Black Friday email subject lines? During the most wonderful - and busiest - time of the year, it's even more important to make a strong first impression to capture more opens, clicks and sales. If your subject lines feel a bit lackluster, we have all of the tips you need to make your subject lines more urgent, compelling, and impossible to ignore. Here's how to do it. 9 Tips for Writing Enticing Black Friday Email Subject Lines A good email subject line is absolutely necessary - especially during the busiest shopping season of the year when everyone is asking for attention in the inbox. Use these nine simple (yet effective) tips to increase open rates tenfold. 1. Add Emojis In past years, you may have added emojis to your subject line and been delighted with a nice bump in open rate. In 2024, however, emojis are not the novelty they once were. At the same time, a clever use of emojis can still allow your email to stand out among a sea of other appealing offers. Emojis add a splash of color and make your emails more fun and engaging. They also look great on smaller screens, which is crucial since mobile devices account for... --- ### How Nostalgia Marketing is Driving Modern Campaigns (and Why It Works) > Nostalgia marketing is an effective approach that will allow you to resonate with your audience and make a lasting impression. - Published: 2024-11-14 - Modified: 2024-11-05 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/nostalgia-marketing/ - Categories: Marketing Nostalgia marketing has become an increasingly popular strategy for brands to connect emotionally with consumers. By evoking past memories—through familiar imagery, sounds, or cultural references—nostalgia marketing taps into feelings of comfort, belonging, and joy. These emotions resonate with audiences personally, making them more receptive to marketing messages. This article will explore nostalgia marketing, why it works so effectively, and how brands use it to build deeper connections with consumers. What is Nostalgia Marketing? Nostalgia marketing involves using themes, references, and symbols from the past to evoke warm, positive memories in the minds of consumers. The goal is to create an emotional bond by reminding people of experiences, products, or eras they fondly remember. These campaigns often reference pop culture from the 80s, 90s, or early 2000s—such as music, TV shows, retro fashion, or discontinued products—and reintroduce these elements with a modern twist. These marketing strategies work across industries, from fashion and entertainment to technology and food, as brands aim to appeal to both younger audiences discovering these cultural artifacts for the first time and older consumers who lived through them. Why Nostalgia Marketing Works Nostalgia marketing is more than just a gimmick—it is rooted in psychological principles that make people more likely to connect with, trust, and respond to nostalgic content. Here are the key reasons why it works: 1. Nostalgia Triggers Positive Emotions Research shows that recalling positive memories activates dopamine production in the brain, triggering feelings of happiness and satisfaction. Brands that successfully evoke nostalgia tap into these... --- ### Email Subject Lines for the Christmas Holiday: Capturing the Festive Spirit and Boosting Open Rates > Christmas is coming up and it's a great opportunity to spice up your email marketing. Here are some subject lines to inspire you. - Published: 2024-11-12 - Modified: 2024-11-05 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-subject-lines-for-christmas/ - Categories: Email Marketing The Christmas holiday season is one of the busiest and most competitive times for email marketing. With shoppers hunting for last-minute gifts, special deals, and seasonal inspiration, standing out in crowded inboxes is essential. The secret to grabbing attention? Crafting compelling email subject lines that capture the Christmas spirit and encourage recipients to click. A well-crafted Christmas email subject line can distinguish between an email that gets opened and an ignored one. In this article, we’ll explore the elements of creating the perfect subject lines for the Christmas holiday, along with tips and examples to help your emails shine during this festive season. Why Email Subject Lines Matter for Christmas Campaigns During Christmas, consumers are flooded with promotional emails from businesses trying to grab their attention. With so many messages vying for their attention, recipients often judge an email by its subject line before deciding whether to open it. A strong Christmas subject line needs to do the following: Capture attention quickly: Short, snappy lines tend to perform best. Create a sense of urgency: Christmas is time-sensitive, and subject lines that evoke urgency or scarcity drive quicker action. Inject seasonal cheer: Incorporating festive language, emojis, and holiday themes enhances your email’s relevance. Make offers clear: Don’t be vague—immediately highlight the deals, discounts, or promotions. Elements of a Winning Christmas Email Subject Line Here are some key elements that can help you craft effective Christmas subject lines: 1. Urgency and FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) Consumers are racing against the clock... --- ### The Do’s and Don’ts of Email Design: Best Practices for 2025 > When it comes to email design for 2025, there are definite things you should and shouldn't be doing. Check them out. - Published: 2024-11-07 - Modified: 2025-03-18 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-design-best-practices/ - Categories: Email Design In 2025, email design will remain critical in how brands communicate with their audiences, driving engagement and overall customer experience. With inboxes more competitive than ever, following the latest design best practices—and avoiding common pitfalls—will set you apart from the competition. In this post, we’ll cover the essential do’s and don’ts of email design to help you stay on top of trends and optimize your email campaigns for success. The Do’s of Email Design in 2025 1. Do Use Mobile-First Design With over half of all emails opened on mobile devices, it’s essential to prioritize mobile-first design. A responsive email ensures your message looks great on screens of all sizes, from smartphones to desktops. Best Practices: Use single-column layouts, larger fonts (16px+), and tappable buttons (at least 44px height). Test it: Preview your email on multiple devices to ensure compatibility. Pro Tip: Avoid heavy image use on mobile to reduce load times, improving user experience and deliverability. 2. Do Keep It Simple and Focused Minimalist email designs will remain effective in 2025. Readers expect to consume information quickly, so your layout should be clean and scannable. Best Practices: Use short paragraphs, bullet points, and clear headers. Limit Distractions: Avoid overloading emails with too many CTAs (calls-to-action). Stick to one primary CTA supported by secondary links if necessary. Pro Tip: White space isn’t empty; it guides the reader’s attention to what matters most. 3. Do Personalize the Content Personalization goes beyond just inserting a first name into an email. Dynamic content... --- ### Email Marketing Strategies for Black Friday: Drive Sales and Maximize Engagement > Check out some effective email marketing strategies for Black Friday, including subject line ideas and tactics to drive sales. - Published: 2024-11-06 - Modified: 2024-10-29 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-black-friday/ - Categories: Email Marketing Black Friday is one of the most significant retail events of the year, with businesses competing to capture customer attention and maximize sales. With so many brands vying for inbox space, it’s essential to implement strategic email marketing tactics that stand out and drive conversions. This post will cover proven Black Friday email strategies to help you engage subscribers, create urgency, and boost sales. 1. Start Early with a Teaser Campaign Getting ahead of the competition is crucial. Many brands start building anticipation weeks before Black Friday with teaser emails. What to Include in a Teaser Campaign: A countdown to your Black Friday deals A "Coming Soon" sneak peek of a product lineup An early access incentive By planting excitement in advance, teaser campaigns can warm your audience and encourage them to keep your brand on top of their mind. 2. Create a VIP or Early Access Offer Offering VIP access to Black Friday deals for your most engaged subscribers can increase loyalty and encourage early purchases. VIP Offer Ideas: Exclusive discounts or bonus gifts for email subscribers Early access to deals—a day or a few hours before the general public Tiered discounts: e. g. , “Spend $100, get 15% off; spend $200, get 30% off” A sense of exclusivity encourages subscribers to act quickly, reducing the chance they’ll shop with your competitors. 3. Use Urgency and Scarcity to Drive Action Black Friday is all about FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). Use urgency and scarcity to trigger faster decision-making. How... --- ### Email Subdomains 101: When, Why, and How to Use Them > Read our blog post on email subdomains and learn what they are, how to use them, and when to use them effectively. - Published: 2024-11-05 - Modified: 2024-10-29 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-subdomains-101/ - Categories: Email Marketing When it comes to email marketing, ensuring your campaigns reach customers’ inboxes and maintain optimal sender reputation is paramount. One essential tool for achieving this is an email subdomain. This guide will walk marketing managers through email subdomains, their importance, how to set them up, and best practices for naming them. What Is an Email Subdomain? An email subdomain is a secondary part of a website’s domain, which handles email-specific activities separately from the primary domain. It appears as a prefix to the main domain, such as "mail. yourcompany. com" or "newsletter. yourcompany. com. " Email subdomains help organizations distinguish email marketing activities from other business emails, improve email deliverability, and protect the primary domain’s reputation. Example of a Subdomain vs. Primary Domain: Primary domain: yourcompany. com Email subdomain: newsletter. yourcompany. com When Should You Use an Email Subdomain? Using an email subdomain is a strategic move, particularly for companies that send high volumes of emails. Below are specific cases when using an email subdomain makes sense: Email Marketing Campaigns: Segment marketing emails like newsletters, promotions, and drip campaigns. Transactional Emails: Set up a separate subdomain for transactional emails (e. g. , "orders. yourcompany. com") to ensure they bypass spam filters and maintain high deliverability. Multiple Email Campaigns or Departments: Large organizations running various campaigns or departments can create distinct subdomains for each. Example: events. yourcompany. com for event promotions promotions. yourcompany. com for discount offers Maintaining Sender Reputation: If marketing emails trigger spam complaints, the subdomain helps prevent damage... --- ### Seasonal Campaigns Made Easy: How to Pre-Schedule Your Entire Year’s Worth of Emails > Scheduling your seasonal email campaigns doesn't have to be a last-minute effort. Here are some tips for pre-scheduling them. - Published: 2024-10-30 - Modified: 2024-10-23 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/seasonal-email-campaigns/ - Categories: Email Marketing For digital marketers, staying ahead of the curve separates the good and great ones. One effective strategy many marketers overlook is the power of seasonal email campaigns. These campaigns can significantly boost engagement and sales with holidays and special events happening throughout the year. However, crafting and sending emails on the fly means missing certain opportunities and creating a lot of extra work. This is where pre-scheduling your entire year’s worth of seasonal email campaigns comes into play. This article will explore how to effectively pre-schedule seasonal campaigns and the time-saving benefits of utilizing automation features. Why Seasonal Campaigns Matter Seasonal campaigns allow businesses to connect with their audience more personally, leveraging the emotions and themes associated with specific times of the year. These campaigns can take various forms, including holiday promotions, back-to-school offers, and summer sales. Here are a few reasons why seasonal campaigns are vital: Increased Engagement: Seasonal emails often resonate more with recipients, leading to higher engagement outcomes. Timely Promotions: Aligning your offers with seasonal events can create urgency and motivate customers to take action. Brand Relevance: Seasonal campaigns keep your brand at the forefront of your customers' minds, reinforcing your presence. Step 1: Plan Your Seasonal Campaign Calendar The first step in pre-scheduling your seasonal email campaigns is to create a calendar that outlines key dates and themes for the year. Consider the following: Major Holidays: Identify major holidays relevant to your audience, such as Christmas, Hanukkah, Valentine's Day, and Easter. Seasonal Events: Consider seasonal events... --- ### Triggered Emails You Might Be Overlooking (and How to Set Them Up) > Most people know the commonly used triggered emails. But in this blog post, we share a few you might be overlooking. - Published: 2024-10-29 - Modified: 2024-10-23 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/triggered-emails-you-might-be-overlooking/ - Categories: Email Marketing While many marketers are familiar with common triggered emails, such as welcome messages or cart abandonment reminders, several lesser-known types can significantly enhance customer relationships and boost business performance. This article will explore some of these often-overlooked triggered emails, their benefits, and how to set them up in your email marketing platform. What Are Triggered Emails? Triggered emails are automated messages sent to customers based on specific actions or behaviors. These personalized and timely emails make them highly relevant to the recipient. By utilizing triggered emails, businesses can nurture relationships, provide value, and increase engagement without additional manual effort. Lesser-Known Triggered Emails to Consider 1. Post-Purchase Feedback Requests After a customer makes a purchase, they are in a prime position to share their thoughts about their experience. Post-purchase feedback requests can help businesses gather valuable insights, improve their products or services, and increase customer satisfaction. How to Set Them Up: Timing: Send the email within a few days of purchase to ensure the customer's experience is fresh in their mind. Personalization: Use your customers’ names and reference the product they purchased. Request Feedback: Collect feedback using a simple survey or rating system. Ideally, it should be no more than three questions. Incentivize: Consider offering a discount or entry into a giveaway for completing the survey to encourage participation. 2. Re-engagement Emails for Inactive Customers Inactive customers represent missed opportunities. Re-engagement emails can rekindle interest and encourage former customers to reconnect with your brand. How to Set Them Up: Identify Inactive... --- ### Mistakes You're Making With Your Mobile-Friendly Email Campaign > Even carefully planned mobile-friendly email campaigns can backfire. Here are some blunders mobile-centric marketers should avoid. - Published: 2024-10-24 - Modified: 2025-03-18 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/mobile-friendly-email-campaign/ - Categories: Email Marketing Smartphones are ubiquitous in today’s society. Most people can’t imagine going more than a few minutes without having their phones nearby. The widespread adoption of these and other mobile devices is good news for marketers who want to reach out to people in an accessible and effective way. You can send emails people read or engage with on their mobile gadgets. That matters because: Many people receive push notifications from their email providers and are alerted to new messages immediately. Individuals often carry their mobile devices wherever they go and may be more likely to read content during downtime, such as while waiting for appointments. More internet traffic comes from mobile devices than desktop computers. Handheld devices let people engage with content during times when computer usage may be unfeasible, such as road trips and concerts, festivals, and sporting events. Most of the world’s population will solely use smartphones for internet access by 2025. You must recognize the rising popularity of mobile devices and prioritize creating effective campaigns for people who use them. However, even carefully planned mobile-friendly email campaigns can backfire. Here are some blunders mobile-centric marketers should avoid. 1. Neglecting Responsive Design One of the most common mistakes marketers make with mobile-friendly email campaigns is failing to use a responsive design. Responsive design ensures that your email automatically adjusts its layout based on the device it's viewed on—whether that’s a desktop, tablet, or smartphone. Without this adaptability, your email may appear jumbled or difficult to read on smaller... --- ### Customer Journey Mapping for Email Marketing: How to Build Campaigns for Every Stage > Read our article on customer journey maping and make your email marketing campaigns address every stage of the buyer's journey. - Published: 2024-10-23 - Modified: 2024-10-16 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/customer-journey-mapping-for-email-marketing/ - Categories: Email Marketing Customer journey mapping allows marketers to visualize the numerous stages a customer goes through, from initial brand awareness to post-purchase advocacy. By mapping out these stages and tailoring your email campaigns to address various concerns within those stages, you can create targeted communications that improve engagement and drive conversions. This article will explore how to effectively map the customer journey and leverage it to create targeted email campaigns for every stage. Understanding the Customer Journey The customer journey encompasses all the interactions and experiences a customer has with your brand, from the moment they first become aware of it to their post-purchase experiences. The journey can be divided into stages: Awareness: Customers become aware of your brand or product, often through marketing efforts like social media, ads, or word-of-mouth. Consideration: The customer researches and evaluates your offerings against competitors, seeking more information and validation. Conversion: The customer decides to purchase your product or service. Retention: Post-purchase, the focus shifts to ensuring customer satisfaction and encouraging repeat business. Advocacy: Satisfied customers become brand advocates, sharing their positive experiences with others. Understanding these stages is crucial for developing an effective email marketing strategy that aligns with your customers' needs and behaviors. Step 1: Map the Customer Journey Creating a customer journey map involves outlining the key touchpoints your customers encounter at each journey stage. This process helps you visualize their experiences and identify opportunities for engagement through email marketing. Here’s how to get started: 1. Identify Customer Personas Before mapping the journey,... --- ### Quick Wins: How to Repurpose Content for Email Campaigns > Creating fresh, engaging content doesn't have to be hard. Here's how you can repurpose your content for your email campaigns. - Published: 2024-10-22 - Modified: 2025-03-18 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/repurpose-content-for-email-campaigns/ - Categories: Content Marketing Marketers are constantly challenged to create fresh, engaging content while managing limited time and resources. Fortunately, content repurposing is one of the most effective strategies to address this challenge. Marketers can maximize their reach, maintain consistent messaging, and save valuable time by transforming existing content into new formats. This article will explore how to repurpose blog posts, social media content, and videos into effective email campaigns, complete with templates and automation tips to streamline the process. Why Repurpose Content? Let’s first look at the benefits of repurposing content for email campaigns: Efficiency: Creating new content from scratch can be time-consuming. Repurposing allows you to leverage what you already have, saving time and effort. Increased Reach: Different audiences consume content in various ways. By repurposing content, you can reach a broader audience across multiple platforms. Enhanced SEO: Updating and repurposing existing content can improve its visibility and relevance, benefiting your search engine rankings. Consistent Messaging: Repurposing ensures that your key messages remain consistent across different platforms, reinforcing your brand identity. Repurposing Blog Posts Blog posts are a goldmine of information that can easily be transformed into email content. Here’s how to do it effectively: 1. Summarize Key Points Template: Create a newsletter that highlights key takeaways from a blog post. Subject Line: "Top Insights from Our Latest Blog: " Body: Start with a brief introduction and bullet points summarizing the main ideas. Include a call to action encouraging readers to click through the full post for more details. 2. Create a... --- ### Essential Case Study Questions to Ask Your Best Customers > Case studies help make a potential customer a customer. Here's how to put together case studies and how to use them effectively. - Published: 2024-10-17 - Modified: 2024-10-17 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/case-study-questions/ - Categories: Marketing Picture this: a customer is looking to replace their email marketing software. As they evaluate different options, they look for products with features that suit their needs and preferences. Most importantly, they want proof that your product works. You can tell the story yourself, but the problem is that 9 out of 10 customers won’t trust what you say about your brand. Instead, they want to hear from other customers who have used your product and reaped the benefits. This is where case studies come in handy. A case study gives skeptical customers evidence backed by data, numbers, and analysis. It’s an impactful direct endorsement from satisfied customers that tells others, “come buy this product: it enables me to achieve these results and will work for your business, too. ” Where to Use Case Studies Case studies are an important part of your content marketing strategy. Here are a few places you can feature your case studies to drive social proof and conversions: Your website: 92% of potential customers look for social proof before making a purchase. Adding excerpts of your case studies on key web pages and on focused landing pages will improve conversions. Nurture emails: If you have a case study about a feature or product a customer wants to buy, send a targeted nurture series featuring the case study. Sales and marketing team: When the customer is in the consideration stage, you can send them targeted case studies. Sales and marketing teams should also learn to use... --- ### The Types of Video Content People Actually Want to Watch > Video content is highly engaging and entertaining to watch. But not all videos are created equally. Here are the kinds you should create. - Published: 2024-10-15 - Modified: 2024-10-15 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/5-types-of-video-content-people-actually-want-to-watch/ - Categories: Marketing Did you know that 53% of customers engage with a brand after watching one of its videos on social? Video marketing has, without question, become one of the most effective forms of marketing available. It’s easy to digest, it’s engaging, and entertaining, and it can quickly provide information to a curious audience of potential buyers. Introducing video into your marketing strategy seems like a no-brainer. But not all videos perform at this high of a level. In order to use video marketing effectively, you have to do it right by making sure you’re creating the kinds of videos your audience actually wants to be viewing. Otherwise, you’ll lose them before you even have them. We’ve done a little digging and uncovered some information that might help you better hone your video marketing strategy. Take a look below for the types of video content you should consider creating: Vlogs Short for video blogs, vlogs are a powerful way to bring a story to life. And for brands, vlogs are a great way to demonstrate your “human” side, which can do wonders for connecting and engaging with your audience. One marketer that does a great job vlogging is Gary Vaynerchuk. In his DailyVee episodes, Gary documents his everyday work life and shares it with his audience. It’s a simple approach that has amassed Vaynerchuk, millions of subscribers. The pairing of music with inspiring clips of Gary’s life and the tips that he shares with other entrepreneurs and professionals assist viewers in forming... --- ### Setting Up Event-Based Emails to Drive Attendance and Engagement > Event-based emails help get the word out about an upcoming event, ensuring people join and get excited. Here are some tips to keep in mind. - Published: 2024-10-10 - Modified: 2024-10-02 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/event-based-emails/ - Categories: Email Marketing Whether you're hosting a webinar, a product launch, or an in-person conference, strategically timed emails can significantly enhance attendance and engagement. With the right automation, marketers can streamline the process from invitations to reminders and post-event follow-ups, ensuring attendees feel informed and valued. Read on for a guide on event-based emails that drive participation and engagement with minimal effort. The Importance of Event-Based Emails Well-timed invitations and reminders help create buzz around your event, increasing the likelihood of attendance. With automated follow-ups, you can maintain momentum and keep your audience engaged. By further using automation, you can reduce the manual workload, allowing you to focus on other aspects of your marketing strategy. Lastly, post-event emails offer an opportunity to gather valuable feedback from attendees, informing and improving future events. Step 1: Define Your Event Goals Before diving into email setup, clarify your goals for the event. Are you aiming to increase attendance, drive product sales, or enhance brand awareness? Defining your objectives will guide your email strategy and content. Examples of Event Goals Increase sign-ups and educate potential customers. Generate excitement and drive initial sales. Build a network of industry professionals and share valuable insights. Step 2: Segment Your Audience Effective email marketing begins with understanding your audience. Segment your email list based on criteria such as: Past attendees Engagement levels Demographics By sending tailored invitations to the right audience, you can significantly enhance your event’s appeal and attendance rates. Step 3: Create Event-Based Email Templates Developing a series of... --- ### The Anatomy of a Perfect Email Footer: Boosting Compliance and Engagement > The email footer is an often overlooked, yet critical part of every email you send. Here are some things to include in your email footer. - Published: 2024-10-09 - Modified: 2025-03-18 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-footer/ - Categories: Email Marketing Digital marketing moves fast, yet email remains one of the most effective channels for reaching customers. However, many marketers overlook a crucial element of their emails: the footer. The email footer, often seen as a mundane afterthought, plays a vital role in compliance, branding, and engagement. This article will explore the anatomy of a perfect email footer, highlighting how marketers can optimize it for legal compliance, enhance their brand presence, and drive secondary CTAs while ensuring easy implementation across campaigns. Why Email Footers Matter Email footers serve multiple purposes that go beyond mere aesthetics. Here’s why they are critical for your email marketing strategy: Legal Compliance: Within the anatomy of an email, the footer is critical, especially for adhering to regulations. Regulations like CAN-SPAM and GDPR require specific information to be included in commercial emails. Branding: The footer is a great place to reinforce your brand identity, using your brand colors, logo, and messaging. Engagement: A well-structured footer can encourage further interaction from recipients, guiding them toward secondary interactions with your brand. User Experience: A precise footer can enhance the overall user experience, making it easy for recipients to find important information quickly. Components of an Effective Email Footer To create an email footer that effectively serves its multiple purposes, it should include the following key components: 1. Contact Information Providing clear contact information is a best practice and a requirement for compliance with regulations. Include: Business Name: Clearly state your company's name as it appears on official documents. Physical... --- ### How to Grow Your Social Media Following Organically > Having a solid social media following is crucial for any business. Here's how to grow your social media following organically. - Published: 2024-10-08 - Modified: 2025-02-12 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-grow-your-social-media-following-organically/ - Categories: Social Media Social media was once just something fun to engage with. But now (and for some time), social media is a branding and marketing tactic every business should use. You may think that in order to manage your social media successfully, you need to hire a millennial influencer with over 10,000 followers. But the truth is, anyone can be a social media content creator with a solid following. You just have to go about it the right way. Doing so entails investing in your social strategy, including having a social media calendar and guidelines for your team or social point person to follow. In this blog post, I’ll list some tips for naturally growing your social media. Here’s to becoming your social media influencer! 1. Establish Your Brand and Aesthetic Your company branding is one of the first things you establish when you start your business. Your social media accounts should reflect that branding. You want to keep everything cohesive so that your brand is easily identifiable among your audience. This means making sure your posts also center on a specific niche or industry. You want to create a reliable platform for tips and input within a specific area, as people interested in that area will learn to rely on you. Ensure you include your company logo as your profile page image and use your branding colors to highlight your profiles where it makes sense. It also doesn’t hurt to have your company mission statement somewhere your followers can easily read.... --- ### Casting Spells with Your Halloween Emails: Tricks, Treats, and Terrifyingly Good Subject Lines > This Halloween, cast some spells with your Halloween emails. These spooky fun email subject lines can help. - Published: 2024-10-03 - Modified: 2024-09-24 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/halloween-emails-and-subject-lines/ - Categories: Email Marketing As the air turns crisp and pumpkins start adorning doorsteps, businesses across industries have an exciting opportunity to leverage seasonal marketing. Halloween, with its mix of fun, creativity, and a touch of spookiness, is a prime occasion for engaging your email subscribers. In eCommerce, hospitality, manufacturing, education, or retail, sending out festive Halloween-themed emails can help boost engagement, drive sales, and foster a stronger connection with your audience. Let’s explore why sending Halloween emails is essential and how to craft eye-catching subject lines that captivate your subscribers. Why You Should Send Halloween Emails 1. Boost Engagement with Seasonal Relevance Holidays like Halloween naturally evoke excitement, and incorporating them into your email marketing campaigns can capitalize on this festive mood. By tailoring your content to match the season, you make your emails more relatable and relevant to your subscribers. People are more likely to open and engage with content that resonates with what’s currently on their minds, and Halloween is no exception. Adding spooky fun to your emails can grab attention, making your campaigns stand out in crowded inboxes. 2. Drive Sales with Creative Promotions For businesses in eCommerce and retail, Halloween is an excellent opportunity to drive sales with themed promotions and discounts. People love seasonal deals, and Halloween provides a fun and engaging way to offer special discounts, bundle deals, or limited-time offers. Even if your business doesn’t directly sell Halloween-themed products, you can still tie your promotions to the holiday. Offering something like a “spooktacular sale” or “hauntingly... --- ### Why Email Open Rates Still Matter: A Vital Metric for Measuring Campaign Success > You may think they no longer make a difference, but email open rates still matter for the success of your email marketing. - Published: 2024-10-02 - Modified: 2024-09-24 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-open-rates-still-matter/ - Categories: Email Marketing Digital marketing trends come and go. Every year, marketers face new buzzwords, technologies, and strategies that promise to revolutionize the industry. Yet amidst this whirlwind of change, one steadfast metric has stood the test of time: email open rates. While some trends suggest that open rates are becoming less relevant, we’re here to argue the opposite. Email open rates are still an essential indicator of success, and measuring them provides invaluable insights into your email marketing efforts. Here's why you shouldn't overlook this key metric. Understanding Email Open Rates Email open rates measure the percentage of recipients who open an email relative to the total number of emails sent. For example, if you send out an email to 1,000 subscribers and 200 of them open it, your open rate is 20%. This metric has long been considered a foundational benchmark for evaluating the effectiveness of email marketing campaigns. However, as new marketing tools and strategies like AI, automation, and hyper-personalization emerge, some marketers argue that open rates no longer hold the weight they once did. However, dismissing open rates as irrelevant ignores their continuing role in shaping the overall success of email marketing. Open Rates Signal Initial Engagement One of the primary reasons email open rates matter is that they indicate the first step in the engagement process: the recipient's decision to open your email. This decision is not arbitrary. It’s influenced by several key factors, including the subject line, the sender's name, and the preview text. All these elements... --- ### Customer Experience as a Competitive Advantage: Why It Matters More Than Ever > Customer experience is about more than just pleasing your customers. It's also a way to gain a competitive advantage. - Published: 2024-09-26 - Modified: 2024-09-19 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/customer-experience-competitive-advantage/ - Categories: Small Business Customer experience (CX) can be a massive differentiator in making or breaking a brand. Gone are the days when product quality or price alone could secure customer loyalty. A customer's overall experience with a brand—across every touchpoint—determines whether they’ll return, recommend, or reject a brand altogether. As consumer expectations continue to rise, companies prioritizing and optimizing customer experience can gain a significant competitive advantage. This article will explore why customer experience matters more than ever and how brands can enhance every interaction to create lasting positive impressions. The Importance of Customer Experience in the Modern Market Customer experience encompasses every instance a customer has with your brand, including the beginning discovery phase to post-purchase support. It’s not limited to a single department but spans marketing, sales, customer service, and beyond. A seamless and positive experience can foster customer loyalty, drive repeat business, and turn customers into brand advocates. Increasing Customer Expectations: Today’s consumers are more informed and empowered. With many options, they expect brands to meet and exceed their expectations. This means delivering personalized, convenient, and frictionless experiences across all touchpoints. A brand that fails to deliver on these expectations risks losing customers to competitors who can. The Impact on Customer Loyalty: Customer experience is directly linked to customer loyalty. Studies show that customers with a positive experience are likelier to return and make repeat purchases. On the other hand, a single negative experience can lead to lost business and damage the brand’s reputation. Research shows that customers are more... --- ### 7 Ways to Use Google’s Keyword Planner That You Haven’t Thought Of > Are you using Google's Keyword Planner? Here are seven ways to use it that you probably haven't thought of before. - Published: 2024-09-25 - Modified: 2024-09-25 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/google-keyword-planner/ - Categories: Content Marketing Google’s Keyword Planner has long been a staple for marketers looking to improve their SEO strategies. Most people use it for the basics: researching relevant keywords to target in their paid ads or content marketing efforts. But there’s more to this tool than simply generating a list of keyword suggestions. When used strategically, it can provide deeper insights into your market, content opportunities, and how to stay ahead of the competition. If you’re ready to take your SEO efforts up a notch, here are seven innovative ways to use Google’s Keyword Planner that you may not have considered. 1. Expand into New Markets with Translation Tools If you’re considering expanding your business into new countries or regions, Keyword Planner can help you find keywords relevant to those markets. You can identify high-performing keywords in other languages or regions using the location and language filters. Once you identify these international keywords, you can use them to inform your localized content strategy, ensuring that your ads and web pages are optimized for the new audience. This strategy is particularly beneficial for businesses looking to enter non-English speaking markets or expand into regions with different cultural contexts. For example, you can compare search volumes for different keyword variations in Spanish-speaking countries versus English-speaking ones, allowing you to tailor your marketing efforts to match search behavior in each market. 2. Identify Keyword Seasonality Seasonality is crucial in specific industries, affecting search volumes and advertising opportunities. However, it’s not always easy to predict when trends... --- ### The Future of Content Marketing: How AI and Automation Are Shaping the Industry > With AI and automation quickly taking the industry by storm, there are some exciting things on the horizon for content marketing. - Published: 2024-09-24 - Modified: 2024-09-19 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ai-and-automation-shaping-content-marketing/ - Categories: Content Marketing Content marketing is undergoing a profound transformation, which is being heavily driven by rapid advancements in artificial intelligence and automation. These technologies are streamlining the content creation process and revolutionizing how content is distributed, analyzed, and optimized. As we look ahead, it's clear that AI and automation will play an increasingly central role in shaping the future of content marketing. In this blog post, we’ll explore the current impact of these technologies, their potential future developments, and what this means for content marketers. The Rise of AI in Content Creation AI's influence on content creation is the most visible aspect of its impact on the industry. AI-powered tools have evolved significantly, allowing marketers to generate content faster, more efficiently, and with a higher degree of personalization. AI can be used in almost every step of content creation. Deepa Chauhan from Accelirate, uses AI to optimize content creation by generating topic ideas, enhancing SEO with keyword analysis, and automating content distribution across platforms for maximum reach and engagement. Here’s how AI is currently shaping content creation: 1. Content Generation AI-driven platforms like GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) models can generate high-quality written content in seconds. These tools can produce blog posts, social media updates, product descriptions, and even video scripts, reducing the time and effort required from human writers. While AI-generated content may still need some human oversight, the ability to quickly produce large volumes of content is a game-changer for marketers. 2. Personalization Personalization has become a key factor in content... --- ### Social Media Tips to Help You Strike Gold > Here are some can't-miss social media tips that will help your small business strike gold and grow your network. - Published: 2024-09-19 - Modified: 2024-09-19 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/social-media-tips/ - Categories: Social Media Why do some companies thrive on social media while others don’t? There’s a little bit of luck involved, of course, but social media magic is also something that you have to make happen on your own. As of the first quarter of 2020, there were more than 4. 2 billion active social media users — a growth of 490 million users from twelve months prior. That’s 53 percent of the world’s population — and as of 2019, that number included: 90. 4 percent of Millennials 77. 5 percent of Generation X 48. 2 percent of Baby Boomers With so much of your audience likely engaging on social media, you can see just how big the potential pot of gold is. While there are plenty of significant things you should be doing to get your audience to engage (i. e. , regular postings, original content sharing, strategic paid ads, etc. ), there are also small things you can do to get more from your strategy. This article’ll examine those small things and offer simple tips for creating more magic across your brand’s social media channels. Helpful Social Media Tips X (Formerly Twitter) Tweet at other brands. To get them to engage, try tweeting at a company about an article they wrote. Be specific and focus on building a friendly rapport. It could lead to helpful cross-promotion or even a webinar or co-branding opportunity. Post a weekly poll. Utilize X's built-in poll feature regularly for a quick and easy way to garner... --- ### From Cold Outreach to Warm Leads: Revamping Your Sales Strategy for 2025 > 2025 will be here quickly. It's time to take a look at your sales strategy, from cold outreach to warm leads, and see what needs to change. - Published: 2024-09-18 - Modified: 2025-05-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/revamping-your-sales-strategy/ - Categories: Sales As we move toward 2025, the sales landscape continues to evolve rapidly, challenging businesses to rethink their outreach strategies. Traditional cold outreach tactics-often characterized by generic, impersonal messaging-are becoming increasingly ineffective in an era where consumers expect personalized and meaningful interactions. To succeed in this environment, sales teams must pivot from cold outreach to strategies prioritizing warm leads, emphasizing personalization and relationship-building. In this article, we'll explore how to revamp your sales strategy for 2025 by focusing on these critical elements. The Decline of Traditional Cold Outreach Cold outreach, which typically involves reaching out to potential customers without prior interaction, has long been a staple of sales strategies. However, its effectiveness has been waning for several reasons: Information Overload: Consumers are bombarded with sales messages daily, leading to what's known as "ad fatigue. " Cold emails and calls often get lost in the noise, with recipients either ignoring them or marking them as spam. Lack of Personalization: Cold outreach often relies on generic messaging, which fails to resonate with today's consumers who expect tailored experiences. This lack of personalization can make your outreach efforts seem insincere and irrelevant. Evolving Consumer Expectations: Modern consumers value relationships and trust. They are likelier to engage with brands that understand their needs and provide value beyond a simple sales pitch. Cold outreach that doesn't align with these expectations will likely fall flat. Regulatory Changes: Data privacy laws like GDPR and CCPA have made it more challenging to engage in unsolicited outreach. These regulations require... --- ### Navigating Data Privacy Changes: How to Future-Proof Your Email Marketing Strategy > It seems like every day something is changing within the email marketing industry. Here are some data privacy changes to be aware of. - Published: 2024-09-17 - Modified: 2024-09-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/data-privacy-changes/ - Categories: Email Marketing Data privacy is more than just a buzzword—it’s a critical aspect of how businesses operate, particularly in email marketing. As governments worldwide tighten regulations to protect consumer data, email marketers must stay vigilant and adaptable. The consequences of non-compliance can be severe, ranging from hefty fines to significant reputational damage. This article will explore the latest data privacy regulations and offer practical tips on how to future-proof your email marketing strategy. Understanding the Latest Data Privacy Regulations Over the past few years, several major data privacy laws have been enacted globally, each with significant implications for email marketers. Here’s a rundown of some of the most impactful regulations: General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR): Enacted in May 2018, the GDPR is a comprehensive data privacy law that applies to all companies processing the personal data of EU citizens, regardless of where the company is located. It mandates that companies obtain explicit consent from individuals before collecting their data, provide clear privacy notices, and allow users to access, correct, or delete their data. California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA): Effective January 2020, the CCPA gives California residents more control over their data. This act means businesses have to disclose what data they collect, allow consumers to opt out of data sales, and delete personal data upon request. The CCPA has influenced other U. S. states to consider similar legislation. ePrivacy Regulation: Often referred to as the “cookie law,” the ePrivacy Regulation is an EU law that complements the GDPR. It focuses specifically on... --- ### Building Authentic Brand Connections on Social Media in a Post-Algorithm World > In a post-algorithm world, building authentic, real connections with your audience on social media can seem impossible. - Published: 2024-09-12 - Modified: 2024-09-03 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/authentic-connections-on-social-media/ - Categories: Social Media The social media rules of engagement are constantly being rewritten. The shift toward algorithm-driven feeds, where paid content is prioritized, has made it increasingly more work for brands to connect with their audiences organically. In this post-algorithm world, brands must rethink strategies to foster genuine engagement and build authentic connections with followers. This article explores practical strategies for maintaining and enhancing brand relationships on social media, even as organic reach declines. The Changing Landscape of Social Media When social media was still new, platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter offered a level playing field where brands and individuals could organically reach their audiences. However, as these platforms have grown, they’ve implemented algorithms designed to prioritize content that keeps users engaged—often favoring paid posts and advertisements over organic content. As a result, brands are finding it harder to cut through the noise and connect with their audience without investing heavily in paid campaigns. While this shift poses challenges, it also allows brands to differentiate themselves by focusing on authenticity and meaningful engagement. Here’s how brands can adapt to this new reality and build lasting connections with their audience. 1. Prioritize Authentic Storytelling In a post-algorithm world, authentic storytelling is more important than ever. Audiences are increasingly drawn to content that feels genuine and relatable. To build authentic brand connections, share stories that resonate with your audience’s values, experiences, and aspirations. This could involve: Highlighting Customer Stories: Share testimonials, case studies, or user-generated content that showcases real experiences with your brand. This... --- ### The Rise of Conversational Sales: How Chatbots and AI Are Transforming the Sales Funnel > It's all about using conversational sales to convert more leads, and chatbots powered by AI is the way to go. - Published: 2024-09-11 - Modified: 2025-03-07 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/conversational-sales-chatbots/ - Categories: Sales The digital age has brought about a seismic shift in how businesses interact with customers. Traditional sales processes, once dominated by cold calls and email campaigns, are being upended by the rise of conversational sales. This approach leverages artificial intelligence and chatbots to engage potential customers in real-time. This transformation is not just a passing trend; it’s reshaping the sales funnel, making it more efficient, personalized, and customer-centric. This article will explore how AI and chatbots are revolutionizing modern sales strategies, enhancing lead nurturing, and driving conversions. The Evolution of the Sales Funnel Before diving into the impact of AI and chatbots, it’s essential to understand how the sales funnel has evolved. Traditionally, the sales funnel is a linear process with distinct stages: awareness, interest, decision, and action. Prospects move through these stages, often guided by human sales representatives who provide information, answer questions, and push for the sale. However, the modern consumer is more informed and empowered than ever before. With a wealth of information available at their fingertips, buyers often conduct extensive research before interacting with a sales team. This shift has necessitated a more agile and responsive approach to sales—enter conversational sales. What Is Conversational Sales? Conversational sales is a strategy that uses real-time, two-way communication to engage with prospects throughout their buying journey. Instead of relying solely on static content or delayed interactions, conversational sales leverages chatbots, AI, and live chat to respond instantly to customer inquiries, personalize interactions, and guide prospects through the sales funnel.... --- ### The Email Marketing Terms You Need to Know > With email marketing comes a lot of jargon that's hard to understand. Here are 20 email marketing terms you need to know. - Published: 2024-09-10 - Modified: 2024-09-10 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-terms/ - Categories: Email Marketing Making sense of email marketing terms can sometimes feel like you’re trying to learn a new language, and it’s normal to feel lost. But intense as the jargon is, it’s important to have a clear understanding of the basics. Some terms have legal implications that are crucial to be aware of, while others represent trends and practices that you’ll want to work into your strategy. So, instead of smiling and nodding along in those marketing meetings, get to know some of the most-used terms. To help you get up to speed, we’ve put together this quick glossary of email marketing terms that you need to know, along with some of our resources that will give you more in-depth knowledge. Let’s get to it. A/B Testing It can be difficult to tell which aspects of your campaigns — email subject line, CTA or opt-in forms, for example — will yield the best results. A/B testing allows you to test two variants of a single item to see which is the most effective. How to Do A/B Testing and Why You Should Why You Should Care About Email Testing Use our free Email Subject Line Generator to help you generate some email subject lines to A/B test. Acceptance Rate This is the percentage of emails you send out that are accepted by your recipients’ email servers and is sometimes referred to as the deliverability rate. It doesn’t necessarily mean an email made it into an inbox, just that it didn’t bounce back.... --- ### Social Media Marketing Trends: What's Hot and What's Not > Social media marketing moves at the speed of light. Staying on top of trends can be very difficult. Here are some to keep in mind. - Published: 2024-09-05 - Modified: 2025-05-15 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/social-media-marketing-trends/ - Categories: Social Media As we approach 2025, the social media marketing landscape continues to evolve rapidly. Marketers face new opportunities and challenges as platforms change significantly, content formats shift and algorithms become increasingly sophisticated. To stay ahead of the curve, it's crucial to understand the latest trends shaping the industry. Here’s a deep dive into what’s hot and not in social media marketing. What’s Hot 1. The Rise of Vertical Video Vertical video continues to dominate as the preferred content format on social media platforms. With the success of TikTok and the adoption of similar formats by Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, and Facebook Stories, marketers are increasingly focusing on creating short, engaging, vertical videos. These bite-sized videos are easily consumable, making them ideal for capturing audiences' attention with ever-decreasing attention spans. The rise of vertical video also ties into the growing trend of mobile-first content. As more users access social media through smartphones, creating content tailored for mobile viewing is no longer optional but essential. Brands that can effectively leverage vertical video will have a powerful tool for engaging audiences in the years to come. 2. Social Commerce Integration Social commerce has been gaining traction over the past few years. Platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok are doubling down on their eCommerce capabilities, allowing users to shop directly within the app. This seamless integration of shopping and social media drives higher conversion rates and creates new brand opportunities to reach consumers. For marketers, this means developing strategies that build brand awareness and drive... --- ### The Only Guide You’ll Ever Need For Content Creation > Having trouble getting your content marketing strategy underway? Here's a simple guide for content creation that will help. - Published: 2024-09-04 - Modified: 2025-06-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-ultimate-guide-for-content-creation/ - Categories: Content Marketing Content is a cornerstone of effective marketing. And when you combine your content marketing efforts with the utility of marketing automation, a lot of good things can happen. But, before you go creating content without any real idea of how it matters or where to use it, think about your customers and your ideal audience. The better you know them, the better you're able to create the right kinds of content, content that's personalized and tailored to their needs. I'll walk you through the only guide you'll ever need for creating content, including the types of content you should be creating and why. What is Content Creation? The primary goal of content creation is to attract new audiences and engage returning buyers. Content creation spans the following process: Researching what to create Generating content ideas from research results Developing content ideas into valuable content pieces that appeal to the target audience Distributing content pieces to the proper channels Promoting developed content pieces to the right audience Why is Content Important for Your Marketing Strategy? Content is the pillar on which any marketing strategy rests. Without content, there would be nothing you would use to market your business, products, or services to the ideal audience. Below are some reasons why content is essential for your small business marketing strategy. Audience Loyalty Creating valuable and actionable content across different touchpoints for your audience is a great way to build audience loyalty. Once your content remains valuable and actionable to your ideal audience,... --- ### What is an Email Service Provider (ESP)? > We'll explain what an email service provider is, the difference between ESP and an email client, and the qualities of a good ESP. - Published: 2024-08-30 - Modified: 2025-02-27 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-service-provider/ - Categories: Email Marketing Sending or receiving emails involves three parties: the sender, the receiver, and the email service provider (ESP). Each one has a role to play, and with trusty email being one of the most effective marketing channels, the right ESP is crucial for your business. In this article, we’ll discuss the roles of an ESP. We’ll explain an ESP, the difference between an ESP and an email client, and the qualities of a good ESP. What is an ESP (Email Marketing Service Provider)? An email service provider (ESP) is a tool that allows you to create and send email campaigns to your list of subscribers. An ESP is like a postman. If you were sending letters to someone, whether or not that letter reaches its destination on time is the responsibility of the postman. That letter is the email you create. The ESP is critical in ensuring that emails land in your subscribers’ inboxes. Beyond facilitating email delivery, ESPs allow you to store subscribers’ email addresses. How is an ESP Different From a Regular Email Account? Email clients and email service providers are different. The ESP is software that sends email campaigns to a list of contacts. The email client is what you use to read your emails. For example, Gmail, Apple Mail, Thunderbird, Outlook, or Android Mail App are email clients, while Benchmark Email, Constant Contact, and Mailchimp are examples of ESPs. ESPs are essential business tools for getting your message to prospects and customers. Instead of sending emails one... --- ### Fall Newsletter Ideas for Marketers: Embrace the Season with Inspiring and Fun Content > The fall season is an chance for marketers to connect with their audience through seasonal newsletters. Here are some fall newsletter ideas. - Published: 2024-08-29 - Modified: 2025-03-14 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/fall-newsletter-ideas/ - Categories: Email Marketing, Email Design As the leaves change and the air turns crisp, the fall season presents a unique opportunity for marketers to connect with their audience through engaging and seasonal email newsletters. Email newsletters remain a vital tool in the marketing arsenal, offering direct communication to customers and prospects. In this blog post, we’ll discuss the importance of email newsletters and share some creative and fun ideas that marketers can incorporate into their fall newsletters. The Importance of Email Newsletters Email newsletters are an essential component of any successful marketing strategy. Here’s why they matter: Direct Communication: Email newsletters allow marketers to communicate directly with their audience, delivering tailored content to their inboxes. This direct line of communication helps build and maintain relationships with subscribers. Increased Engagement: Well-crafted newsletters can engage subscribers by providing valuable information, updates, and offers. Engaged subscribers are more likely to convert into loyal customers. Brand Awareness: Regular newsletters keep your brand at the forefront of your audience’s mind. Consistent, high-quality content helps reinforce brand identity and values. Measurable Results: Email marketing platforms provide detailed analytics, allowing marketers to track open rates, click-through rates, and conversions. This data is invaluable for refining strategies and improving future campaigns. Cost-Effective: Unlike other marketing channels, email newsletters are inexpensive to produce and distribute, making them an excellent return on investment. Fall Newsletter Ideas With the importance of email newsletters established, let’s dive into some creative and inspiring fall-themed ideas that marketers can use to make their newsletters stand out this season. 1.... --- ### Why and How To Re-Engage Your Email Leads > When your email subscribers become dormant, you may think they're lost forever. But here's how to re-engage them. - Published: 2024-08-28 - Modified: 2024-10-01 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/re-engage-email-contacts/ - Categories: Email Marketing Marketing is a contest for people’s attention. And that’s a big challenge, as you’re up against a lot of noise. Honestly, noise is only how marketers describe consumers' other messages and distractions. If you can get and keep subscribers engaged email remains one of the most consistent channels to reach and motivate your target audience. In earning the same valuable piece of attention, the trick is, of course, to not become noise yourself. Your potential customer is assaulted by marketing messages everywhere he goes, so it’s tough first to generate quality SMB leads and keep them engaged. The even harsher truth is that many well-intentioned, committed SMB marketers are working with email lists in which an average 60% of the subscribers are inactive – or, to use the appropriate industry term, “dead. ” These contacts have not opened, clicked on, or responded to any email sent in the last period. Usually, the yardstick is six months or longer. Armed with this knowledge, SMB marketers can make the choice not to ignore the inactives
and just keep sending, with the risk of diminished deliverability. Instead, go for re-engagement and attempt to re-establish a relationship with those potential customers. Why It’s Worthwhile to Re-Engage It is a big chunk of the email list we are talking about. Inactive subscribers on your list have not unsubscribed. That means they are still part of your (addressable) audience. They already like you and want to hear from your brand. At one point, they opted in, which... --- ### Labor Day Email Subject Lines: Tips and Ideas to Make Your Campaign Stand Out > In this blog post, we explore celebrating Labor Day through email marketing and provide a list of subject line ideas for inspiration. - Published: 2024-08-27 - Modified: 2025-03-18 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/labor-day-email-subject-lines/ - Categories: Email Marketing, Email Design Labor Day is a significant holiday in the United States, marking the end of summer and honoring workers' contributions. For businesses, engaging with customers through targeted email marketing campaigns is an excellent opportunity. A compelling email subject line can significantly impact open rates, engagement, and overall campaign success. In this blog post, we’ll explore the importance of celebrating Labor Day through email marketing and provide a list of subject line ideas to inspire your campaigns. The Importance of Labor Day Emails Labor Day emails serve multiple purposes for businesses: Seasonal Engagement: They tap into the festive spirit, helping you connect with your audience when they are more likely to be relaxed and receptive. Sales and Promotions: Labor Day is synonymous with end-of-summer sales. Emails can drive traffic to your online store or physical locations, boosting sales. Customer Appreciation: It's an opportunity to show appreciation for your customers' loyalty and hard work, fostering stronger relationships. Brand Awareness: Creative and well-timed emails can enhance brand visibility and keep your business top-of-mind. Crafting the Perfect Labor Day Email Subject Line A compelling subject line should grab attention and entice recipients to open your email. Here are some key elements to consider: Relevance: Ensure your subject line is relevant to Labor Day and resonates with the holiday spirit. Urgency: Creating a sense of urgency can prompt recipients to open your email immediately. Clarity: Be clear about what the email contains. Ambiguous subject lines might be ignored. Personalization: Adding a personal touch, such as the... --- ### How to Read Your Email Reports in Benchmark Email > Email reporting helps you understand what's working and what isn't. Hee's how to read email reports using Benchmark Email. - Published: 2024-08-22 - Modified: 2024-08-13 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-read-email-reports/ - Categories: Email Marketing At Benchmark Email, we know that email marketing is one of the most effective ways to engage with your audience, drive sales, and build relationships. However, we’re even more aware that the success of your email campaigns hinges on understanding how they perform. That’s why our email marketing software provides comprehensive email reporting that gives you insight into various metrics to help you become a better, more innovative, and more effective email marketer. In this blog post, we'll break down each Benchmark Email reporting feature and explain how you can use these insights to improve your email marketing strategy. 1. Opens What It Is: The opens metric indicates how many recipients have opened your email. This is usually tracked using a tiny, invisible image embedded in the email. The image is loaded when the email is opened, and an open is recorded. Why It Matters: The open rate helps you gauge how compelling your subject line is and how effectively your email captures the initial interest of your recipients. A higher open rate suggests that your subject lines are enticing and your audience is interested in your content. How to Put It to Use: Improve Subject Lines: Experiment with different subject lines to see what resonates best with your audience. Send Time Optimization: Analyze open rates to determine the best times to send your emails for maximum engagement. 2. Clicks What It Is: The clicks metric tracks the number of recipients who clicked on one or more links within your... --- ### How To Send Emails in Just 7 Steps > Many email marketers fall into the trap of knowing when to send emails but not how to send them. Here's a simple guide to help you out. - Published: 2024-08-21 - Modified: 2025-03-18 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-send-emails-7-steps/ - Categories: Email Marketing Many email marketers fall into the trap of knowing when to send emails but not how to send them. Sure, they can create a campaign, send it out to the masses, and field the results, but there is far more to email marketing than just following the steps to create and send a campaign. Here are the steps we recommend when sending emails. Step 1: Define a Goal and Plan What do you want to accomplish with your email? What are your long-term goals as well as short term ones? What type of message do you want to send or template do you want to lose? These highly legitimate questions must be asked before you send your HTML email or newsletter. Here are some common email marketing goals to consider: Increase open rate Increase conversions Increase sales Increase subscriber engagement Move leads further down the funnel Step 2: Choose a Template and Graphics What email templates will you use when sending campaigns? It's a good question. Go over your options and choose one or more based on what you'll use them for. Choose one template for your sales emails, one for your how-to tips, etc. Once you've made these decisions, stick with them to build a sense of uniformity with customers. Step 3: Get Your Contact List in Order Go through your email list and strike out the hard and soft bounces that seem never to go anywhere. Segment your email list for better targeting. Once your contact lists are... --- ### 5 Easy Ways to Impress Your Boss with Your Email Marketing Strategy > Proving to your boss that your email marketing strategy is successful is crucial. Here are some qualitative and quantitative metrics to use. - Published: 2024-08-20 - Modified: 2024-08-13 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/impress-your-boss-email-marketing-strategy/ - Categories: Email Marketing In the competitive landscape of digital marketing, demonstrating the effectiveness of your email marketing strategy is essential. As a marketer, it's crucial to implement successful campaigns and communicate their success to your boss. Here are five easy ways to impress your boss with your email marketing strategy by showcasing quantitative and qualitative metrics. 1. Highlight Impressive Open Rates The email open rate is one of the most straightforward yet significant metrics to show your boss. This metric indicates the percentage of recipients who opened your email, providing insight into how well your subject lines and sender name perform. Quantitative Metrics: Open Rate Percentage: Calculate the open rate by dividing the number of opened emails by the number of delivered emails and multiplying by 100. For example, if 500 out of 2,000 delivered emails were opened, the open rate is 25%. Comparison with Industry Benchmarks: Show how your open rates compare with industry benchmarks. For example, if the average open rate in your industry is 20% and your campaigns achieve a 25% open rate, highlight this achievement. Qualitative Metrics: Subject Line Analysis: Discuss which types of subject lines (e. g. , personalized, urgency-driven, question-based) perform best and why. Recipient Behavior Insights: Provide insights into your recipients' behavior. For instance, explain that open rates are higher on certain days of the week or times of day, indicating the best times to send emails. 2. Demonstrate High Click-Through Rates Click-through rate (CTR) is another critical metric that shows the percentage of email recipients... --- ### How to Put Together an Effective Email Subject Line (and Examples) > Your email subject line is one of the most important components of a success email. Here's how to put one together successfully. - Published: 2024-08-14 - Modified: 2025-03-18 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/5-subject-line-tips-that-truly-work/ - Categories: Email Marketing, Benchmark Recommends First impressions matter, and yes, love at first sight does exist. Your subject line serves as the initial interaction customers have with your email – yet for a lot of marketers and copywriters, it’s still only an afterthought. While we agree that the email itself is the star of the show, it doesn’t matter if people don’t make it past the subject line. Make no mistake; your subject line is the most important element in your email campaigns. But you don’t have to take our word for it. 35% of people open emails based on the subject line alone. 69% of people will report an email as spam based on its subject line. Harsh reality – your perfectly curated, carefully designed, and strategically written email is worth nothing if it ends up in a spam folder. Why Email Subject Lines Matter Let's go over this a little more in-depth. Email subject lines are the gatekeepers of your email marketing efforts. With the average office worker receiving over 120 emails per day, standing out in a crowded inbox is more challenging than ever. A well-crafted subject line can: Increase Open Rates: The primary function of a subject line is to entice recipients to open your email. Set Expectations: It gives a preview of what’s inside, helping recipients decide if the content is relevant to them. Build Trust: Consistently delivering valuable content through well-written subject lines can enhance your brand’s credibility. Improve Engagement: An engaging subject line can lead to higher click-through... --- ### Hyperlocal Email Campaigns: Targeting Neighborhood-Level Customers > Hyperlocal email campaigns can help small businesses target neighborhood-level customers and increase sales. - Published: 2024-08-13 - Modified: 2024-08-07 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/hyperlocal-email-campaigns/ - Categories: Small Business Email marketing continues to prove its worth as an excellent option for companies of all sizes to reach their target audiences. In fact, on average, email marketing yields a return on investment or ROI of $38 for each $1 that’s invested. Everyone knows the importance of local email marketing, but what if you could get even more precise results out of your efforts? Hyperlocal email marketing targets customers at the neighborhood level, making your emails feel much more personal and relevant to each user. What is Hyperlocal Email Marketing? The process of hyperlocal email marketing involves leveraging detailed data about specific neighborhoods, including community happenings, local news, and demographic insights, to help you create emails that feel personal and relevant. Using this degree of precise targeting means that businesses can engage with their local customers on a much deeper level, resulting in higher open and click-through rates. People tend to appreciate receiving information that directly pertains to their daily lives and surroundings, which enhances their connection to the business. Ultimately, this leads to stronger community ties and more foot traffic to local stores, benefiting both businesses and their neighborhoods. The Importance of Hyperlocal Data Hyperlocal data is all about the specifics of a particular neighborhood and the people that make it up. It includes important details such as local events, community news, and neighborhood demographics, which paint a vivid picture of what's happening in a small area. Unlike broader local data that might cover an entire city or region, hyperlocal... --- ### How to Incorporate AI into Your Marketing Process > Incorporating AI into your marketing process is a great way to get more done without sacrificing quality. Here's how. - Published: 2024-08-08 - Modified: 2025-03-18 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/incorporate-ai-into-marketing-process/ - Categories: Marketing Staying ahead of the competition requires more than creativity and hard work; it demands the intelligent integration of advanced technologies. One such transformative technology is Artificial Intelligence. Incorporating AI into your marketing process can enhance efficiency, improve customer engagement, and make data-driven decisions without sacrificing quality. Here's how you can leverage the power of AI to empower your marketing strategy. Understanding the Role of AI in Marketing In marketing, AI refers to using machine learning algorithms and data analysis to automate processes, gain insights, and personalize customer interactions. It helps marketers manage tasks that would otherwise be time-consuming, providing more time to focus on strategy and creativity. Here's a detailed look at the specific parts of your marketing strategy that AI can enhance. 1. Customer Segmentation and Targeting Effective marketing starts with understanding your audience. AI can analyze vast amounts of data to identify patterns and segment your audience more precisely than traditional methods. Behavioral Analysis: AI can analyze customer behavior across channels to identify distinct segments. This helps in creating targeted campaigns that resonate with each segment. Predictive Analytics: AI can predict future behaviors based on past interactions. This allows you to target customers with the right approach and at the exact right time, increasing conversion rates. 2. Personalization of Content Personalization is a critical approach for engaging your audience, and AI excels in delivering personalized experiences. Dynamic Content Creation: AI can generate personalized content for different audience segments. For instance, it can customize email content based on a... --- ### How to Train Yourself in 15 Minutes with AI > Don't know how to do something but afraid to make it known? Here's how you can train yourself with AI in just 15 minutes. - Published: 2024-08-07 - Modified: 2025-03-18 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/train-yourself-with-ai/ - Categories: Marketing In the fast-paced marketing world, especially for those on small teams or working solo, staying current and mastering new skills is almost impossible. Often, marketers are expected to "figure it out" on their own without formal training or guidance. Fortunately, Artificial intelligence can be a powerful ally, providing targeted, efficient training to help you grow and excel in your role. In just 15 minutes a day, AI can be your trainer and guide, ensuring you stay ahead of the curve. Here's how: The Benefits of AI Training Before diving into the how-to, let's explore why AI is a game-changer for self-training: Personalization: AI tailors learning experiences to your specific needs and skill levels. Efficiency: AI can quickly identify gaps in your knowledge and provide targeted training. Accessibility: AI tools are available 24/7, allowing you to learn at your own pace and convenience. Scalability: AI can handle large amounts of data and provide insights that would be difficult to obtain manually. How to Use AI as Your Personal Work Trainer But where do you get started? Let's break down each step so you can see just how easy it can be to use AI as your personal work trainer. Step 1: Identify Your Learning Objectives To make the most of your 15-minute training sessions, start by identifying your learning objectives. What skills do you need to develop? What areas do you need help with? Common marketing objectives might include: SEO and Content Marketing: Improving your understanding of search engine optimization and... --- ### The To-Do List of a Digital Marketer > What exactly is a digital marketer responsible for? Here is a typical to-do list for a digital marketing professional. - Published: 2024-08-06 - Modified: 2025-03-18 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/to-do-list-digital-marketer/ - Categories: Marketing The role of a digital marketer is more dynamic and complex than ever before. Digital marketers are responsible for various tasks requiring a unique blend of creativity, analytical skills, and technical know-how. If you're considering a career in digital marketing or just curious about what it entails, here's a comprehensive to-do list that highlights the many responsibilities of a digital marketer. 1. Develop a Marketing Strategy One of the biggest responsibilities a digital marketer has is to develop a comprehensive marketing strategy that aligns with the company's goals. This involves: Market Research: Understanding the target audience, their preferences, and behaviors. Competitive Analysis: Analyzing competitors to identify opportunities and threats. Goal Setting: Establishing clear, measurable objectives for the marketing campaign. Budget Planning: Allocating resources effectively to ensure the best return on investment. 2. Content Creation and Management Content is king in digital marketing. Digital marketers must create and manage various types of content to engage and attract their audience. Blog Posts: Writing informative and engaging articles that resonate with the target audience. Social Media Content: Creating posts, graphics, and videos for platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Email Campaigns: Crafting compelling email newsletters and automated email sequences. Website Content: Ensuring the website content is up-to-date, relevant, and optimized for search engines. 3. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) SEO helps increase the visibility of certain content and your website on search engines. Keyword Research: Identifying relevant keywords that the target audience is searching for. On-Page SEO: Optimizing website content, meta tags, headers,... --- ### How to Use Benchmark Email to Re-Engage a Dormant List > Benchmark Email has unique features that will help you identify disengaged subscribers so you can re-engage a dormant list of subscribers. - Published: 2024-07-31 - Modified: 2024-07-25 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/re-engage-dormant-list/ - Categories: Email Marketing While important, maintaining a vibrant and engaged subscriber list is an ongoing challenge. Over time, subscribers can easily disengage, and the once-frequent opens and clicks can dwindle. But here's the good news: a dormant email list doesn't have to be a lost cause. In this article, we explore the art of re-engagement with the help of Benchmark Email. Join us as we uncover the strategies, tactics, and step-by-step guidance needed to resurrect your dormant list and transform it into an active and responsive audience. With Benchmark Email as your ally, re-engaging subscribers and achieving your email marketing goals is not just a possibility; it's a practical reality. Why is an Engaged Email List Important? Having an engaged email list is of paramount importance for several compelling reasons. First and foremost, engagement is a clear indicator of the quality of your email marketing efforts. An engaged audience opens and interacts with your emails and represents a pool of potential customers who are genuinely interested in your products, services, or content. This heightened interest translates directly into increased conversion rates, whether purchasing, signing up for a webinar, or taking another desired action. Moreover, engaged subscribers are pivotal in maintaining a positive email domain reputation. Email and internet service providers monitor engagement metrics and spam complaints to determine the legitimacy and relevance of your emails. High engagement signals to ESPs that your emails are valuable and solicited, resulting in better inbox placement and a reduced likelihood of being marked as spam. Beyond the... --- ### 5 Advanced Techniques for Data-Driven Customer Segmentation in 2024 > Advanced customer segmentation strategies can help you improve engagement, conversions, and customer lifetime value. - Published: 2024-07-30 - Modified: 2024-07-25 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/data-driven-customer-segmentation/ - Categories: Marketing Loyal customers are the lifeblood of any business. Understanding them through effective segmentation is critical to delivering personalized and relevant experiences that drive sustainable growth. Unfortunately, customer segments are not static. They evolve as customers’ preferences, behaviors, and circumstances change. Other times, customers may display traits spanning multiple segments, making assigning them to a single, well-defined segment difficult. This overlap can cause confusion and challenges when tailoring your marketing messages for each custom segment. You must continuously monitor and update your segmentation models to remain relevant and accurately reflect your target market. Let’s examine five advanced customer segmentation strategies to help you deliver personalized experiences that drive satisfaction and customer loyalty. 1. Persona-Based Segmentation Segmenting customers based on personas lets you tailor marketing and product offerings to specific needs, creating more personalized and targeted customer experiences. It involves creating detailed buyer personas based on the demographic, psychographic, and behavioral data of your current customer base. Image Source These personas represent distinct groups of customers with shared characteristics, preferences, and behaviors. You can segment your potential customers into these persona groups using clustering algorithms. Clustering algorithms help you identify segments within customer data. These algorithms analyze features like demographics, behaviors, and preferences to group customers into clusters based on their similarities. Each cluster represents a distinct persona or segment with shared characteristics. You can then create detailed buyer personas representing the typical customer in each cluster. For example, a software company analyzes data from its current customer base and identifies three... --- ### Why You Shouldn’t Rely on AI: A Cautionary Guide for Marketing Professionals > Using AI as part of your marketing plan can do wonders for your output. However, this is why you don't want to totally rely on AI. - Published: 2024-07-25 - Modified: 2024-07-17 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/dont-rely-on-ai/ - Categories: Marketing AI has rapidly become an indispensable tool in the marketing world, offering unprecedented capabilities in data analysis, customer segmentation, content creation, and campaign optimization. Its promise of increased efficiency and enhanced insights is alluring, leading many marketing professionals to consider it a panacea for all their challenges. However, while AI can be a powerful ally, it is crucial to recognize its limitations and understand why you shouldn't rely on it entirely. Here’s why marketing professionals need to approach AI with a balanced perspective. The Complexity of Human Emotions and Nuances Marketing is fundamentally about understanding and influencing complex and often irrational human behavior. Despite its advanced algorithms and data-processing power, AI still struggles to grasp the subtleties of human emotions and cultural nuances. Machines can analyze past behaviors and predict future trends to an extent, but they lack the innate human ability to understand context, sarcasm, humor, and cultural sensitivity. For instance, an AI tool might suggest a marketing strategy based on data trends. Still, with human oversight, it could understand the emotional impact of a campaign message and interpret cultural references. These nuances are critical for crafting compelling narratives and building genuine audience connections. A human marketer’s intuition and emotional intelligence are irreplaceable in these scenarios. Creativity and Originality: The Human Edge AI excels at pattern recognition and generating content based on existing templates and data. However, true creativity and originality are areas where human marketers shine. AI-generated content sometimes feels repetitive or generic, lacking the innovative spark distinguishing... --- ### Best Practices for Integrating Benchmark Email with Salesforce > Integrating Benchmark Email with Salesforce can help you better segment your email lists and personalize your outreach. - Published: 2024-07-24 - Modified: 2024-07-19 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/integrating-benchmark-email-with-salesforce/ - Categories: Marketing, Sales Among the most potent integrations for email marketing is Benchmark Email with Salesforce. This integration allows for seamless data flow, automated campaigns, and enhanced analytics, ultimately driving better engagement and ROI. In this article, we'll delve into the importance of this integration, explore the core functionalities of Benchmark Email and Salesforce, outline the integration capabilities, and provide best practices for a successful setup. Importance of the Integration The integration of Benchmark Email with Salesforce is a game-changer for businesses looking to streamline their marketing efforts and improve customer engagement. By combining Benchmark Email's robust email marketing capabilities with Salesforce's comprehensive CRM features, businesses can achieve a more cohesive and effective marketing strategy. This integration enables automated email campaigns based on CRM data, synchronized contact information, and detailed performance analytics, ensuring that marketing efforts are targeted and data-driven. Overview of Tools Let’s examine each tool's offerings to get a clearer idea of how integrating them will benefit your marketing efforts. Benchmark Email Benchmark Email is a powerful marketing platform designed to help businesses create, send, and optimize email campaigns. With features such as drag-and-drop email builders, automation workflows, A/B testing, and detailed reporting, Benchmark Email empowers marketers to craft compelling email campaigns that drive engagement and conversions. Benchmark Email also enables users to build their email list with simple website forms and landing pages to increase their subscribers and lead pool. Salesforce Salesforce is a leading CRM platform that offers tools for managing customer relationships, sales processes, and business operations. With... --- ### Follow-Up Strategies: Making Automated Responses Feel Personalized > With automated responses, it can be hard to make them resonate and feel personalized. Here are some tips to combat that. - Published: 2024-07-23 - Modified: 2024-07-17 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/personalized-automated-responses/ - Categories: Email Marketing In email marketing, follow-up strategies are crucial in maintaining engagement and nurturing leads. Automated responses can save time and effort, but they often lack the personal touch that makes recipients feel valued and understood. The challenge lies in striking a balance between efficiency and personalization. Fortunately, several strategies can help you add a personal connection to your email outreach, making automated responses feel genuinely thoughtful and engaging. The Importance of Personalized Follow-Up Emails Personalized follow-up emails significantly impact customer engagement and satisfaction. They show that you value the recipient as an individual, not just another name on a list. Personalized emails can increase your open rates, click-through rates, and conversions, ultimately driving better results for your marketing campaigns. Here are some effective strategies to make your automated responses feel more personal. 1. Ask for Feedback and Respond One simplest yet most effective way to add a personal touch to your follow-up emails is to ask your subscribers for feedback and ensure you respond to their replies. This approach makes recipients feel heard and provides valuable insights into their needs and preferences. How to Implement: Include a Feedback Request: In your automated follow-up email, include a section asking recipients to reply with their thoughts, questions, or feedback. Ensure that their input is valuable and will be read by a real person. Respond Promptly: When subscribers reply with feedback, respond promptly and thoughtfully. Acknowledge their input, address their concerns, and thank them for taking the time to share their thoughts. This shows... --- ### What is RSS Email Automation? > Let's expllore what RSS email automation is and why it is a simple addition to any email marketing strategy. - Published: 2024-07-18 - Modified: 2024-07-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/rss-email-automation/ - Categories: Email Marketing Staying connected with your audience and delivering fresh, relevant content is one of the biggest jobs a marketer has to accomplish. This is what makes RSS email automation so great. But what exactly is RSS email automation, and how can it enhance your marketing strategy? In this blog post, we'll explore the ins and outs of RSS email automation, its benefits, and tips for effectively incorporating it into your marketing efforts. Understanding RSS and RSS Email Automation RSS (Really Simple Syndication) allows subscribers to get updates from their favorite sites without physically visiting them. An RSS feed is a regularly updated summary of content from a website, including links to the full versions of the content. Users can subscribe to these feeds using an RSS reader, which aggregates updates from multiple sources into one place. RSS email automation takes this concept a step further by automatically pulling content from an RSS feed and sending it directly to subscribers' email inboxes. This process is automated, meaning that new content is automatically included in the next email sent to subscribers whenever new content is published on a website. This automation ensures that your audience always receives the latest content without you having to manually create and send emails each time you publish something new. Benefits of RSS Email Automation RSS email automation offers several key benefits for marketers looking to streamline their efforts and keep their audience engaged: Efficiency and Time Savings One of the most significant advantages of RSS email automation... --- ### From Zero to Hero: How Anyone Can Master Email Marketing > You don't need to be an expert to master email marketing. Here's how to go from zero to email marketing hero. - Published: 2024-07-17 - Modified: 2024-08-20 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/anyone-can-master-email-marketing/ - Categories: Email Marketing Email marketing is powerful. It offers unparalleled opportunities for engagement and conversion. However, it can seem daunting, especially for those new to the field. The good news is that anyone, regardless of experience, can master email marketing with the right approach, mindset, and tool. In this post, we'll break down the keys to email marketing success and show you how to go from zero to hero. Why Email Marketing? Before diving into the steps to success, let's briefly discuss why email marketing is so valuable. Email marketing allows you to: Reach your audience directly, delivering personalized content straight to their inboxes. It boasts a high return on investment, with some studies showing as much as an average ROI of $42 for every $1 spent. Email marketing helps build and nurture relationships with your audience, keeping your brand top-of-mind. Key Steps to Mastering Email Marketing Mastering email marketing is all about breaking down the process into steps. Take each of these one at a time, and you’ll be on your way toward a successful email marketing strategy. 1. Understand Your Audience Before you can send your first email, you need to know who you’re sending your emails to. Having a deep understanding of your audience is absolutely key. Who are they? What are their needs and pain points? What kind of content do they find valuable? Creating detailed buyer personas can help you answer these questions and tailor your emails to resonate with your audience. 2. Build a Quality Email List... --- ### Why Every Marketing Professional Needs an Assistant (And How AI Fits the Bill) > Marketers have so much on their plates that they could definitely use an assistant. What if we told you AI could be your marketing asisstant? - Published: 2024-07-16 - Modified: 2024-07-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/marketing-ai-assistant/ - Categories: Marketing Marketing professionals are constantly juggling multiple tasks, from strategizing campaigns and analyzing data to engaging with clients and staying ahead of industry trends. The increasing demands on marketing professionals can often lead to burnout and reduced efficiency. This is where having an assistant becomes invaluable. In recent years, AI assistants have emerged as powerful tools that can help marketers effectively meet these demands. In this blog post, we'll explore why every marketing professional needs an assistant and how AI fits the bill. The Growing Demands on Marketing Professionals The role of a marketing professional has evolved significantly over the past decade. Today, marketers are expected to be versatile and proficient in various areas, including digital marketing, content creation, social media management, SEO, data analysis, and customer relationship management. This multifaceted nature of the job requires them to wear many hats, often simultaneously. Some of the key challenges marketing professionals face include: Time Management: With so many tasks to handle, managing time effectively becomes a challenge. Marketers often find themselves stretched thin, struggling to prioritize and complete tasks efficiently. Data Overload: The digital age has brought an abundance of data, and sorting through vast amounts of information to make informed decisions is rather time-consuming. Analyzing and interpreting data accurately is time-consuming and requires a high level of expertise. Content Creation: Creating engaging and relevant content consistently is crucial for successful marketing. This includes writing blog posts, crafting social media updates, designing visuals, and producing videos, all of which demand creativity and... --- ### Domain Verification and Email Verification: What's the Difference and Why They Matter for Email Deliverability > What is the difference between domain and email verification? We'll explain, and why each are important for deliverability. - Published: 2024-07-11 - Modified: 2024-08-30 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/domain-verification-and-email-verification/ - Categories: Email Marketing Email marketing is a powerful, but its effectiveness hinges on ensuring that emails reach their intended recipients. You may not know it, but there are two critical factors that play a significant role in email deliverability. They are domain verification and email verification. Although they might sound similar, these processes serve different purposes and are both essential for optimizing email deliverability. Let’s explore domain verification and email verification are, their differences, and why they matter for email deliverability. What is Domain Verification? Domain verification confirms that you own the domain you use to send emails. It involves proving to your email service provider (ESP) and receiving mail servers that you have legitimate control over the domain. This process is crucial for establishing your domain's credibility and reputation. How Domain Verification Works: DNS Records: When you verify your domain, you will typically be asked to add specific DNS (Domain Name System) records to your domain’s DNS settings. These records might include TXT, CNAME, or MX records, which are used to validate your ownership. SPF, DKIM, and DMARC: Domain verification often includes setting up SPF (Sender Policy Framework), DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail), and DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance) records. These protocols help authenticate your emails and prevent spoofing. Verification by ESP: Once the DNS records are added, your ESP will check these records to verify that you own the domain. Successful verification enables you to send emails from your domain with enhanced credibility. What is Email Verification? Email verification, on... --- ### The Future of Smart Design: A Q&A with Benchmark Email’s Product Team > Explore the future of email marketing with Benchmark Email's innovative AI-powered tool, Smart Design. Gain insights from Jeff Zimmerman and Paul Rijnders on how Smart Design simplifies email creation, making it quicker and more efficient. - Published: 2024-07-10 - Modified: 2024-07-22 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/smart-design-product-interview/ - Categories: Inbound Marketing - Tags: Email Marketing, tools, Email Design As Benchmark Email continues to simplify email marketing for busy marketers with innovative tools, we had the opportunity to sit down with two key figures behind their latest AI project, Smart Design. Jeff Zimmerman, Chief Product Officer, and Paul Rijnders, Product Manager and the product lead for Smart Design, share their insights on the development and impact of this AI-powered email creation tool. Smart Design is set to simplify the email design process, making it quicker and more efficient for users to create professional-quality emails. Let's dive into their journey and learn more about the future direction of Smart Design. 1. What was the background behind your decision to develop Smart Design? Jeff Zimmerman: From the beginning, Benchmark Email has been designed with simplicity at its core. Email marketing can be challenging, so it is our pleasure to create a tool that helps our users easily bring their marketing strategy to life. Before we began incorporating AI, Benchmark Email was built around the easiest-to-use drag-and-drop email builder available, as well as an extensive library of email templates. The team has always been driven to constantly improve the process of building emails for our users. Paul Rijnders: Still, we understood the difficulties for marketers coming in to a new platform and creating a new email from scratch. Our goal was to take a task that typically takes hours and boil it down to minutes. Generative AI tools have been picking up steam in the last few years - even before ChatGPT... --- ### How to Infuse Personality into Your AI-Generated Content > AI generated content makes life easier for marketers. But it can also lack your brand voice and personality. - Published: 2024-07-09 - Modified: 2024-07-03 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/personality-ai-generated-content/ - Categories: Content Marketing In today’s digital marketing landscape, the use of AI-generated content is becoming increasingly prevalent. AI tools can help marketers create content quickly and efficiently, helping marketers meet tight deadlines and maintain a steady flow of fresh material. However, one major challenge remains: infusing personality into AI-generated content to ensure it is engaging and resonates with your audience. A bland, robotic tone can alienate readers and diminish the impact of your message. Here’s a tactical guide on how to add that much-needed human touch and personality to your AI-generated content. 1. Understand Your Brand Voice Before you can infuse personality into your content, you need a clear understanding of your brand’s voice. Your brand voice is the unique way your brand communicates, characterized by its tone, style, and attitude. It should reflect your brand’s values and resonate with your target audience. Tactics: Define Your Brand Voice: Create a detailed document that outlines your brand’s voice characteristics. Include descriptors like “friendly,” “authoritative,” “quirky,” or “professional. ” Use Brand Voice Guidelines: Develop guidelines that include examples of your brand voice in action. Make sure to share these guidelines with your team to ensure consistency across all content. 2. Customize AI Content Output Most AI content generation tools offer customization options. You can tweak the input parameters to influence the tone and style of the generated content. Tactics: Adjust Tone Settings: Use the tone settings available in your AI tool to match your brand voice. Options typically range from casual to formal and can... --- ### Introducing Tabs in Apple Mail: A New Era of Email Management > Apple Mail just introduced a new feature: tabs. Read our blog post to discover how this feature can help you stay organized. - Published: 2024-07-03 - Modified: 2024-06-25 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/tabs-in-apple-mail/ - Categories: Email Marketing The way we manage our emails plays a crucial role in our productivity and organization. Recognizing this, Apple has recently announced a game-changing update to its Mail app: the introduction of tabs. This new feature, reminiscent of Gmail's tabs, promises to revolutionize how we handle our email influx by offering a more structured and efficient way to manage our inboxes. The Evolution of Email Management Email has been a cornerstone of digital communication for decades. From personal correspondence to business communications, it’s a medium we rely on daily. However, the sheer volume of emails we receive can often be overwhelming. Over the years, various solutions have been proposed to combat this issue, from sophisticated spam filters to advanced search functionalities. Yet, many users still find themselves buried under a mountain of emails, struggling to find what they need quickly and efficiently. Gmail made a significant stride in addressing this issue with the introduction of its tabbed inbox in 2013. By automatically sorting emails into categories such as Primary, Social, Promotions, Updates, and Forums, Gmail provided users with a clearer, more organized inbox. Apple’s decision to introduce a similar feature in Apple Mail signifies a major step forward in email management, aligning with modern user needs and expectations. Understanding Apple Mail's New Tabs Apple Mail’s new tabs are designed to categorize incoming emails into different sections, allowing users to easily navigate and manage their inboxes. This feature is particularly beneficial for those who receive a high volume of emails from various... --- ### How to Fake it till You Make it with AI > By using AI, you can streamline your workflow, improve your day-to-day task management, and get more done. Here's how to fake it with AI. - Published: 2024-07-02 - Modified: 2025-03-14 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-fake-it-with-ai/ - Categories: Marketing In the highly competitive world of marketing, success often hinges on the ability to deliver results quickly and effectively. The pressure to perform can lead many to seek shortcuts or “cheats” to get ahead. AI offers a unique set of tools that can help marketing professionals achieve a semblance of expertise and efficiency, even if they are still learning the ropes. Here’s how you can leverage AI to “fake it till you make it” and accelerate your journey to marketing success. Automate Routine Tasks One of the quickest ways to appear more efficient and capable is by automating routine tasks. AI-powered tools can handle a wide range of mundane activities, freeing up your time to focus on strategic initiatives. Email Marketing AI can help streamline your email marketing efforts through automation and personalization. Tools like Benchmark Email use AI to segment your audience, craft personalized messages, and optimize send times for maximum engagement. By leveraging these tools, you can create professional and effective email campaigns with minimal effort, giving the impression of a well-oiled marketing machine. Social Media Management Keeping up with numerous social media platforms can be nearly impossible. AI social media tools like Hootsuite and Buffer can schedule posts, analyze performance metrics, and even suggest the best times to post. Additionally, AI-driven content creation tools like Lately can repurpose long-form content into social media snippets, ensuring your channels remain active and engaging without constant manual input. Enhance Content Creation Creating high-quality content consistently can be challenging, especially when... --- ### 23 Marketing Affirmations for Stressed-Out Marketers > Feeling stressed? Burned out? Wanting to quit? Repeat these marketing affirmations to help you get through stressful days. - Published: 2024-06-27 - Modified: 2024-07-19 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/marketing-affirmations/ - Categories: Marketing Most marketing jobs are fast-paced, with constant changes dictating strategies. You’re super busy, and stress can often feel like a constant companion. From tight deadlines to ever-evolving consumer preferences and the pressure to deliver exceptional results, marketers face a unique set of challenges that can be overwhelming. However, one powerful tool to combat stress and maintain a positive mindset is the use of affirmations. These positive statements can help shift your perspective, boost your confidence, and reinforce your commitment to success. Here are 23 affirmations tailored for stressed-out marketers to recite daily, providing a mental and emotional boost to navigate the demanding landscape of marketing. Time to get some zen and recharge. 1. "I am a creative and innovative marketer. " This affirmation helps you acknowledge your inherent creativity and innovation. Embracing this belief empowers you to approach each task with confidence and an open mind, fostering new ideas and solutions. 2. "I am capable of achieving great results. " Believing in your capability to achieve results reinforces your confidence. This affirmation reminds you that you have what it takes to meet and exceed your goals. 3. "Every challenge leads to growth. " Challenges are inevitable in marketing, but viewing them as opportunities for growth can transform your approach. This mindset helps you learn and improve with each experience. 4. “The best tool in my marketing toolkit is ME! ” It can seem like you over-rely on tools and AI to help you get what you need to get done;... --- ### Unlikely Places to Wow Your Customers > Looking to wow your customers? Here are some methods that you haven't thought of before and how to use them to delight your customers. - Published: 2024-06-26 - Modified: 2024-06-19 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/wow-your-customers/ - Categories: Inbound Marketing, Marketing In the competitive world of marketing, finding innovative ways to delight customers can set your brand apart. While traditional touchpoints like customer service and product quality are essential, numerous overlooked moments in the customer journey present unique opportunities to create memorable experiences. By paying attention to these unlikely places, you can surprise and impress your customers, fostering loyalty and encouraging word-of-mouth marketing. Here’s a tactical guide for marketing professionals on how to wow your customers in unexpected ways. 1. The Unboxing Experience The unboxing moment is often the first physical interaction a customer has with your product, making it a prime opportunity to leave a lasting impression. Tactics: Customized Packaging: Invest in high-quality, aesthetically pleasing packaging that reflects your brand’s personality. Use colors, logos, and designs that resonate with your audience. Personal Touches: Include a handwritten thank-you note or a small, branded gift inside the package. Personal messages can make customers feel valued and appreciated. Unboxing Instructions: Create a delightful unboxing guide or video link that helps customers get the most out of their purchases. This can also include tips, tricks, and usage ideas. 2. Post-Purchase Follow-Up Many brands neglect the opportunity to engage with customers after a purchase is completed. A thoughtful follow-up can reinforce a positive experience and encourage repeat business. Tactics: Personalized Thank-You Emails: Send a personalized email thanking the customer for their purchase. Mention the specific product they bought and express genuine gratitude. Usage Tips and Tutorials: Provide helpful resources such as tutorials, FAQs, or tips... --- ### B2B Lead Generation: The Ultimate Guide for 2024 > Searching for the best ways to generate more quality B2B leads? Read our comprehensive guide to B2B Lead Generation. - Published: 2024-06-25 - Modified: 2025-06-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/b2b-lead-generation/ - Categories: Inbound Marketing Leads are the soul and blood of any business. However, it can be quite a challenge to consistently find and manage a steady flow of leads that actually convert. In fact, 41% of marketers say generating more leads is one of the most prominent challenges they face. Meanwhile, 80% of new leads don't make a purchase. This happens because not all website visitors are ready to buy or fit your ideal customer profile. Hence, businesses must focus on creating a strong lead-generation strategy that attracts relevant leads. Especially for new businesses, as they need to concentrate on lead generation and building their brand. Without revenue from these conversions, it can be tough to stay competitive, no matter how great your products or services are. So let's get started! What is B2B Lead Generation? In the B2B world, businesses cater to other businesses. This means your lead or potential buyer would be some other business that could benefit from your service or product. So, the B2B lead generation process is all about finding other companies who need the product/service you provide and then nurturing them into a paid client. For example, an accounting software company might generate leads by creating informative content about tax regulations aimed at business owners. By providing valuable information or solutions to other's pain points, the accounting software company can attract potential buyers and also establish credibility as a leader in the industry. Why is B2B Lead Generation Important? Leads keep the business running. Without leads in... --- ### Google’s Site Reputation Abuse Policy and What it Means to Marketers > What exactly is Google's Site Reputation Abuse policy and what does it mean for the modern marketer? Read on to find out. - Published: 2024-06-20 - Modified: 2024-06-12 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/googles-site-reputation-abuse-policy/ - Categories: Marketing Google’s influence on the digital landscape is unparalleled, with its algorithms dictating much of the visibility and traffic that websites receive. One significant aspect of Google’s policy framework is its Site Reputation Abuse Policy, a set of guidelines designed to maintain the integrity of its search results by penalizing deceptive practices. For marketers, understanding and adhering to this policy is crucial not only to avoid penalties but also to ensure long-term success and trustworthiness in the digital marketplace. Here’s a detailed look at Google’s Site Reputation Abuse Policy and its implications for marketers. Understanding Google’s Site Reputation Abuse Policy Google’s Site Reputation Abuse Policy is part of its broader effort to ensure that search results remain relevant, reliable, and free from manipulative practices. The policy targets various forms of deceptive behavior that aim to boost a site’s ranking or mislead users artificially. Key elements of this policy include: Link Schemes: Practices involving the manipulation of links to alter a site’s ranking. This includes buying or selling links, excessive link exchanges, and the use of automated programs to create links. Cloaking: Showing different content to users and search engines. This deceptive practice is used to rank for keywords unrelated to the actual content provided to users. Thin Content: Pages with little or no added value, often created for the sole purpose of ranking highly in search engines without offering substantial information or user benefit. Scraped Content: Using content taken from other websites without adding any original content or value, violating copyright,... --- ### The Best Tool in Your Marketing Toolkit: You > There are so many different tools out there to add to your marketing toolkit. But what if we told you you're the only one you need? - Published: 2024-06-19 - Modified: 2024-10-23 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-best-tool-in-your-marketing-toolkit/ - Categories: Marketing, Benchmark Recommends As marketers, we’re constantly inundated with an ever-growing arsenal of tools designed to streamline processes, enhance creativity, and optimize results. From sophisticated data analytics platforms to AI-driven content creation software, the array of tools available can be overwhelming. Yet, amidst this technological bounty, one tool remains unparalleled in its impact and indispensability: you. As a marketing professional, your unique blend of creativity, intuition, and human touch is the linchpin that ensures success. Here’s why you are the best tool in your marketing toolkit and should never rely too heavily on outside sources. The Power of Human Creativity At the heart of every successful marketing campaign is a spark of creativity that resonates deeply with audiences. While tools can aid in generating ideas and optimizing content, they cannot replicate the depth and breadth of human creativity. Your ability to think outside the box, draw connections between seemingly unrelated concepts, and craft compelling ns is what differentiates a memorable campaign from a forgettable one. For instance, consider Coca-Cola's iconic “Share a Coke” campaign. The idea of replacing the brand’s logo with popular names was a simple yet brilliant stroke of creativity that no algorithm could have conjured. It tapped into the universal desire for personalization and connection, something only a human mind could perceive and execute effectively. Ensuring Quality Standards Tools can enhance productivity and efficiency, but they lack the critical eye required to ensure high-quality deliverables. As a marketing professional, you are the gatekeeper of your brand’s voice, image, and reputation.... --- ### The Busy Marketer’s Guide to Choosing the Right Marketing Software > As a marketer, you're busy. You don't have time to review tons of marketing software. Here's a quick guide to choosing the right software. - Published: 2024-06-18 - Modified: 2024-06-12 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/choosing-the-right-marketing-software/ - Categories: Marketing, Benchmark Recommends Marketing software is no longer a “nice to have” marketing tool. It has become indispensable for businesses of all sizes. From automating repetitive tasks to analyzing data and optimizing campaigns, the right marketing software can streamline processes, enhance efficiency, and drive results. However, with a plethora of options available, choosing the right marketing software can be daunting, especially for busy marketers juggling multiple responsibilities. In this guide, we'll walk you through the steps that will help you navigate the maze and ultimately select the right marketing software that meets your needs. The Basic (Yet Essential) Steps for Choosing Marketing Software Let’s keep things easy by breaking down these steps into easy, digestible tasks. It can be easy to get overwhelmed when choosing software, but the following steps should make it as painless as possible. 1. Assessing Your Needs and Goals The first step in choosing the right software is to assess your needs and goals. Take the time to identify your marketing objectives, target audience, and key performance indicators (KPIs). Determine which areas of your marketing strategy could benefit from automation, optimization, or enhanced analytics capabilities. By clearly defining what your needs and goals are, you can narrow down your options and focus on solutions that align with your specific requirements. 2. Identifying Pain Points and Gaps Next, identify pain points and gaps in your current marketing processes that could be addressed by software solutions. Are you struggling with manual tasks, such as email marketing or social media management? Do... --- ### Email Automation vs. Marketing Automation: What's the Difference? > In this article, we'll be discussing email marketing vs. marketing automation. What is the difference and why should you use either? - Published: 2024-06-13 - Modified: 2025-03-05 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-automation-vs-marketing-automation/ - Categories: Marketing Automation, Benchmark Recommends When it comes to digital marketing, automation has emerged as a game-changer, streamlining processes, enhancing efficiency, and driving results. While email automation and marketing automation are often used interchangeably, they serve distinct purposes and offer unique benefits. Let’s explore the differences between email automation and marketing automation and how each can empower your marketing efforts. Introduction to and Defining Marketing Automation Marketing automation encompasses a broad range of tools and processes designed to improve efficiency and effectiveness across various marketing channels. This can include email marketing, social media management, lead generation, customer relationship management (CRM), and analytics. By automating these functions, businesses can ensure timely, tailored interactions with their customers, which can lead to increased engagement and conversions. One of the biggest selling points of marketing automation is that it allows marketers to nurture leads throughout the customer journey. Through automated workflows, businesses can deliver tailored content and offers to prospects based on their behaviors and needs. This not only enhances the customer experience but also helps identify high-quality leads and move them through the sales funnel more efficiently. You should also use a customer experience platform along with email automation tools to elevate your customer relationship and loyalty. Furthermore, automation provides valuable insights into campaign performance. Advanced analytics and reporting tools enable marketers to keep an eye on key metrics, understand the behavior of their customers better, and make decisions backed by data. In essence, automation in marketing is about leveraging technology to enhance human capabilities. It enables businesses... --- ### Unlocking the Potential of Silent Videos in Email Campaigns > Silent videos can be a powerful and strategic component of any email marketing campaign. Here's how to incorporate them. - Published: 2024-06-12 - Modified: 2024-06-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/silent-videos-in-email-campaigns/ - Categories: Email Marketing Silent videos in email marketing have shown promising results in terms of engagement and effectiveness. Adding a video to an email can increase open rates by 19%, and simply including the word "video" in the subject line can boost open rates by 6% over time. They’re steadily carving out a unique niche in email marketing by offering a visually striking way to grab attention without uttering a single sound. To help you get started, this article is going to explore how these autoplay videos can transform your email campaigns into a silent storytelling force. We'll look at what types of content truly shine when the volume is turned down and share some insider tips on embedding these videos effectively. Plus, we'll cover how to track the success of your silent video efforts, giving you a fresh angle on connecting with your audience amidst the daily flood of emails that they’re getting. The Power of Silence in Email Marketing When it comes to email marketing, silent videos are making waves since they possess the unique ability to communicate messages effectively without the need for audio. One doesn’t need a psychology degree to understand the impact of using silent videos for informational purposes. Its effects on education are well-documented, with the focus being on subjects being forced to visualize the sound, hence forging a more vivid memory. This strategic approach addresses two key challenges: ensuring compatibility across email clients that may not support audio and catering to users in sound-sensitive environments such... --- ### Try This: One-Column Emails Get the Job Done > You may not believe it, but simplicity is often the key to success. When it comes to email marketing, one-column emails get the job done. - Published: 2024-06-11 - Modified: 2025-03-14 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/one-column-emails/ - Categories: Email Marketing As a marketer, you can easily get bogged down by complicated strategies and processes. Getting into the mindset of “more is more” can be commonplace, convincing us that unless the task wasn’t filled with steps and arduous tasks, then it wasn’t worth the outcome. However, that is a common misconception. You may not believe it, but simplicity is often the key to success. “Work smarter, not harder” should be the mindset that takes precedence, and it can be true for everything you do as a marketing professional. When it comes to email marketing, the approach that comes to mind is one-column emails. They offer a streamlined approach that focuses on delivering a clear, concise message to your audience. In this article, we'll explore the benefits of using one-column emails and how they can help you achieve your marketing goals with ease and efficiency. Introduction to One-Column Emails One-column emails are exactly what they sound like: emails that feature a single-column layout. Unlike multi-column layouts, which can sometimes overwhelm recipients with too much information, one-column emails offer a clean and focused design that directs the reader's attention to the most important content. The Benefits of One-Column Emails Still not totally convinced? Let’s nail down more specifics of why one-column emails can get the job done. 1. Always Responsive Design In today's mobile-centric world, responsive design is essential for ensuring that your emails look great and function properly on any device. Since they can adapt to different screen sizes, one-column emails easily... --- ### 11 Proven Strategies for Driving Sales > Increasing sales is a constant battle, and a constant goal. Here are some proven strategies that will get your sales churning. - Published: 2024-06-06 - Modified: 2025-04-22 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/strategies-for-driving-sales/ - Categories: Sales In the dynamic realm of sales, success hinges on a blend of strategic planning, customer-centricity, and adaptability. To thrive in today's competitive landscape, businesses must employ a multifaceted approach that resonates with their target audience, delivers exceptional value, and fosters long-term customer relationships. Let's explore 11 proven strategies for driving sales and propelling your business forward. 1. Understanding Your Target Audience A deep understanding of your key audience is the cornerstone of any successful sales strategy. Invest time and resources into market research, customer profiling, and data analysis to gain insights into your audience's demographics, preferences, and pain points. By understanding their motivations, you can adjust your sales approach to resonate with them and drive meaningful engagement. 2. Building a Strong Value Proposition A compelling value proposition is essential when capturing the attention and interest of prospective customers. Your value prop allows you to clearly articulate the unique benefits and advantages your products or services offer compared to your competitors. Highlight key features, emphasize value-added benefits, and communicate how your offerings address specific customer pain points. A strong value proposition serves as the foundation of your sales pitch, guiding prospects through the buying journey and ultimately driving conversions. 3. Implementing Effective Sales Funnels Sales funnels provide a structured framework for guiding prospects through the purchasing process, from initial awareness to final conversion. Map out each stage of the sales funnel, including awareness, consideration, conversion, and retention, and develop tailored strategies for engaging prospects at each stage. Utilize marketing channels, such... --- ### A Guide to Instagram Video Marketing for eCommerce Businesses > For eCommerce businesses, mastering Instagram video marketing is a must. Here are some tips and examples that will help. - Published: 2024-06-05 - Modified: 2024-07-19 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/instagram-video-marketing/ - Categories: Social Media, Ecommerce Over the years, eCommerce has evolved from just an alternative way to shop to becoming a regular part of our daily lives. As of 2024, retail eCommerce sales are expected to reach $6. 3 trillion, and that number is going to reach even more unbelievable heights in the coming years. Traditional retail giants have opened their own eCommerce arms to get a slice of the ever-growing pie. It’s definitely an exciting time to be in the eCommerce business. But this news means more and more business owners will want a share of that growing market, which also means you need to work harder to stand out. One tool that can help give you a fighting chance is Instagram. The social media platform boasts 2 billion active users, 87% of whom have bought a product after seeing it on Instagram. While the original Instagram did not support video content, the social media platform now has various types of video formats available for its users, including Instagram Stories, Reels, and Instagram Live. Over ten years have passed since Instagram introduced videos as an answer to the then-popular Vine, and video has become the most effective content format on the platform. This is despite Instagram Stories being an answer to Snapchat and Reels being dubbed a TikTok copycat. The Meta-owned platform can clearly get away with taking what's popular and repacking it as its own because Reels has quickly become a favorite format, while Instagram Stories is a classic that hasn’t gone out... --- ### Behind the Velvet Rope: How Email Exclusivity Drives Customer Retention and Lifetime Value > Email exclusivity is a marketing strategy that provides special access, offers, or content to a select group of customers via email. - Published: 2024-06-04 - Modified: 2024-05-29 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-exclusivity-drives-retention/ - Categories: Email Marketing In marketing, creating a sense of exclusivity can be a powerful strategy for fostering customer loyalty and driving long-term value. By offering special promotions, discounts, or content exclusively to your email subscribers, you can make them feel like valued insiders and incentivize them to remain engaged with your brand. In this article, we'll delve into the concept of email exclusivity and explore how it can drive customer retention and increase lifetime value. What is Email Exclusivity? Email exclusivity is a marketing strategy used by businesses to provide special access, offers, or content to a select group of customers or subscribers via email. This concept leverages the sense of exclusivity and privilege to enhance customer loyalty and engagement. Here are some key aspects of email exclusivity: Exclusive Content: Subscribers might receive access to content that is not available to the general public, such as special articles, tutorials, or insider information about new products and services. Special Offers and Discounts: Exclusive email offers can include discounts, promotions, or early access to sales that are not available to non-subscribers. Early Access: This can mean getting early notifications about new products, limited-time offers, or events, allowing subscribers to purchase or register before the general public. Personalized Experiences: Emails can be personalized based on user preferences, purchase history, or behavior, making the recipient feel valued and understood. VIP Programs: Some businesses create VIP programs that offer a range of exclusive benefits to their top customers, such as special support channels, invites to exclusive events, or... --- ### How to Measure PPC Performance and Optimize Ad Spend > How you allocate your marketing budget towards ads depends on how well they perform. Here's how to measure PPC performance. - Published: 2024-05-30 - Modified: 2024-05-22 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-measure-ppc-performance/ - Categories: Marketing Every marketing campaign needs to be measured carefully in order to optimize your ad spend. Otherwise, you’re throwing money into the wind and wondering why nickels keep hitting you in the face. While there are lots of great platforms available to help you with your marketing, you want to make sure that you are getting the most bang for your buck, which is why you need to learn how to measure PPC performance. In this article, we’ll explain the ins and outs of pay-per-click performance measures and how to optimize your marketing budget. What Is Pay Per Click (PPC)? Pay-per-click is a system whereby a user clicking on an advertisement is directed to your brand’s website. You, the advertiser, pay a fee each time your ad is clicked on—this is why it’s called "pay-per-click. " The cost of each click can depend on different factors, such as how competitive the keywords are, the quality of the ad, and who your target audience is. PPC campaigns are commonly used to drive traffic to websites and generate leads or sales. Advertisers bid on keywords relevant to their target audience, and their ads are displayed on search engine results pages or other websites. When a user clicks on the ad, they are directed to the advertiser's website, and the advertiser is charged for that click. What Reporting Metrics and Terms Are Used? The first step is to understand which metrics are used to measure your Pay-Per-Click ad performance and campaigns and how these... --- ### Going Back to Basics: Why Text-Only Emails Are Making a Comeback in Email Marketing > No one can get enough of the latest email design tactics. But what if we were to tell you that text-only emails were making a comeback? - Published: 2024-05-29 - Modified: 2024-05-22 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/text-only-emails-are-making-a-comeback/ - Categories: Email Marketing, Email Design In an era dominated by visually stunning graphics, interactive elements, and hyper-personalized video content, the email marketing landscape has become a playground for digital creativity. Marketers are constantly pushing the envelope to capture the ever-fleeting attention of consumers. Yet, amid this cacophony of colors and motion, a surprising trend is emerging: the resurgence of text-only emails. This back-to-basics approach might seem counterintuitive in our visually driven digital age, but it's gaining traction for its simplicity and effectiveness. Stripped of the distractions and loading issues that often accompany image-heavy emails, text-only messages are proving to be a powerful tool for cutting through the noise and reaching audiences in a more direct, personal manner. The shift towards text-only emails isn't just a passing fad; it's a strategic response to changing consumer preferences and behaviors. As inboxes overflow with promotional clutter, recipients are increasingly valuing clarity and authenticity over flashy designs. Text-only emails evoke a sense of straightforwardness and trust, reminiscent of personal correspondence rather than mass marketing. Moreover, they tend to perform better across various devices and email clients, ensuring that the message gets through without the common pitfalls of broken images or slow load times. By returning to the roots of clear and concise communication, businesses are rediscovering the timeless power of the written word, proving that sometimes, less truly is more. Let’s further explore why text-only emails are making their comeback. 1. Authenticity in a Visual World In an era where consumers are bombarded with polished marketing messages and slick... --- ### The Biggest Sales-Enhancing Fads that Are Sure to Burnout > There are tons of sales tactics out there, but some are just fads that are sure to burnout. Stop wasting your time on these sales approaches. - Published: 2024-05-23 - Modified: 2024-05-15 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/biggest-sales-enhancing-fads/ - Categories: Sales In sales, it's easy to fall prey to the allure of quick-fix solutions and shiny new trends promising overnight success. However, while some strategies may yield short-term gains, many are nothing more than passing fads that ultimately lead to burnout and disappointment. Let's dive into the biggest sales-enhancing fads that are sure to burn out and explore the path to embracing sustainable sales practices for long-term success. Fad 1: Quick-Fix Sales Tactics The promise of quick-fix sales tactics can be tempting, promising rapid results with minimal effort. However, such tactics often focus on short-term gains at the expense of building meaningful, long-lasting relationships with customers. Instead of chasing quick wins, prioritize building trust, providing value, and nurturing authentic connections with prospects and customers. Sustainable sales success requires a foundation of trust and credibility, which cannot be achieved through shortcuts or gimmicks. Fad 2: Shiny New Technology Solutions With the proliferation of new sales technologies and tools, it's easy to get caught up in the hype surrounding the latest innovations. While technology can certainly enhance sales effectiveness, blindly adopting every new tool that comes along is a recipe for burnout and inefficiency. Instead of chasing shiny new solutions, focus on identifying technologies that align with your specific sales objectives and complement your existing processes. Prioritize usability, integration capabilities, and scalability to ensure that technology enhances, rather than hinders, your sales efforts. Fad 3: Overemphasis on Social Selling Metrics Social selling has become a popular buzzword in sales circles, with many touting... --- ### How to Prioritize What to Include in Your Company Newsletter > When it comes to your company newsletter, how do you know what to include and what to exclude? Here is your easy guide. - Published: 2024-05-22 - Modified: 2025-03-14 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/what-to-include-in-your-company-newsletter/ - Categories: Email Marketing, Benchmark Recommends A well-crafted company newsletter can be a powerful tool for engaging with your audience, driving traffic, and fostering brand loyalty. However, with a wealth of information at your fingertips, it's essential to prioritize the content you include to ensure your newsletter remains relevant, valuable, and impactful. From understanding your audience to staying agile and adaptive, let's explore how to prioritize what to include in your company newsletter effectively. Take These Steps to Identify What to Include In Your Company Newsletter 1. Understand Your Audience At the center of any successful newsletter is in understanding your audience's needs, preferences, and pain points. Conduct thorough research, analyze customer data, and gather feedback to gain insights into what lands with your audience. By understanding their demographics, interests, and behaviors, you can pick what kinds of content to include based on what will provide maximum value and relevance. 2. Set Clear Objectives Before diving into content creation, define clear objectives for your newsletter. Whether it's driving website traffic, generating leads, or increasing product sales, align your content strategy with overarching business goals. Establishing measurable objectives will guide your content decisions and ensure that each newsletter serves a specific purpose in advancing your company's objectives. Here are some examples: Increase Sales and Revenue: Feature product promotions, discounts, or exclusive offers in your newsletters to drive sales. Highlight new product launches or best-selling items to encourage purchases. Include case studies to showcase the benefits of your products or services. Build Brand Awareness and Reputation: Share informative... --- ### The 5 Issues Plaguing Email Marketing > Email marketing isn't perfect. But if you know what issues can occur, you can still be successful. Here are five of them. - Published: 2024-05-21 - Modified: 2025-03-14 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/issues-plaguing-email-marketing/ - Categories: Email Marketing Email marketing is a compelling marketing strategy because it offers a direct channel to connect with customers, nurture leads, and drive conversions. However, despite its effectiveness, it isn’t perfect. Email marketing faces a myriad of challenges that threaten its efficacy. From inbox overload to compliance issues, the landscape is riddled with obstacles that marketers must navigate adeptly. Let's delve into the five issues plaguing email marketing and explore strategies for overcoming them. Issue 1: Inbox Overload and Email Fatigue The modern inbox is a battleground, inundated with a deluge of promotional emails vying for attention. As a result, subscribers suffer from email fatigue, leading to disengagement and reduced open rates. To combat this challenge, marketers must prioritize quality over quantity. Crafting compelling subject lines, segmenting email lists, and sending personalized content can help cut through the noise and resonate with recipients. Some other tactics that can help marketers overcome email fatigue include: Optimized Frequency: Monitor engagement metrics to determine the optimal frequency of your emails. Sending too many emails too frequently can lead to fatigue, so finding the right balance is crucial. Preference Centers: Allow subscribers to choose their email preferences, including frequency and content preferences. This empowers them to control their inbox experience, reducing the likelihood of fatigue. Interactive Content: Incorporate interactive elements like, quizzes or surveys to engage subscribers and break the monotony of traditional email content. Issue 2: Deliverability Challenges and Spam Filters Ensuring emails reach the intended recipients' inboxes is a perennial struggle for marketers. With... --- ### Boost Your Business with the Best Email Marketing Platform > Using the best email marketing platform for your business can boost sales, productivity, and help you strengthen customer relationships. - Published: 2024-05-16 - Modified: 2024-05-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-best-email-marketing-platform/ - Categories: Email Marketing Email marketing isn’t a “nice to have” marketing strategy. It’s an essential tool for every business, no matter the size. With the right approach and the best email marketing platform, you can effectively reach your target audience, build customer relationships, and ultimately drive sales. In this article, we’re going to explore the importance of email marketing and provide an overview of the features and benefits of the top email marketing platforms available in the market. But First, the Basics: What is Email Marketing? Before diving into the world of email marketing platforms, let's first understand what email marketing is and why it is crucial for businesses. Email marketing is a digital marketing strategy. It includes sending promotional messages or newsletters to a group of individuals via email. It allows businesses to directly reach and communicate with their audience, delivering personalized content, and ultimately driving engagement and conversions. Email marketing is highly effective and cost-efficient. It’s extremely effective at engaging customers, promoting products or services, and building brand loyalty. Unlike other forms of marketing, email marketing doesn’t relying on intermediaries or algorithms. Furthermore, it offers a higher return on investment compared to other marketing channels. Choosing the Right Email Marketing Platform Now, let's explore how to choose the best email marketing platform for your business. When selecting a platform, there are several factors to consider: Ease of use: Look for a platform that is user-friendly and intuitive, allowing you to easily create and manage email campaigns. Automation capabilities: Automation is a... --- ### The Ultimate Guide to Landing Pages > Landing pages are crucial for your inbound marketing strategy. Check out our ultimate guide to landing pages. - Published: 2024-05-15 - Modified: 2024-05-15 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-ultimate-guide-to-landing-pages/ - Categories: Marketing There are many reasons businesses cultivate an online presence, but probably the most important is to generate and convert leads. If you aren’t creating landing pages to help you take advantage of all the website traffic you receive, then you’re missing out on tons of opportunities to generate more revenue. When you spend so much time on paid advertising, creating content, and building a positive user experience, it’s silly to then neglect landing pages, which can ultimately make all those efforts more successful. If you’re new to using landing pages or simply want to improve your existing landing pages, you’ve come to the right place. This guide will walk you through the anatomy of a great landing page, different types of landing pages, and how to create them effectively. What is a Landing Page? A landing page is a standalone web page where users “land” or are directed to when they click on a social media link, email CTA, or an ad. Unlike other web pages, the landing page is focused on a single mission; to convert web visitors into qualified leads. Some of the most common types of landing pages include click-through pages, lead capture pages, and splash pages. Even though there are many types of landing pages, the ultimate goal is to generate leads. Components of a Good Landing Page A perfect landing page has five key components: Headline: The headline tells the page visitors what’s in it for them. It should be benefit-focused so that the visitors... --- ### Marketing Design: When to Use AI and When to Outsource > For busy marketers, there comes a time when they have to decide when to outsource and when to use AI for their marketing design. - Published: 2024-05-14 - Modified: 2025-03-14 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/when-to-outsource-marketing-design/ - Categories: Marketing Businesses are faced with a dilemma: whether to harness the power of artificial intelligence (AI) or outsource design tasks to human professionals. Each approach has its advantages and considerations, making it essential for marketers to understand when to leverage AI and when to entrust design projects to skilled designers. In this article, we'll explore the nuances of this decision-making process and provide insights into when each option is most appropriate. Introduction: The Dilemma of AI vs. Human Designers As businesses strive to create visually compelling marketing materials, they must grapple with the decision of whether to rely on AI-driven design tools or enlist the expertise of human designers. While AI offers efficiency and cost-effectiveness, human designers bring creativity, intuition, and a human touch to the table. Finding the right balance between these two approaches is key to achieving impactful marketing design outcomes. Understanding AI in Marketing Design AI-powered design tools leverage algorithms and machine learning to automate various aspects of the design process. From generating layouts and selecting color palettes to editing images and creating personalized content, AI can streamline workflows and produce high-quality designs in a fraction of the time it would take for manual intervention. The Value of Outsourcing to Human Designers While AI offers efficiency and automation, human designers bring a level of nuanced understanding that AI cannot replicate. Human designers possess the ability to conceptualize ideas, interpret complex briefs, and infuse designs with emotion and personality. Additionally, human designers can provide valuable insights, feedback, and revisions... --- ### The Top 5 Strategies Busy Marketers Should Prioritize for Maximum Impact > Marketers are busy and only have the capacity to focus on strategies that yield results. Here are the top strategies for busy marketers. - Published: 2024-05-08 - Modified: 2024-05-01 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/top-strategies-for-busy-marketers/ - Categories: Marketing Time is limited, which is why it’s essential for busy marketers to focus their efforts on strategies that deliver maximum impact. With countless tasks vying for attention, knowing where to allocate time and resources can be challenging. To help organize and simplify your efforts and achieve better results, we've compiled a list of the top five strategies that busy marketers should prioritize. 1. Audience Segmentation and Personalization You can no longer get by with a one-size-fits-all marketing approach. Most consumers don’t just enjoy personalization, they expect to receive content tailored to their specific needs and preferences. That's why audience segmentation and personalization should be at the top of every busy marketer's priority list. Start by dividing your audience into distinct segments based on demographics, behaviors, interests, and other relevant factors. This is the first step in creating targeted campaigns that resonate with each segment, which will increase engagement and drive conversions. Utilize data from your CRM system, email marketing platform, and other sources to gather insights about your audience and deliver personalized content at every touchpoint. Whether it's personalized email campaigns, dynamic content, or targeted social media ads, personalization is key to building trust and a strong connection with your audience. 2. Content Marketing Content is at the core of any successful marketing strategy. It's what attracts, engages, and converts prospects into customers. That's why busy marketers should prioritize content marketing as a core component of their strategy. Invest time and resources into creating high-quality, relevant content that educates, entertains,... --- ### How Does Your Email Marketing Stack Up? Industry Benchmarks Revealed > In the digital marketing toolkit, email marketing stands out as a crucial strategy for engaging audiences, converting prospects into customers, and - Published: 2024-05-08 - Modified: 2024-05-01 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-does-your-email-marketing-stack-up-industry-benchmarks-revealed/ - Categories: Email Marketing In the digital marketing toolkit, email marketing stands out as a crucial strategy for engaging audiences, converting prospects into customers, and retaining them over time. With its direct approach and personalized touch, email marketing can create meaningful connections and drive significant results. But how do you know if your efforts are truly effective? This is where the concept of industry benchmarks becomes invaluable. At Benchmark Email, we have the advantage of tapping into various industries to see how well their email marketing is performing. Doing so allows us to provide a breakdown of industry averages so you can see just how well you stack up against others. Join us as we dive into the importance of industry benchmarks and examine various benchmarks for some of the top industries. The Importance of Industry Benchmarks Industry benchmarks are aggregated data points that represent the average performance of email marketing campaigns within specific sectors. They serve as a yardstick for measuring your own campaign's success, offering insights into how well you're engaging with your audience compared to your industry peers. By understanding benchmarks, businesses can pinpoint strengths, identify areas for improvement, and strategize more effectively to meet their marketing objectives. The Role of Benchmarks in Email Marketing Benchmarks are crucial for gauging the effectiveness of your email marketing efforts. They help you understand whether your campaigns are performing at, below, or above industry standards. The benefits of comparing your metrics to these benchmarks include the following: Identifying strengths: Discover what you're doing well... --- ### Marketing Trends in the Financial Industry: What Works in 2024 > What are some markeitng trends currently happening in the finance industry? We explore seven of the biggest trends currently happening. - Published: 2024-05-07 - Modified: 2025-04-09 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/marketing-trends-in-the-financial-industry/ - Categories: Marketing The financial industry is akin to a swiftly flowing river, constantly evolving and shifting its course. In this type of unreliable industry, financial professionals find themselves navigating a complex web of regulations, technologies, and client expectations. The challenge, however, lies not just in keeping up but in staying ahead of the curve. Staying up-to-date with the latest marketing trends is not just a choice; it's a necessity to remain relevant and successful in this dynamic sector. In this article, we'll embark on a journey through the turbulent waters of financial trends, exploring how being at the forefront of these shifts can set the course for success in the financial world. 7 Marketing Trends Your Financial Institute Needs to Know About These trends are more than just buzzwords; they represent the dynamic forces shaping the financial industry. By understanding and integrating these trends into their strategies, financial professionals can position themselves for success and keep pace with the market's ever-shifting currents. Let's dive into the sea of change and discover the trends shaping the future of financial marketing. 1. Customer-Centric Marketing This trend focuses on placing the customer at the center of all marketing efforts. Financial institutions are tailoring their products, services, and communication to meet individual customer needs, enhancing client experiences, and building long-term relationships. Here are some examples of customer-centric marketing in the financial industry: Personalized Recommendations: Analyzing customer data to provide personalized product or service recommendations based on their financial goals and previous interactions. Tailored Content: Creating content... --- ### Effective Strategies for the Modern Marketer to Generate More Leads > Looking to generate more leads for your company? Here is a modenr guide any marketer can use to increase your lead flow. - Published: 2024-05-02 - Modified: 2024-04-24 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/generate-more-leads/ - Categories: Lead Generation Mastering the art of lead generation and conversion is essential for businesses to thrive. From attracting potential customers to nurturing relationships and ultimately converting leads into loyal patrons, the journey from prospect to customer is multifaceted and requires a strategic approach. This comprehensive guide will focus on the first half of the customer journey: lead generation. We'll explore the fundamental steps of building a robust email list and implementing those strategies that will provide your business with more leads. Join us as we delve into the intricacies of lead generation, uncovering the strategies and tactics that drive success in today's competitive digital landscape. We'll provide you with tips on how to implement these approaches, as well as some examples of them in practice. Ready to build your email list and get more subscribers? How to Get More Leads for Your Business Investing in your email list and ensuring it’s actively growing is a must for any healthy funnel. Here are some techniques: 1. Content Marketing Implementation: Create high-quality content that addresses the needs, pain points, and interests of your target audience. Incorporate relevant keywords and provide valuable insights to optimize your content for search engines. Examples: A software company creates blog posts that offer solutions to common industry challenges. An eCommerce brand develops a comprehensive guide on how to choose the right product for specific needs. 2. SEO: Implementation: Conduct keyword research to identify phrases and terms your audience is searching for. Optimize your website structure, meta tags, and content... --- ### The Power of Double Engagement Emails > Using a double engagement email strategy is a great way to increase subscriber engagement and sales. Here are some tips. - Published: 2024-05-01 - Modified: 2024-04-23 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/double-engagement-emails/ - Categories: Email Marketing With email marketing, every click and conversion counts, and the quest for innovative strategies to engage and retain audiences has never been more critical. Enter the realm of double engagement emails—a dynamic approach that not only captures attention but also fosters meaningful interaction between brands and their recipients. Double engagement emails harness the power of persistence, leveraging the principle that sometimes, the second time's the charm. This strategy involves sending an email twice: first to the primary audience and then to those who didn't engage with the initial message. It's a nuanced approach that acknowledges the diverse behaviors and preferences of recipients, offering a second chance to capture their attention and spark meaningful interaction. In this article, we'll delve into the nuances of double engagement emails, exploring their methodology, the psychology behind their effectiveness, and the tangible benefits they bring to modern marketing strategies. From optimizing response rates to nurturing leads, we'll uncover the strategic advantages of this approach and provide actionable insights for implementing it effectively in your email campaigns. Join us as we navigate the landscape of digital outreach and discover how double engagement emails can revolutionize your approach to audience engagement. The Concept of Double Engagement: Resending Emails for Maximum Impact One of the simplest yet most effective tactics in double engagement emails is resending messages to recipients who didn't open the initial send. Studies have shown that the majority of email recipients don't open emails on the first attempt, so giving your message a second chance... --- ### 8 Canva Features that are Gamechangers for Busy Marketers > Canva is a wonderful tool that makes marketing easy. Here are some Canva features that are gamechangers for marketers. - Published: 2024-04-30 - Modified: 2024-05-06 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/canva-features-that-are-gamechanges/ - Categories: Marketing Captivating visuals are key to grabbing attention, driving engagement, and conveying brand messages effectively. Enter Canva, a versatile design platform that empowers marketers to create stunning visuals with ease. From eye-catching social media graphics to polished presentations and everything in between, Canva offers a treasure trove of features designed to streamline the design process and elevate your marketing efforts. In this article, we'll explore some of Canva's standout features that every marketer should know about. Whether you're a seasoned designer or a marketing novice, Canva's intuitive interface and powerful tools make it accessible and user-friendly for professionals across industries. From customizable templates and a vast library of assets to collaboration features and seamless integration with other platforms, Canva provides a comprehensive toolkit to bring your creative visions to life. Join us as we take a closer look at how Canva can revolutionize your marketing campaigns, enhance brand visibility, and drive results. From crafting compelling visuals that resonate with your audience to streamlining your design workflow and fostering collaboration within your team, Canva empowers marketers to unleash their creativity and achieve their goals in the ever-evolving digital landscape. 8 Canva Features That Will Change Your Marketing Game In this section, we'll explore eight standout Canva features that have the potential to revolutionize your marketing efforts. From customizable templates to advanced design tools, these features are designed to empower marketers to unleash their creativity and elevate their brand's visual presence. Let's dive in and discover how these Canva features can take your... --- ### 10 Industry Tips Every Busy Marketer Should Know for Success > As a busy marketer, it can be hard to keep up with industry insights, trends, and tips. Here are some to keep in mind. - Published: 2024-04-25 - Modified: 2024-04-18 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/industry-tips-busy-marketer/ - Categories: Marketing For busy marketers, mastering the art of efficiency while staying ahead of the curve is not just a goal; it's a survival skill. As the digital landscape continues to evolve at breakneck speed, the pressure to deliver results amidst competing priorities can be overwhelming. In such times, arming oneself with industry-tested tips and strategies becomes paramount. Welcome to your definitive guide to thriving in the dynamic realm of modern marketing. From time management hacks to cutting-edge tools, from strategic insights to tactical maneuvers, this article is designed to equip you with the knowledge and resources you need to excel in your role, even amidst the chaos of a busy marketing landscape. So, grab your coffee, clear your schedule, and let's dive into the invaluable wisdom that awaits. After all, in a world where every second counts, arming yourself with the right knowledge can make all the difference between merely surviving and truly thriving. 1. Stay Informed with Continuous Learning In marketing, there are always new technologies, trends, and strategies emerging regularly. To stay ahead, make a commitment to continuous learning. Dedicate time each week to read industry blogs, attend webinars, and listen to podcasts. Follow influencers and thought leaders on social media and engage in conversations to stay informed about the latest developments in marketing. Here are some resources to help: Top 10 Email Marketing Blogs You Should Follow Navigating Digital Marketing Trends: Strategies for Small Businesses The Future of Email Marketing: Trends and Predictions for the Years to Come... --- ### Efficient Email Marketing: Quick Tips for Marketers Juggling Multiple Tasks > As a marketer, you're juggling tons of tasks at once, but that's no excuse to neglect email marketing. Here are some tips to stay efficient. - Published: 2024-04-24 - Modified: 2024-04-17 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/efficient-email-marketing/ - Categories: Email Marketing Marketers, akin to jugglers in a never-ending circus act, must deftly balance numerous tasks while keeping their eyes fixed on the ultimate prize: engaging and converting customers. Amidst this whirlwind of responsibilities, one tool stands out as both a lifeline and a potential vortex of time: email marketing. As marketers strive to harness the power of email to drive results, they often find themselves grappling with a myriad of challenges, not the least of which is the relentless pressure of multitasking. Why are marketers perpetually pressed for time? The answer lies in the dynamic nature of the digital landscape. With trends evolving at breakneck speed, algorithms shifting their algorithms, and consumer preferences undergoing constant metamorphosis, marketers are compelled to adapt and innovate ceaselessly. From crafting compelling content to analyzing intricate data, from nurturing leads to optimizing campaigns, the modern marketer's to-do list resembles a labyrinth, demanding both agility and strategy. Amidst this cacophony of demands, email marketing emerges as a linchpin, offering unparalleled reach and ROI. However, harnessing its potential while navigating the tumult of other responsibilities requires a keen understanding of efficiency tactics tailored to the unique challenges faced by multitasking marketers. In this article, we delve into the realm of efficient email marketing, offering quick tips and strategies specifically designed for marketers juggling multiple tasks. Whether you're a seasoned professional seeking to streamline your workflow or a newcomer navigating the labyrinth of digital marketing, these insights will serve as invaluable guides on your quest for marketing mastery. So,... --- ### What Should My 2024 Small Business Marketing Goals Be? > 2024 is here, and it's time to get your marketing goals in order. What will your small business goals be this year? - Published: 2024-04-23 - Modified: 2024-08-13 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/2021-small-business-marketing-goals/ - Categories: Small Business Most people start a small business because they have a great idea or a passion for a certain product or service. But that alone isn’t enough to run a successful company. You have to wear a lot of hats as a small business owner, including some that you might not have anticipated. And like it or not, that includes being a marketing strategist. With all the curve balls 2023 threw at us, it’s understandable to want to turn things around this year. Whatever marketing and sales setbacks you experienced or small business mistakes you made, you’re ready to wipe the slate clean and focus on bigger and better goals to follow through with. There’s nothing like making up for lost time, and last year, a lot of us lost a lot of time. Here’s the good news: you can absolutely turn things around this year. Let’s address the overarching marketing goals that you should be aiming for and some specific tactics to implement that will help you meet them. Are you ready to crush it this year? Goal #1: Increase Sales Okay, this one is probably pretty obvious, right? But setting your sights on increasing sales isn’t just about doing better than last quarter or last year. Instead, you should be quantifying an actual percent increase that you want to achieve based on past performance and market conditions. It’s completely fine to aim big (and you should! ), but make sure that it’s a goal you think you can actually... --- ### Mastering Email Marketing Without Overwhelming Yourself: A Guide for Busy Marketers > You have a lot on your plate and it can be overwhelming. But email marketing doesn't have to be. Here's your guide for mastering email. - Published: 2024-04-18 - Modified: 2024-08-20 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/mastering-email-marketing/ - Categories: Marketing We all know how effective email marketing is for engaging with customers, driving sales, and building brand loyalty. However, you’re a busy marketer with many tasks, and adding another item to your to-do list can be overwhelming. The good news is that mastering email marketing doesn't have to be daunting. With the right strategies and mindset, busy marketers can effectively leverage email marketing without feeling overwhelmed. In this guide, we'll explore practical tips that willstreamline your email marketing efforts and help you achieve success without burning out. Start with a Solid Plan Before starting your email marketing efforts, develop a solid plan. Define your goals, target audience, and key performance indicators (KPIs). Determine the frequency of your email campaigns and establish a content calendar to keep your messaging consistent. A clear plan will provide direction and ensure that your efforts are focused on achieving tangible results. Focus on Quality Over Quantity When it comes to email marketing, quality always trumps quantity. Instead of bombarding your subscribers with a high volume of emails, focus on delivering valuable content that resonates with your audience. Craft engaging subject lines that entice recipients to open your emails and provide relevant and valuable information that keeps them returning for more. You'll see higher engagement rates and build stronger relationships with your audience by prioritizing quality over quantity. If you're looking for some help with your subject lines, you can check out our Free Email Subject Line Generator. Segment Your Audience One key to successful email... --- ### How to Make Your Social Media Efforts Compliment and Amplify Your Email Marketing > Your email marketing and social media efforts should work together for optimal results. Here's how to get it done. - Published: 2024-04-17 - Modified: 2024-04-10 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/social-media-efforts-compliment-email-marketing/ - Categories: Email Marketing, Social Media Effective email marketing strategies often rely on a multi-channel approach to reach and engage customers. Among the myriad of marketing channels available, social media and email marketing stand out as two powerful tools for connecting with your audience. While each channel has its strengths and benefits, integrating them can amplify your overall marketing efforts, driving engagement, nurturing leads, and ultimately boosting conversions. In this guide, we'll explore how to seamlessly integrate social media and email marketing to maximize your reach and impact. Understanding the Strengths of Each Channel Before diving into integration strategies, it's essential to understand the unique strengths of both social media and email marketing. Social Media Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are ideal for building brand awareness, fostering community engagement, and sharing dynamic content in real time. Here are some specific benefits social media offers: Broad Reach: There are billions of active users worldwide on social platforms, providing an extensive audience base for your marketing efforts. Engagement Opportunities: Social media allows for direct interaction with your audience through comments, likes, shares, and messages, fostering engagement and building relationships. Brand Visibility: Regular posting on social media increases brand visibility and awareness among potential customers, keeping your brand top-of-mind. Targeting Capabilities: Social media platforms offer sophisticated targeting options based on demographics, interests, behavior, and more, allowing you to reach specific segments of your audience effectively. Content Variety: You can share various types of content on social media, including images, videos, polls, stories, and live streams, catering to different... --- ### Email Design Trends: What Catches the Subscriber's Eye in 2024? > Interested in knowing what email design trends are on the horizon? We caught up with eight experts for their input. - Published: 2024-04-16 - Modified: 2025-03-14 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-design-trends/ - Categories: Email Marketing Even though the digital marketing industry is constantly changing, email marketing remains a cornerstone of marketing strategies for businesses across industries. However, with inboxes flooded with messages competing for attention, standing out has become more challenging than ever. As we step into 2024, the art of email design continues to undergo transformations, driven by evolving consumer preferences, technological advancements, and the quest for engagement. Understanding the pulse of contemporary email design is paramount for marketers aiming to captivate audiences and drive conversions. To shed light on the most impactful trends shaping email design this year, we've turned to industry experts for their insights and predictions. From innovative visual elements to interactive functionalities, the realm of email design is ripe with possibilities. In this article, we'll delve into the emerging trends that are poised to catch the subscriber's eye in 2024, offering a roadmap for marketers to navigate the ever-changing landscape of email marketing. From the Experts: 2024 Email Design Trends Join us as we explore the frontier of email design, guided by the expertise and foresight of leading voices in the field. Through their perspectives, we'll uncover the strategies and approaches that are set to redefine the way brands connect with their audiences through the inbox. 1. Putting UX First “The biggest trend in email marketing design will be a strong focus on UX and it's likely to influence all email design aspects. From email subject line and preheader to the choice of template, fonts, and CTAs, email marketing design... --- ### How to Fake it Till You Make it: The Email Marketer Edition > It isn't easy being an email marketer. Here are some tips that will help you fake it till you make it (and no one will know). - Published: 2024-04-11 - Modified: 2024-08-20 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/fake-it-till-you-make-it-email-marketer-edition/ - Categories: Email Marketing Welcome to the high-stakes world of email marketing, where every subject line is a make-or-break moment, and every click-through is a victory dance. But what if you're not quite feeling like the email marketing maestro you aspire to be? Fear not, dear reader, for we're about to embark on a journey into the art of faking it till you make it: Email Marketer Edition! So grab your keyboard, dust off your best smiley face emojis, and let's dive into the wild world of crafting the perfect email campaign – even if you're not quite sure what you're doing yet. Understand Your Audience The first step in effective email marketing is understanding your audience. Understanding your audience is crucial for email marketing because it forms the foundation upon which successful campaigns are built. Here are a few reasons why: Relevance: Knowing your audience allows you to tailor your messages to their specific needs and preferences. When your emails resonate with recipients, they are more likely to engage with your content, leading to higher open rates, click-through rates, and conversions. Personalization: Personalized emails that speak directly to the recipient tend to perform better than generic messages. By understanding your audience's demographics, behaviors, and purchase history, you can create targeted campaigns that feel like they were crafted just for them. Avoiding Spam Filters: Email service providers use algorithms to filter out spam based on factors like engagement rates and user feedback. Sending irrelevant or unsolicited emails can harm your sender reputation and cause... --- ### Navigating Email Threats: How To Keep Your Marketing Team Safe > Email attacks are becoming more advanced due to technologies like AI. Learn how to protect your marketing team with cyber-resilient measures. - Published: 2024-04-10 - Modified: 2024-04-02 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/navigating-email-threats/ - Categories: Uncategorized A 2023 survey revealed that four in ten malicious emails received by global employees were response-based or credential theft attacks. Response-based emails were 40. 5 percent, while credential theft attacks were 58. 2 percent. Meanwhile, malware delivery accounted for 1. 3 percent. These figures underscore the prevalence of emails as channels for comprehensive data breaches. Without resilient cybersecurity measures, these threats can significantly affect your organization, particularly the marketing team. Some attacks may even be challenging to spot instantly. As such, this guide will provide tips to shield your email marketers from cyberattacks. We will also discuss the most frequent email threats to understand how they work. Types of Workplace Email Threats The types of email threats your company must be aware of include: Virus and Malicious Software Malware, or malicious software, is a program or code that harms computers, networks, and servers. Viruses are malware types that self-replicate by inserting their codes into other programs. These attacks work through the following methods: Malware: Hackers often use various channels to access systems. Viruses: They are usually dormant until you activate the attack, either by downloading corrupt files, opening infected applications, or clicking malicious links. Emails are among the most common channels for these attacks because hackers can embed links or attachments, such as ransomware, spyware, and trojans. Malware attack outcomes depend on its type. For example, ransomware aims to receive payment in exchange for system restoration. Meanwhile, viruses disrupt your operations and may incur costly restoration. Hackers don’t profit from... --- ### 18 Essential Small Business Marketing Strategies > If you want your small business to stand out against bigger or more well-known competition, then you need these marketing strategies. - Published: 2024-04-09 - Modified: 2025-03-26 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/12-essential-small-business-marketing-strategies/ - Categories: Small Business Let’s face it: there are a million and one small business marketing strategies out there, but if you’re like most business owners, you don’t have the endless budget and time to find the hidden treasures that lead to results. Also, determining which marketing strategy is most effective can take months of testing and evaluation. After growing businesses, testing plenty of marketing campaigns, and helping our small business customers grow, here are 18 marketing techniques for small businesses that you can use to help your small business flourish. 1. Perform Audience Research Marketing is about sending a relevant message to your target audience to persuade them to buy your product or service. If you don’t know your target audience, you risk focusing your attention too broadly or on the wrong people, which is a catastrophic error in the age of personalization. Successful marketing begins with target audience research — a data-backed process that culminates into elaborate audience persona(s). An audience persona is a profile or visualization of the person you’re trying to reach. It outlines traits such as geographical location, career, gender, motivation, pain points, budget, and more. The audience persona is your “north star” for creating and launching successful marketing strategies, from content marketing to word-of-mouth. It lays the foundation of your marketing strategy and informs the best channels to use for effective marketing. 2. Build a Strong Brand Identity A strong brand identity sets your business apart from others and helps create a memorable impression. Consistent branding across all... --- ### Which Channels Make Sense for Your Marketing Strategy? > For every business, it's important to focus your marketing on the right channels, which ensures you meet your audience where they are. - Published: 2024-04-04 - Modified: 2024-03-27 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/channels-for-marketing-strategy/ - Categories: Marketing One of the biggest challenges marketing managers face is selecting the right channels to get their message across from the myriad of options available. With each channel offering unique strengths and catering to different audience behaviors, the task of choosing the most effective ones can seem daunting. The key lies in aligning your channel selection with your business goals, understanding the preferences of your target audience, and considering the resources you have at your disposal. In this blog post, we’ll walk you through the steps you need to take to ensure you’re targeting the right marketing channels with your message. Step 1: Understanding Your Audience Before embarking on any marketing initiative, you must completely understand who you’re targeting. You may think you already know who your target audience is, but we still recommend doing a refresh to ensure you’re aligned with their needs, as they can shift over time. Identify Your Target Audience Knowing who your target audience includes identifying their demographics, behaviors, and preferences. This insight guides which channels are most likely to reach them effectively. Audience Channel Preferences Equally important is understanding where your audience spends their time and how they engage with content. Matching your channel selection to your audience's preferences ensures that your marketing efforts resonate and engage them where they are most active. Step 2: Evaluating Marketing Channels Let's examine various marketing channels, discussing their strengths, weaknesses, and best use cases to help you make informed decisions. Social Media Marketing Social media offers unparalleled reach... --- ### Signs It's Time to Explore New Markets with Your Marketing > Is your company ready to explore new markets with your marketing? Here are the telltale signs as well as the benefits. - Published: 2024-04-03 - Modified: 2024-03-27 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/explore-new-markets/ - Categories: Marketing Market expansion is a strategic growth avenue many businesses consider in their quest for increased profitability and market share. While exploring new markets presents immense opportunities, timing this expansion is crucial to maximize success and minimize risks. Recognizing the right moment to venture into new territories can be the difference between flourishing growth and costly missteps. If you’re considering expanding your reach and exploring new markets for your brand, you’ve come to the right place. We’ll help walk you through the process so you can ensure you’re on the right track towards market expansion. The Benefit of Market Expansion: Opportunities for Diversification One of the big benefits of exploring new markets is the ability to diversify. Diversifying into new markets can mitigate risks associated with relying on a single market and open up additional revenue streams. Identifying opportunities for diversification that leverage your business's strengths and core competencies can be a strategic move to ensure long-term growth. There are different kinds of diversifications to consider, however: Product Diversification: Entering new markets can lead to the development of new products or services tailored to meet the unique needs of these markets. This can include modifying existing products or creating entirely new offerings. Product diversification helps in mitigating risks associated with reliance on a single product line. Geographical Diversification: By expanding operations into new geographical areas, companies can reduce their vulnerability to adverse conditions in any one market. This could be economic downturns, regulatory changes, or natural disasters. Geographical diversification allows for... --- ### 7 Places to Find Email Template Images > Looking to spruce up your email templates with high-quality images? Here are some places to find images that will suit your needs. - Published: 2024-04-02 - Modified: 2024-06-14 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/find-email-template-images/ - Categories: Email Marketing In the realm of email marketing, the adage "a picture is worth a thousand words" holds more truth than ever. With the average person receiving an overwhelming number of emails daily, standing out in a crowded inbox has become increasingly challenging. The incorporation of high-quality visuals into your email campaigns is not just an enhancement; it's a necessity for capturing attention, engaging your audience, and ultimately driving higher conversion rates. The Visual Challenge Despite the clear benefits, sourcing the perfect image can be a daunting task. Marketers often grapple with finding high-quality, relevant images that not only resonate with their message but also navigate the murky waters of copyright laws. This challenge necessitates a reliable go-to list of resources tailored to various needs and budgets. Free Image Resources Below are some free image resources that you can tap into for a more creative, visually appealing newsletter and email design. 1. Unsplash Unsplash is a website offering a vast collection of high-quality, royalty-free images contributed by photographers worldwide. These images can be downloaded and used for free; crediting the photographer is appreciated but not mandatory under its license. With access to a wide range of images on Unsplash, you can select photos that align with your brand image, helping to maintain consistency across all your communications. You can also tap into a wide range of categories and themes, from nature and technology to business and lifestyle. This variety ensures you can find suitable images for different types of emails, whether for... --- ### How to Create an Email Using Canva > Canva is a great design tool for marketers to use. You can create almost anything, including images for your email marketing campaigns. - Published: 2024-03-28 - Modified: 2024-03-25 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-create-an-email-using-canva/ - Categories: Marketing Email marketing remains a vital component of digital marketing strategies, offering a direct line to your audience's inboxes. However, crafting visually appealing emails that captivate and engage can be challenging, especially without extensive design experience. This is where Canva comes in - a user-friendly graphic design tool that simplifies the creation of email templates. In this article, we'll guide you through using Canva to create a visually captivating email. We'll focus on using multiple images effectively while ensuring your emails are accessible and deliverability-friendly. Canva and Email Design: A Guide When it comes to using Canva for email design, there are essentially two routes you can go. You can use their email templates to craft an entire email, or you can use their image creator to put together unique, interesting images to add to an existing email design. The latter is an option if you’re using email marketing software and already have an email template within the software. We do not recommend creating an entire email template in Canva and uploading it to your email marketing software as an image. This can affect your deliverability, and the image may not be rendered properly for every recipient. With that in mind, we’ll walk you through how to create images in Canva and how you can use them in your email designs via your email marketing software. Step 1: Planning Your Email Design Before diving into Canva, plan your email's layout. Consider which parts will be images and which parts will be... --- ### Email Marketing Tactics to Increase Your Hotel Bookings > Email marketing serves many purposes for the hospitality industry. Here's how you can use email marketing to increase hotel bookings. - Published: 2024-03-27 - Modified: 2024-03-22 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-increase-hotel-bookings/ - Categories: Email Marketing For hospitality marketing managers, email marketing is an effective tool to increase hotel bookings. When executed correctly, it can significantly boost occupancy rates by targeting potential guests with personalized, timely, and enticing offers. In this article, we’ll explore various email strategies that can help hospitality marketing managers see an uptick in bookings. How to Increase Hotel Bookings With Email Marketing 1. Personalization is Key When creating an effective email marketing campaign, personalization is crucial. Personalization is more than addressing the recipient by name; it’s tailoring the content of your emails to align with the preferences and behaviors of individual guests. For example, if a guest frequently books spa treatments during their stays, send them an email highlighting your hotel's spa services and special offers. Using a CRM system can help you track guest preferences and history, making it easier to send targeted, relevant emails. 2. Segment Your Email List Segmentation is when you divide your email list into different groups based on criteria like demographics, past booking history, or expressed interests. This allows you to send more targeted emails. For instance, you could send a family-friendly package offer to guests who have previously stayed with their families or a romantic getaway proposal to couples. 3. Craft Enticing Subject Lines The subject line is the first thing a recipient sees, and it can make or break the open rate of your email. Use compelling and clear subject lines that create a sense of urgency or offer value. For example, “Limited Time... --- ### Comprehensive Guide to Email Marketing for the Manufacturing Industry > Email marketing has emerged as a pivotal tool in the manufacturing sector. Here's a comprehensive guide to email marketing for manufacturing. - Published: 2024-03-26 - Modified: 2024-03-22 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-for-manufacturing/ - Categories: Manufacturing Email marketing has emerged as a pivotal tool in the manufacturing sector, diverging from general marketing approaches with its unique demands and opportunities. This sector, marked by its technical nature and niche audiences, leverages email marketing to establish a more intimate communication channel with its audience. Unlike the broad and often impersonal strategies employed in other industries, email marketing in manufacturing is tailored to impact business growth by addressing specific needs and pain points of the industry. In this guide, we’ll walk you through email marketing for the manufacturing sector, including tips and strategies to try. Laying Your Email Marketing Groundwork Before you hit the ground running with your email marketing, you need to take three very important steps. 1. Understand Your Audience Before you get started, you have to know who you’re talking to. Manufacturing companies often target a wide range of individuals and organizations with their marketing efforts. The specific targets can vary significantly depending on the nature of the products being manufactured, whether they are consumer goods, industrial equipment, or B2B products. Here are some of the primary types of people and entities that manufacturing companies commonly target with their marketing: Business Customers (B2B) Procurement Managers: Individuals responsible for purchasing products or raw materials needed for their company’s operations. They are interested in product quality, cost-effectiveness, reliability, and supplier relationships. Industry Professionals and Engineers: This group is targeted for products requiring technical expertise. They are interested in the specifications, capabilities, and innovations of products. Executives and Decision-Makers:... --- ### Building Stronger Distributor Relationships with Targeted Email Campaigns > As a manufacturer, your relationship with distributors is pivotal. Here's how to use targeted email campaigns to make them stronger. - Published: 2024-03-21 - Modified: 2024-03-12 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/distributor-relationships-targeted-email-campaigns/ - Categories: Manufacturing As a manufacturer, your relationship with distributors is pivotal. They are your frontline sales force, the ones who get your products into the hands of the customers. In the digital age, email marketing has become a crucial tool in cultivating these relationships. However, it is not just any email blast that will do; it requires targeted, well-crafted email campaigns that speak directly to the needs and interests of the distributor. But how do you pull that off? Where do you even start? Don’t worry, we put together a guide that will help you keep your distributor relationships stronger than ever with email marketing. How to Send Targeted Email Campaigns to Your Distributor We’ve broken down this process into steps complete with tips that will help you nail these targeted emails. 1. Understand Your Distributors Before you even begin crafting your email, it's essential to understand your distributors. They come with different sales strategies, market segments, and customer bases. Tailoring your content to fit their unique business models and challenges will show that you view the relationship as a partnership rather than just another sales channel. 2. Use Segmentation Tactics The first step in crafting your email campaign is segmentation. Break down your distributor list by various factors such as geographic location, sales performance, the type of customers they serve, and even the products they buy most. This allows you to send relevant content to help them sell more effectively. For instance, a distributor in a seaside town may benefit from... --- ### How to Achieve Brand Consistency Across Marketing Channels > Maintaining brand consistency across various marketing channels is key to building trust and engagement among audiences. - Published: 2024-03-20 - Modified: 2024-03-12 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/brand-consistency-across-marketing-channels/ - Categories: Marketing Brand consistency is not just a buzzword; it's the backbone of building trust and recognition with your audience. Consistent branding transcends mere aesthetics, fostering a sense of familiarity and reliability that can significantly boost your marketing efforts. But how can you achieve this consistency without a degree in design? The good news is, with today's tools and resources, you don't have to be a design expert to create high-quality, consistent marketing materials. This guide will walk you through the core idea behind brand consistency and how your business can achieve it in all your marketing channels. Understanding Brand Consistency: The What and Why Brand consistency means ensuring that all your marketing materials, across every channel, reflect the core elements of your brand identity—your logo, color scheme, typography, and tone of voice—in a uniform manner. This consistency helps your audience to instantly recognize your brand, reinforcing their trust and increasing the likelihood of engagement. It's about creating a cohesive experience that aligns with your brand's values and message, no matter where your audience encounters it. Core Elements of Brand Identity When you think of the most identifiable brands out there, what do you see? Chances are you see many components that make up their brand identity. A strong brand identity is built on several key elements: Logo: Your brand's visual hallmark. Color Scheme: Specific colors associated with your brand. Typography: The fonts that carry your brand's voice. Tone of Voice: The personality conveyed through your written and spoken communication. Each of... --- ### Is It Time to Ditch Your Email Marketing Software? > How can you tell when you're email marketing software isn't right for you? Here are the signs it's time to ditch your software. - Published: 2024-03-19 - Modified: 2024-03-12 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/time-to-ditch-your-email-marketing-software/ - Categories: Email Marketing In the fast-paced digital world, email marketing remains a cornerstone for businesses looking to connect with their audience. However, as technology evolves and consumer preferences shift, the effectiveness of traditional email marketing strategies—and the software that supports them—is increasingly under scrutiny. The question on many marketers' minds now is whether it's time to ditch their current email marketing software in favor of new, more innovative solutions or solutions that are more tailored to their specific needs. In this blog post, we'll explore the reasons why you might consider switching from your current email marketing software to something that better aligns with your particular needs. We'll also explore the signs that your current system may no longer be serving your needs, the potential benefits of adopting a new approach, and how to make the transition smoothly. The Pitfalls of Software Complexity There are various reasons why you may be wondering if it’s time to ditch your current software and find something else. One reason we see most often is that marketing professionals find that the software they’re using is far too complex for their needs. Here are the telltale signs that you’re also in that boat. 1. Underutilization of Features A clear sign that your email marketing software might be too complex is the underutilization of its features. Many platforms come packed with a wide array of functionalities, but if you're only using a fraction of what's available, it might indicate that the software is more sophisticated than you actually need.... --- ### Email Marketing Features: The Essentials vs. The Nice to Haves > When it comes to email marketing software, choosing the one with the right features makes all the difference. - Published: 2024-03-14 - Modified: 2024-03-21 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-features/ - Categories: Email Marketing Email marketing has remained a cornerstone of digital marketing strategies for businesses of all sizes. However, the success of your email campaigns greatly depends on the email marketing tool you choose. There are a ton of options out there, ranging from software with endless features to tools with something much more straightforward and simple. As you explore different options, it's essential to distinguish between the must-have features and the nice-to-have ones. In this blog post, we'll break down the essential features of an email marketing tool compared to those that, while beneficial, fall into the nice-to-have category. The Email Marketing Software Essential Features Below are some features that are essential for successful email marketing. However, based on their capabilities, there are aspects of these features that enter into nice-to-have territory. See below for more explanation. List Management Essential: Robust list management capabilities are vital for organizing and segmenting your email subscribers. Look for features that allow you to easily import, export, and manage your email lists. Segmentation options should be comprehensive, enabling you to target specific groups within your audience. Nice to Have: Advanced automation for list management, like predictive list cleaning (tools like Kickbox offer this) or AI-driven segmentation, falls into the nice-to-have category. While helpful, these features are not technically essential for basic email campaigns. However, with Google and Yahoo’s recent spam requirements, having a clean email list is becoming increasingly important for successful email marketing. Email Templates Essential: A user-friendly drag-and-drop email builder with a variety of... --- ### 8 Easy Ways to Impress Your Boss With Your Email Marketing Strategy > Not sure how to show your boss how successful your email marketing is? Here are some ways to impress your boss and show success. - Published: 2024-03-13 - Modified: 2024-03-18 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/impress-your-boss-with-email-marketing/ - Categories: Email Marketing Email marketing is a cornerstone of modern marketing efforts, and it's a crucial channel for engaging with your audience, nurturing leads, and driving conversions. As a marketing manager, demonstrating the effectiveness of your email marketing strategy to your boss can be a powerful way to showcase your skills and contribute to your company's success. In this blog post, we'll explore eight easy ways to impress your boss with your email marketing strategy by demonstrating tangible results and highlighting your impact on the bottom line. 1. Track Key Performance Metrics One of the most effective ways to impress your boss is by consistently tracking and reporting on key performance metrics. These metrics provide clear insights into the effectiveness of your email campaigns. Focus on the following essential metrics: Open Rate Show how many recipients opened your emails. A high open rate indicates strong subject lines and relevant content. Click-Through Rate (CTR) Highlight the percentage of recipients who clicked on your email's links. A higher CTR demonstrates engaging content and effective calls to action. Conversion Rate Showcase the conversion rate from email recipients to customers or leads. This metric directly ties email campaigns to revenue. Revenue Attribution Use tracking tools to attribute revenue to specific email campaigns, providing a direct link between your efforts and the company's bottom line. 2. Segment Your Email List Segmenting your email list is a powerful way to impress your boss by demonstrating your ability to deliver targeted content. Break your list into different segments based on... --- ### How to Turn Your Webinar into a Blog Post: A Time-Saving Guide for Busy Marketing Managers > A webinar is a super valuable resources for your audience. Why not turn it into a blog post? Here's how to do it. - Published: 2024-03-12 - Modified: 2024-03-06 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/turn-your-webinar-into-a-blog-post/ - Categories: Marketing As marketers, you understand the value of creating high-quality content and how essential it is for engaging your audience and driving results. Webinars have become a popular tool for marketing managers to share knowledge, engage with their audience, and generate leads. But what if you could leverage the content from your webinars to create compelling blog posts, saving you time and effort? In this guide, we'll show you how to turn your webinars into blog posts, catering to busy marketing managers looking for efficient content-generation strategies. 1. Plan with Blogging in Mind The key to successfully repurposing your webinar content into a blog post starts with planning. As you create your webinar, think about how you can structure it to make it easily adaptable into a written format. Here are some tips: Create an outline: Develop a structured outline for your webinar that includes key sections, subtopics, and main points. This will serve as a solid foundation for your blog post. Use clear visuals: Incorporate visuals like slides and images into your webinar presentation. These can be used in your blog post to enhance the visual appeal and break up text. Prepare speaker notes: If you or your presenter use speaker notes during the webinar, these can serve as valuable content for your blog post. They often contain additional insights, explanations, and examples that can be useful when converting your webinar into a written piece. 2. Record Your Webinar Before you dive into turning your webinar into a blog post,... --- ### Beyond Opens and Clicks: Exploring the Full Spectrum of Email Metrics > If you want to know how well your emails are performing, you need to look at the full spectrum of email metrics. - Published: 2024-03-07 - Modified: 2024-03-18 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-full-spectrum-of-email-metrics/ - Categories: Email Marketing In the world of email marketing, the success of a campaign is often judged by its open and click rates. While these are undoubtedly important metrics, they provide only a partial view of your email campaign's overall performance. To truly understand and optimize your email marketing efforts, it's essential to look beyond opens and clicks and explore the full spectrum of email metrics. In this article, we'll dive into the various metrics that can give you a more holistic view of how your email campaigns are performing. Getting a Holistic View: The Email Metrics that Matter for Success It’s important that you see each of these metrics as simply a piece of the pie. On their own, they only tell a fraction of the story. But together, they complete your email marketing story. 1. Conversion Rate Conversion rate is arguably one of the most critical metrics in email marketing. It measures the percentage of recipients who completed a desired action, such as making a purchase or filling out a form, as a direct result of your email. This metric directly ties your email campaigns to business outcomes, providing a clear picture of their effectiveness in driving sales and other key objectives. 2. Bounce Rate Bounce rate refers to the percentage of your emails that could not be delivered to the recipient's inbox. There are two types of bounces: hard bounces, which occur when the email address is invalid or the domain doesn't exist, and soft bounces, which are usually temporary... --- ### How to Generate Blog Topic Ideas Your Audience Cares About > When crafting blog posts, you need to make sure they apply to your audience. Here's how to create topic ideas your audience craves. - Published: 2024-03-06 - Modified: 2024-02-29 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/blog-topic-ideas-your-audience-cares-about/ - Categories: Content Marketing Creating compelling blog content that resonates with your audience is key to marketing success. Marketing managers understand the importance of addressing the needs and interests of their target audience, but finding fresh and engaging blog topic ideas can be a challenging task. In this guide, we'll explore effective strategies to help marketing managers generate blog topic ideas that genuinely matter to their audience. 1. Understand Your Audience's Pain Points The first step in generating blog topic ideas that your audience cares about is to deeply understand their pain points, challenges, and aspirations. This requires thorough market research, customer personas, and data analysis. Consider the following strategies: Conduct Surveys: Surveys can provide invaluable insights into your audience's preferences and pain points. Use tools like Google Forms, Typeform, or SurveyMonkey to gather feedback and analyze the results. Analyze Customer Feedback: Review customer reviews, comments, and feedback from your products or services. Pay attention to common issues, questions, and suggestions that emerge. Monitor Social Media: Social media platforms are a great resource for real-time conversations and trends. Use listening tools to track relevant keywords and discussions within your industry or niche. Engage with Your Audience: Actively engage with your audience on social media and respond to their inquiries to gain a better understanding of their needs. By empathizing with your audience's pain points, you can identify topics that address their challenges and offer solutions, making your blog content more valuable and relevant. 2. Keyword Research Keyword research is a fundamental aspect of generating... --- ### The Ultimate Guide to Boosting Engagement in Email Marketing > Email engagement has always been important, but now, it matters even more for deliverability. Here's your guide to boosting engagement. - Published: 2024-03-05 - Modified: 2024-08-20 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/boosting-email-engagement/ - Categories: Email Marketing Email Engagement has become a crucial metric, especially in light of new deliverability requirements set by major email providers like Google and Yahoo. These changes emphasize the importance of user engagement as a key factor in determining whether your emails land in the inbox or the spam folder. In this guide, we'll explore strategies to boost engagement in your email marketing campaigns, ensuring your messages not only reach your audience but also resonate with them. Understanding the New Deliverability Requirements Google and Yahoo, among other email service providers, have updated their algorithms to prioritize user engagement when deciding where an email should be placed. These algorithms consider factors like open rates, click-through rates, and how often emails are deleted without being read. High engagement can signal to email providers that your content is valuable and relevant to your audience, increasing the likelihood of your emails being delivered to the inbox. How to Ensure High Engagement from Your Email Subscribers There are a few boxes to check when it comes to getting high engagement rates. Here are nine components crucial to email engagement. 1. Segment Your Email List Segmentation is key to sending relevant content to the right people. By dividing your email list into smaller, targeted groups based on demographics, past purchase behavior, or engagement levels, you can tailor your content to meet the specific interests and needs of each segment. This personalized approach not only boosts engagement but also reduces the likelihood of recipients marking your emails as spam.... --- ### Email Marketing Efficiency: Doing More with Less Time > Who has the time? Don't worry; having email marketing efficiency doesn't have to mean sacrificing quality. - Published: 2024-02-29 - Modified: 2024-02-29 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-efficiency/ - Categories: Email Marketing As we all know, time is a valuable commodity. Marketers are often juggling multiple responsibilities and cannot afford to spend excessive time on any single aspect of their strategy, including email marketing. However, the challenge lies in maintaining the quality and effectiveness of these campaigns without investing hours into their creation and execution. The solution? Leveraging email marketing software to streamline processes and optimize efficiency. In this article, we'll explore strategies for busy marketers to achieve more with less time so they can continue to stay on track with their other duties (and still succeed at email marketing). How to Spend Less Time on Email Marketing (Without Sacrificing Quality) It all comes down to finding a rhythm and maintaining a checklist. Here are some items to add to your productivity checklist: 1. Automate Routine Tasks One of the primary benefits of email marketing software is automation. Automation allows you to schedule and send emails automatically based on predefined triggers and conditions. For instance, welcome emails for new subscribers, birthday greetings, or follow-up emails after a purchase can all be automated. This not only saves time but also ensures timely and consistent communication with your audience. When looking into email software, make sure you review the features it offers to ensure it includes some kind of automation capabilities. 2. Use Templates and Design Tools Many email marketing platforms offer a range of customizable templates and intuitive design tools. These resources allow you to quickly create professional-looking emails without needing extensive design... --- ### 20 Skills That Make You A Proficient Digital Marketer > Digital marketers aren't born, they're made. Here are 16 skills to sharpen that will make you a proficient digital marketer. - Published: 2024-02-28 - Modified: 2025-03-19 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/digital-marketing-skills/ - Categories: Marketing For many people, digital marketing is a dream job. With the onset of many technology company perks and telecommuting jobs, digital marketing experts can make a six-figure salary, have unlimited vacation, and enjoy a flexible schedule that allows them to work from home — or even across the world as a digital nomad. If you’re looking to get a new job as a digital marketer this year or looking to become a digital marketing expert, make a career change, leave a desk job to travel as a remote digital worker, or improve your skills at your current digital marketing job — We're here to help. Here are the essential 20 digital marketing skills that will help you advance in your career and push the needle for your company. 1. Writing & Editing This might be the most important skill set to have as a digital marketer: There’s one job in digital where you don't have to write and edit. Because of the importance of content marketing, you’ll get very far in your digital marketing career if you know what makes a great blog post, how to source and write great content, and how to turn a bad piece of content into a good one. You should also know how to employ the help of copywriting tools like AP Styleguide. 2. Communication As a marketer, you have multiple channels and tools to choose from when it comes to conveying your message to your target market. SMS marketing platforms are one such... --- ### Benchmark Email Experts Weigh in on Common Email Marketing Mistakes > Our own Benchmark Email experts weigh in on common email marketing mistakes we see people make. Check them out here. - Published: 2024-02-26 - Modified: 2024-02-29 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/benchmark-experts-common-email-mistakes/ - Categories: Email Marketing Email marketing is the cornerstone of effective communication and engagement. Yet, even as we harness its power to connect with audiences, the path is fraught with pitfalls that can undermine our efforts and alienate our subscribers. Recognizing the importance of learning from the experts, we turned to our own team at Benchmark Email to share their insights and experiences. Our specialists spend their days navigating the intricacies of email campaigns, analyzing trends, and optimizing strategies to ensure our clients achieve unparalleled success. With a wealth of knowledge gathered from the front lines of email marketing, they've identified the most common mistakes marketers make—a blend of overlooked fundamentals and emerging challenges that can significantly impact your campaign's effectiveness. Whether you're a seasoned marketer looking to refine your approach or a newcomer eager to start on the right foot, this insider's guide promises invaluable insights to help you navigate the complex landscape of email marketing. 1. Forgetting to Test Before Sending “One of the most common mistakes is forgetting to test before sending emails. I often see things like typos in the subject line or forgetting to change the subject line from previous emails, forgetting to update customer information, or sending campaigns with unexpected design renderings. ” 2. Lack of Strategy “Marketers are doing themselves a disservice if they don't have a well-defined strategy behind every email. Almost every brand and business is using email in their marketing strategy which means the inbox is an overwhelmingly crowded place. Are you sending emails... --- ### Top 4 Email Marketing Service Providers for Small Businesses in 2024 [Detailed Analysis of Features and Pricing] > Stay ahead in 2024 with the best email marketing services for small businesses. Our detailed analysis breaks down features and pricing. - Published: 2024-02-22 - Modified: 2024-05-07 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-service-providers-for-small-businesses/ - Categories: Email Marketing As a small business, you need your tools to be efficient and reasonably priced. If you’re working with a small team (or a mighty team of one), you don’t have the time to navigate clunky, complex tools. You need something simple and easy to use. Email marketing is a smart move for any small business owner. The return on investment is many times greater than expenditure across industries. But how do you choose what email platform to use among the plethora of tools available? Here, we’ve rounded up the top four email marketing service providers for your small business. Whatever your needs are, one of these tools will be the perfect fit for you. Benchmark Email Benchmark Email uses a drag-and-drop intuitive email builder to make creating gorgeous emails seamless. The built-in photo editor helps less-experienced users design visually stunning email designs without the need for more advanced photo editing software like Photoshop. They also offer web-integrated sign-up forms, automated email campaigns, A/B testing, and detailed reporting that help grow, retain, and convert loyal customers. In short, Benchmark Email is an all-in-one solution to add to your tech stack for businesses large and small. Pricing Plan Benchmark has three pricing tiers, ranging from free to customizable (for enterprise customers). Their free plan offers the email builder, sign-up forms, reports, 500 contacts, and 3,500 emails per month. Verdict Benchmark is a great email marketing service provider option for any small business, eCommerce, or hospitality business. Its reserve of visually-focused email templates... --- ### From Inbox to Income: Enhancing Sales with Email Marketing > Email marketing is so effective that it can lead to some impressive sales numbers. Here's how you can enhance sales with email marketing. - Published: 2024-02-21 - Modified: 2025-02-19 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/enhancing-sales-with-email-marketing/ - Categories: Email Marketing Despite the rise of social media and other messaging platforms, email marketing continues to offer unparalleled return on investment, direct access to a targeted audience, and personalized communication options that can significantly boost sales figures. But how do you connect A to B? In this article, I’ll guide you through the nuances of crafting compelling email campaigns, optimizing for higher open and conversion rates, and leveraging segmentation and automation techniques that will help you see the return you’re looking for from your email efforts. Whether you're a small business owner looking to grow your brand or a marketing professional aiming to refine your email marketing strategy, this article will provide valuable insights into turning your email list into a powerful revenue-generating asset. By the end, you'll understand how to effectively use email marketing not just for communication but as a strategic tool to enhance your sales and strengthen your business's bottom line. How Email Marketing Equates Sales In the digital marketing ecosystem, the correlation between email marketing and sales performance is both significant and measurable. The following are some ways email marketing builds trust with your audience and encourages repeat purchases 1. Builds Personalized Customer Relationships Email marketing excels in creating personalized communication with customers. Unlike broad advertising strategies, email allows for targeted messaging based on customer preferences, purchase history, and behavior. By segmenting your email list into specific groups, you can tailor your content to resonate with different audiences. Personalized emails result in higher open rates, click-through rates, and,... --- ### Understanding DMARC, SPF, and DKIM: Key Elements for Email Deliverability > It's time to demystify DMARC, SPF, and DKIM and how they relate to your email deliverability so your emails can make it to the inbox. - Published: 2024-02-20 - Modified: 2024-02-29 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/understanding-dmarc-spf-and-dkim/ - Categories: Email Marketing Email has become a critical communication tool for individuals and organizations alike. However, as email usage has grown, so too has the sophistication of threats targeting email security, including spam, phishing, and other types of email fraud. To combat these threats and improve email deliverability, three key technologies have emerged as essential components of a robust email security strategy: DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance), SPF (Sender Policy Framework), and DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail). Understanding DMARC, SPF, and DKIM is crucial for anyone looking to secure their email communications and ensure their messages reach their intended recipients without being intercepted or misused by malicious actors. In this article, we’ll delve into the workings of these technologies, explaining how they contribute to the security and integrity of email communication and why they are indispensable tools in the fight against email-based threats. By demystifying these complex technologies, we aim to empower readers with the knowledge needed to enhance their email deliverability and protect their digital communications. What are DMARC, SPF, and DKIM? Let’s examine each more closely, defining what they are so you can get a better understanding of how they apply to email deliverability. 1. SPF (Sender Policy Framework) SPF is an email authentication method designed to prevent spammers from sending messages on behalf of your domain. At its core, SPF allows the domain owner to specify which mail servers are authorized to send emails from that domain. This is done by adding a specific SPF record to the domain's... --- ### The Marketing Manager's Handbook to Canva: Design Made Simple > Canva is a great marketing tool for various reasons. It helps you create images, projects and more. Here's your Canva handbook. - Published: 2024-02-15 - Modified: 2024-06-27 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-handbook-to-canva/ - Categories: Marketing As a marketing manager, creating visually appealing content is crucial for engaging your audience and effectively communicating your brand's message. However, not all marketing professionals have a background in graphic design. This is where Canva, an intuitive and user-friendly graphic design tool, becomes invaluable. In this guide, we'll explore how marketing managers can harness the power of Canva to elevate their design game, making the process simple and efficient. 1. Understanding Canva's Interface Canva’s intuitive interface is designed for users of all skill levels, making it an ideal tool for marketing managers. When you first log in, you’re greeted with a dashboard that offers a range of design options, including social media graphics, presentations, flyers, and more. The platform also provides a variety of templates, making it easy to start designing without having to build from scratch. Exploring the options is simple, and playing around with the various options will help you understand what the tool can offer you and what you can do with it. 2. Choosing the Right Template Canva offers thousands of professionally designed templates that can be easily customized. When choosing a template, consider the purpose of your design and your brand identity. For example, if you're creating a social media post, look for templates that align with the specific platform's dimensions and aesthetics. Always keep in mind your brand's color scheme, fonts, and overall style to maintain consistency across all your marketing materials. Here are some templates Canva offers for you to choose from: Documents:... --- ### Harnessing the Power of Nostalgia in Email Campaigns > Harnessing the power of nostalgia in your email campaigns is a powerful way to reach and resonate with your audience. - Published: 2024-02-14 - Modified: 2024-02-29 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/nostalgia-in-email-campaigns/ - Categories: Email Marketing Welcome to the intriguing world of nostalgia in marketing, where the past is not just remembered but celebrated and leveraged. In the rapidly evolving landscape of digital communication, tapping into the warm, reminiscent feelings of yesteryears can transform your email campaigns from mundane to memorable. Nostalgia, a sentimentality for the past, often evokes positive emotions and connections, mainly bliss and continuity. When integrated into marketing strategies, it creates a unique emotional resonance with audiences. This strategy, particularly in the context of email marketing, has gained significant traction. By infusing nostalgia into email content, businesses can engage their audience on a deeper, more personal level, leading to enhanced engagement rates and a stronger brand connection. Let’s take a look at exactly how. The Resurgence of the Past: Nostalgia’s Comeback The allure of nostalgia has seen a remarkable resurgence across various forms of media, even reaching the political world. From retro-themed TV shows and films that take us back in time to music samples that remind us of the golden oldies, nostalgia is everywhere. It’s more than just a fleeting trend; it’s a powerful connector that bridges generations and evokes shared experiences and emotions. In the realm of email marketing, this resurgence has a special place. Social media, with its seemingly endless number of personal stories and global trends, emerges as an ideal stage for nostalgia-driven marketing. It allows brands to create content that resonates on a deeper level with their audience, sparking conversations and engagements rooted in fond memories and experiences.... --- ### 15 Email Marketing Best Practices to Bookmark > When it comes to being effective with your email marketing, there are some best practices you should follow. - Published: 2024-02-13 - Modified: 2024-04-17 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-best-practices/ - Categories: Email Marketing As the online landscape continues to evolve, email marketing best practices are constantly changing. It can be tough to keep up with all the latest trends and tips, but we've got you covered. To help you get the most out of your email marketing campaigns, we've compiled a list of our top email marketing best practices. From building a strong list of subscribers to designing emails that convert, these tips will help you take your email marketing from good to stellar. Basic Email Marketing Best Practices 1. Segment Your List List segmentation means sectioning off your master email list into smaller lists based on specific criteria. The benefits of list segmentation are two-fold. First, it allows you to send more targeted, relevant messages to your contacts, and second, it can help improve your open and click-through rates. There are a few different ways to go about segmenting your list. These include, Geographic location Age Gender Purchase history Interests Lead source Engagement level 2. Clean Your Lists Regularly Cleaning an email list is essential for maintaining the effectiveness of email marketing campaigns. Here are several ways to clean and maintain a healthy email list: Remove Inactive Subscribers: Identify subscribers who haven't engaged with your emails over a specific period, such as six months or a year, and remove them from your list. Check for Bounces: Regularly remove email addresses that return hard bounces. A hard bounce indicates a permanent problem with the email address, such as it being non-existent. Validate Email... --- ### 9 Tools to Check Your Email Domain Reputation and Improve Your Sender Score > Your email domain reputation matters, especially if you plan on getting your emails to the inbox. Here are some tools to help you check it. - Published: 2024-02-08 - Modified: 2024-02-29 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/tools-for-email-domain-reputation/ - Categories: Email Marketing In the vast landscape of digital communication, where inboxes are inundated with messages from every corner of the internet, your email domain's reputation is a precious currency. It's the key that unlocks the gates to your recipient's inbox or consigns your messages to the dreaded realm of spam folders. Maintaining a sterling email domain reputation is not merely a matter of trust but a linchpin of effective communication and marketing. In this article, we embark on a journey to explore the intricate world of email domain reputation and the invaluable tools that help you keep it gleaming. Whether you're a business striving to ensure your marketing emails reach their intended audience or an individual looking to safeguard your personal correspondence, understanding and monitoring your email domain reputation is a vital endeavor. And with Google and Yahoo’s new spam requirements, these efforts are important now more than ever. Join us as we delve into the significance of email domain reputation, the factors that influence it, and, most importantly, a curated selection of tools and services designed to illuminate the health of your domain's standing in the eyes of email service providers. The Importance of Your Email Domain Reputation Your email domain reputation is of paramount importance in the world of email communication for several compelling reasons: Inbox Placement: A positive email domain reputation is the golden ticket to the inbox. Internet service providers (ISPs) and email providers use reputation as a key factor in their spam filtering algorithms. If your domain... --- ### Transforming Guest Experiences: Advanced Email Personalization Techniques in Hospitality > In the hospitality sector, utilizing personalization can go a long way and increase sales exponentially. Here are some tactics. - Published: 2024-02-07 - Modified: 2024-07-30 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/advanced-email-personalization-hospitality/ - Categories: Email Marketing In an era where personalization reigns supreme in the realm of customer experience, the hospitality industry stands at the forefront of innovation, constantly seeking novel ways to exceed guest expectations. Amidst the myriad of technological advancements, email marketing remains a stalwart tool in engaging clientele and fostering lasting relationships. However, in a sea of promotional emails, achieving genuine personalization can be a daunting task. This article delves into the transformative power of advanced email personalization techniques within the hospitality sector. From boutique hotels to expansive resorts, establishments are leveraging data-driven strategies to curate bespoke guest experiences that resonate on a profound level. By harnessing the intricate nuances of guest preferences, behaviors, and interactions, hoteliers can craft tailored email communications that transcend mere marketing pitches, evolving into personalized narratives that captivate and delight recipients. Understanding the Importance of Personalization In a world where guests are bombarded with countless marketing messages, personalization stands out as a beacon of relevance and consideration. It's no longer about addressing a guest by their first name; it's about tailoring every communication to their specific preferences, behaviors, and history. This approach not only increases engagement rates but also fosters loyalty and trust. Breaking Down the Steps for Personalization Before we discuss specific personalization tactics, let’s break down the essential steps personalization requires your hospitality organization to take. Segment Your Audience The first step in email personalization is understanding your audience. Segment your email list based on various factors like past booking history, preferences indicated during previous stays,... --- ### Love is in the Air: Valentine's Day Email Inspirations for Marketers > Need some email ideas this Valentine's Day? Here's your guide, complete with inspirations, that will bring a little love into the inbox. - Published: 2024-02-06 - Modified: 2024-02-29 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/valentines-day-email-inspirations/ - Categories: Email Marketing With Valentine's Day around the corner, it's the perfect opportunity for businesses to connect with their customers in a more heartfelt and engaging way. With creative email campaign ideas, any marketer is sure to capture the hearts of your audience. From crafting irresistible offers to designing emails that ooze charm and affection, we have gathered some of the most effective strategies to make your Valentine's Day communications stand out. But that's not all. We'll also provide you with some catchy email subject line examples to ensure your messages don't just reach inboxes but also get opened and read. A great subject line is the key to grabbing attention, and we've got you covered with lines that are sure to spark interest and drive engagement. Additionally, we understand the power of visuals in storytelling. That's why we'll explore how to enhance your Valentine's Day emails with captivating images and graphics that resonate with the theme of love and affection. A picture is worth a thousand words, and the right imagery can significantly amplify the impact of your message. So, whether you're looking to promote a special Valentine's offer, share a love-themed story, or simply spread some joy and appreciation to your customers, this guide is packed with inspiration and practical tips to help you create an email marketing campaign that truly resonates this Valentine's Day. Let's get started! Why Valentine’s Day is so Special Valentine's Day provides an exceptional opportunity for creativity in email marketing due to its universal appeal and... --- ### 8 Unique Retailer Marketing Tactics > These eight retailer marketing tactics are unique and effective at engaging customers and increasing ROI for your brand. - Published: 2024-02-01 - Modified: 2024-02-29 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/retailer-marketing-tactics/ - Categories: Retail In the fiercely competitive world of retail, standing out from the crowd is no longer just an option but a necessity for survival and success. Unique retailer marketing tactics have become the cornerstone for businesses striving to capture the attention and loyalty of increasingly discerning consumers. This article delves into the innovative and sometimes unconventional strategies that retailers are employing to differentiate themselves in a saturated market. From leveraging cutting-edge technology and creating immersive shopping experiences to harnessing the power of social media influencers and personalization, these tactics are redefining the way retailers connect with their customers. As we explore these dynamic approaches, it becomes clear that the future of retail marketing lies in creativity, adaptability, and a deep understanding of consumer behavior. 1. Augmented Reality (AR) Experiences Retailers can incorporate Augmented Reality (AR) into their marketing strategies in various innovative ways to enhance the customer experience and drive sales. AR technology blends digital elements with the physical world, offering a unique and interactive way for consumers to engage with products and brands. Here are some effective methods for retailers to integrate AR into their marketing: Virtual Try-Ons: Retailers, especially in fashion and beauty, can use AR for virtual try-ons. Customers can see how clothes, accessories, or makeup products look on them through their smartphones or in-store AR mirrors, reducing the uncertainty of online shopping and enhancing the customer experience. Interactive Product Displays: AR can bring static product displays to life. By scanning a product or a display with a... --- ### Your Email Marketing Checklist > Before you get started with email marketing, there are a few things you need to get in order. Here's a checklist to help you. - Published: 2024-01-31 - Modified: 2024-02-29 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/get-started-with-email-marketing-checklist/ - Categories: Email Marketing Email marketing continues to be a cornerstone of digital marketing strategies, offering businesses a direct line of communication to engage and nurture their audience. However, diving into the world of email marketing without proper preparation can lead to missed opportunities and suboptimal results. To ensure success from the start, it's crucial to have a comprehensive checklist that covers all the essential steps before launching your email marketing campaigns. In this article, we present your ultimate email marketing checklist—a roadmap to guide you through the crucial preparatory stages. Whether you're a seasoned marketer or just beginning to explore the power of email, this checklist will help you lay a solid foundation for effective and impactful campaigns. By following this comprehensive checklist, you'll be well-equipped to embark on your email marketing journey with confidence. You'll have a solid foundation in place, ensuring that your campaigns are well-targeted, engaging, and aligned with your business goals. So join us as we guide you through the essential steps of our checklist. Get ready to unlock the full potential of email marketing and drive impactful results for your business. Your Email Marketing Checklist Before starting email marketing, marketers should take several important steps to ensure they lay a strong foundation for their campaigns. Here are some essential things to do before diving into email marketing: 1. Define Goals and Objectives Clearly establish your goals and objectives for email marketing. Determine what you want to achieve through your email campaigns. Setting specific and measurable goals will guide... --- ### Launching Success: Email Strategies for Announcing New Products and Upgrades in Manufacturing > Check out our blog post for email strategies the manufacturing sector can use to announce new products and upgrades. - Published: 2024-01-30 - Modified: 2024-02-29 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-strategies-new-products-upgrades-manufacturing/ - Categories: Manufacturing In the dynamic world of manufacturing, launching a new product or announcing an upgrade can be a pivotal moment for a business. Effectively communicating these developments to your audience is crucial for success, and email marketing stands as a powerful tool in this endeavor. With its direct and personalized approach, email can effectively convey your message and generate excitement. Here’s how you can craft impactful email strategies for announcing new products and upgrades in the manufacturing sector. 1. Understanding Your Audience Zeroing in on your target audience is the first step before embarking on any marketing strategy. By understanding exactly who you’re speaking to and who you’re targeting, you’ll be able to put the right message and content together that appeals to their interests and needs. Understanding your audience helps with two key components of your strategy: Segmenting Your Email List Before crafting your announcement, it's vital to segment your email list. Different segments of your audience, such as existing customers, potential clients, suppliers, and industry partners, will have varying interests and needs. Tailoring your message to each segment ensures relevance and effectiveness. Gathering Insights Use customer data and feedback to understand what your audience values in your products. This can guide how you present the new product or upgrade, highlighting features that resonate most with your audience. 2. Crafting Your Message Now, it’s time to embark on putting your email messaging together. When assembling your message, you want to remember the following tips: Maintain Clarity and Conciseness Your email... --- ### Maximizing Trade Show ROI: Mastering Pre-Event Promotion and Post-Event Follow-Up with Email Marketing > Success at trade shows come down to promotion. Email marketing can help before, during, and after your trade shows. - Published: 2024-01-25 - Modified: 2024-02-29 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/trade-show-promotion-email-marketing/ - Categories: Email Marketing Trade shows can be a significant investment for businesses, offering a platform for networking, brand promotion, and lead generation. To maximize the return on investment from these events, effective pre-event promotion and post-event follow-up are crucial. Email marketing, with its direct and personalized approach, plays a pivotal role in this process. Here, we delve into strategies to leverage email marketing to enhance trade show success. Pre-Event Promotion: Building Anticipation and Engagement Before your trade show event, there are things you can do to get the word out and ensure your event is as successful as possible. Here are some steps to follow pre-event: Identifying and Segmenting Your Audience Begin by identifying who you want to reach out to. Your target audience could include existing customers, prospects, industry influencers, and partners. Segmenting this list based on interest, previous interactions, and buyer personas ensures more personalized and effective communication. Crafting a Compelling Message Your pre-event emails should create excitement and anticipation. Highlight what's unique about your presence at the trade show. Will you be launching a new product, offering exclusive deals, or featuring a keynote speaker? Make these key points the centerpiece of your message. Offering Exclusive Incentives Incentives can significantly boost your booth traffic. Offer something valuable - a free demo, a discount code, or an invite to a special event at your booth. Ensure these offers are exclusive to email recipients to add a sense of exclusivity. Utilizing a Multi-Touch Approach One email isn't enough. Plan a series of emails... --- ### Compliance and Data Security in Financial Email Marketing > When it comes to finance email marketing, keeping data secure is a top priority. Here ar some ways to ensure data security is top of mind. - Published: 2024-01-24 - Modified: 2024-03-05 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/data-security-financial-email-marketing/ - Categories: Email Marketing In the world of financial email marketing, where the stakes are high, and regulations are stringent, two critical pillars stand tall: compliance and data security. As finance professionals, you understand the paramount importance of safeguarding sensitive information and abiding by industry regulations. In this article, we delve into the intricacies of compliance and data security in financial email marketing, offering insights to help you navigate this challenging terrain. Compliance: The Regulatory Maze The significance of compliance and data security in financial email marketing cannot be overstated. In the financial sector, where sensitive information and trust are paramount, these two aspects are not just boxes to be checked; they are the foundation upon which successful and ethical email marketing campaigns are built. Here's why they are so crucial: Financial institutions handle a vast amount of sensitive data, including personal information, financial records, and transaction details. Ensuring compliance and data security is vital to safeguarding this information from unauthorized access or breaches. The financial industry is heavily regulated, with numerous laws and regulations that govern the collection, storage, and use of customer data. Non-compliance can result in severe legal consequences, including fines and reputational damage. Trust is the bedrock of the financial industry. Clients entrust their financial well-being to institutions and professionals, and any breach of that trust can be devastating. Compliance and data security measures demonstrate a commitment to protecting clients' interests and building and maintaining trust. In an era of instant communication and social media, a data breach or non-compliance... --- ### 10 Factors Affecting the Retail Sector > The retail sector is experiencing some changes that will ultimate change it forever. Here are some factors affecting retail. - Published: 2024-01-23 - Modified: 2025-05-15 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/factors-affecting-retail/ - Categories: Retail Given that it’s primarily driven by consumer preferences and technological advancements, the retail sector is fast-paced and ever-changing. Consumer tastes and preferences are constantly evolving, compelling retailers to adapt swiftly to meet these changes. Technological advancements play a significant role in this dynamic landscape as well. Innovations in eCommerce, mobile shopping, payment methods, and data analytics have revolutionized the way retailers operate, necessitating continuous updates to their systems and processes to remain competitive and relevant. Additionally, intense competition within the retail industry is a significant factor contributing to its rapid evolution. Retailers are under constant pressure to differentiate themselves, capture market share, and stay ahead of their competitors. This often involves embracing new trends, technologies, and business models. Moreover, economic conditions, such as inflation, interest rates, and consumer spending power, can change rapidly and have a profound impact on retail strategies and operations. Globalization also plays a role, as retailers are influenced by global trends and events, including international trade policies, which add another layer of complexity and necessitate agility and adaptability in their business approaches. Let’s explore the myriad of hurdles facing retailers today and how they are adapting to thrive in this dynamic environment. 1. Adapting to eCommerce and Online Retail The rapid shift towards online shopping has compelled traditional retailers to reimagine their business models. Competing with eCommerce giants requires a blend of innovation, agility, and strategic digital engagement. Adapting to eCommerce and online retail requires retailers to focus on several key areas to ensure a smooth... --- ### 12 Issues Affecting the Manufacturing Sector > When it comes to the manufacturing sector, there are many issues that can disrupt the flow and process. Here are twelve. - Published: 2024-01-18 - Modified: 2025-03-26 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/issues-affecting-the-manufacturing-sector/ - Categories: Manufacturing The manufacturing sector is unique. It encompasses a wide range of activities, from producing small components to assembling large machines or vehicles. This sector is crucial for the economy as it not only creates products but also generates employment, contributes to trade, and drives technological advancement and innovation. In recent years, the manufacturing sector has been navigating a sea of challenges, from supply chain disruptions to the rapid pace of technological change. This article delves into these challenges, offering insights into their impact and the strategies manufacturers should employ to adapt and thrive. 12 Factors Affecting the Manufacturing Industry Here are some specific issues the industry faces somewhat frequently: Supply Chain Disruptions: The aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with geopolitical tensions, has led to significant disruptions in global supply chains. Manufacturers face delays, increased costs, and unpredictability in sourcing raw materials and components, demanding agility and resilience in their operations. Rising Material Costs: The cost of raw materials is soaring due to these supply chain issues and heightened demand in certain sectors. This trend is squeezing profit margins and pushing manufacturers to reevaluate their sourcing strategies. Labor Shortages and Skills Gap: A critical challenge in the manufacturing sector is the labor shortage, particularly in skilled positions. An aging workforce and a technical skills gap among younger workers are intensifying this problem, calling for innovative approaches to workforce development and training. Technological Adaptation and Automation: Keeping pace with rapid technological advancements, such as automation, AI, and IoT, is essential yet... --- ### Building Community Partnerships: Strategies for Local Retailers > For local retail businesses, building community partnerships can do wonders for their marketing efforts. Here are some strategies. - Published: 2024-01-17 - Modified: 2024-01-26 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/building-community-partnerships/ - Categories: Retail In an era where large corporations and online shopping dominate the retail landscape, local retailers have a unique advantage: their community. Building strong community partnerships can be a game-changer for local businesses, fostering a loyal customer base and creating a network of support that benefits both the business and the community it serves. Here, we explore strategies for local retailers to build and strengthen these vital relationships. How Local Retailers Can Build Community Partnerships 1. Understand the Value of Community Engagement Community engagement goes beyond mere transactions. It's about creating meaningful connections with the people and other businesses in your area. For local retailers, this can mean increased visibility, improved customer loyalty, and a stronger presence in the community. In a world where consumers are increasingly valuing authenticity and connection, these relationships can be a local retailer's most significant asset. 2. Identify Potential Community Partners The first step in building community partnerships is identifying potential allies. This can include other local businesses, schools, non-profits, community centers, and local events. The key is to find organizations and events that align with your business values and where your products or services can add value. Make a list of potential partners, then reach out to them one by one and see if they’d be interested in joining forces. Make sure that when you’re looking for potential partners, you consider your audiences, clientele, and products. The partnership has to make sense; otherwise, it won’t be beneficial for anyone. 3. Collaborate with Other Local Businesses... --- ### Avoiding the Spam Folder: Email Deliverability Best Practices for Manufacturers > When it comes to email marketing, deliverability may be the most important aspect, even for the manufacturing industry. - Published: 2024-01-11 - Modified: 2024-08-30 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-deliverability-for-manufacturers/ - Categories: Manufacturing In the manufacturing industry, where business relationships are the bedrock of success, effective communication is crucial. Email remains a cornerstone of business communication, but it faces a significant hurdle: avoiding the dreaded spam folder. The spam folder is like an abyss. Not only is it where your email message goes to die, but if your emails continue to head straight to spam, it could negatively affect your future email deliverability. For manufacturers whose emails often contain vital product updates, newsletters, and transactional information, ensuring email deliverability is paramount. Here’s a comprehensive guide to help manufacturers navigate the challenges of email deliverability. Understanding Email Deliverability Email deliverability is the measure of your company’s ability to send emails that reach the inbox without being flagged as spam or junk. It’s influenced by several factors, including sender reputation, subscriber engagement, and content quality. For manufacturers whose audiences may range from suppliers to distributors, understanding these nuances is critical. Best Practices for Email Deliverability Build a Solid Sender Reputation Your sender reputation is a score assigned by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) based on your email-sending habits. Maintain a good reputation by regularly cleaning your email list, removing unengaged subscribers, and keeping your bounce rates low. Ensure that your emails are consistently branded, coming from a recognized domain that is authenticated using SPF, DKIM, and DMARC protocols. With Benchmark Email’s Smart Sending feature, you can have unengaged subscribers automatically removed from your email list. Sign up for a free account to access it now. Secure... --- ### Crisis Management on Social Media: A Guide for Finance Companies > This guide outlines effective strategies for finance companies to implement crises management on social media. - Published: 2024-01-10 - Modified: 2024-01-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/finance-crisis-management-on-social-media/ - Categories: Social Media Social media has become a double-edged sword. While it offers a powerful platform for engagement and communication, it also presents a potential minefield for crises and reputation management. For financial institutions, being well-prepared to navigate the challenges that arise on social media during times of crisis is extremely crucial. This guide outlines effective strategies for finance companies to manage and mitigate crises on social media, safeguard their reputation, and maintain the trust of clients and stakeholders. The Importance of a Crisis Management Plan A crisis management plan holds paramount importance for finance professionals and institutions due to the unique vulnerabilities and high stakes associated with the financial sector. First and foremost, it serves as a bulwark to protect the reputation, an invaluable asset in the financial industry. Trust is the bedrock of client and stakeholder relationships, and a well-prepared plan is instrumental in shielding that trust. Moreover, in an industry where strict regulatory compliance is the norm, a crisis management plan ensures that responses to crises adhere to legal and regulatory standards, preventing potential legal repercussions. It facilitates rapid response, which is crucial in an era where news travels at the speed of social media. Timely and coordinated actions can prevent a crisis from escalating and causing further harm. By minimizing the impact of a crisis, effective crisis management can help save a financial institution from enduring substantial damage, both financially and reputationally. Clients, investors, and stakeholders expect competent and responsible handling of crises, and a well-executed plan reassures them... --- ### Email List Maintenance: Keeping Your Manufacturing Audience Engaged and Updated > Email list maintenance is one of the most important practices your manufacturing company can do. Here are some tips. - Published: 2024-01-04 - Modified: 2023-12-28 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/manufacturing-email-list-maintenance/ - Categories: Manufacturing Staying connected with your audience is important for every industry, including the manufacturing sector. Email marketing remains a powerful tool, offering a direct line to clients, suppliers, and partners. But to harness its full potential, regular email list maintenance is essential. Without it, you risk diminished engagement, increased costs, and damage to your sender reputation. Let’s take a closer look at the importance of email list maintenance, as well as some best practices you can put to use for your manufacturing business. Why Email List Maintenance is Crucial A well-maintained email list is a sign of a healthy email marketing strategy. It ensures that your communications are reaching those who find them relevant, thereby improving engagement rates and your overall return on investment (ROI). For manufacturers whose products and services often require significant buyer education and long sales cycles, having an engaged list can be the difference between a lead that goes cold and a fruitful, long-term business relationship. Best Practices for Email List Maintenance Don’t worry. There are things you can do that will not only ensure your emails make it to the inbox but will also keep your email deliverability and sender reputation high. Here are some best practices that will keep your list clean. Regular List Cleaning Periodically review your email list to remove inactive subscribers. Inactivity can be defined based on your email sending frequency – for instance, no engagement in the past six months. Before removing these contacts, attempt a re-engagement campaign to win back... --- ### The Benefits of User-Generated Content and Social Media Influencers in Email Marketing > Discover the benefits of user-generated content and social media influencers in email marketing. Learn eight proven strategies. - Published: 2024-01-03 - Modified: 2025-06-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/user-generated-content-and-social-media-influencers/ - Categories: Social Media On average, your subscribers receive and send over 121 emails per day. They’re inundated with emails, and reading an update on your brand is probably the last thing they want to spend time on (unless, of course, you’re Taylor Swift). So, what can you do to win their attention and engage with them? The answer is simple. Instead of promotional content, focus on being relatable. Utilize influencer-led strategies and user-generated content (UGC). While there are thousands of ways to leverage the two in your email marketing strategy, here are eight proven strategies to reap the benefits of user-generated content and social media influencers. 1. Use Them for Relatable Content When brands craft campaigns, we often make aspirational statements (e. g. , “Explore five countries in only two weeks! ”) instead of relatable content. However, influencers and users happen to combat this, mainly because they’ve already established their credibility by simply being who they are. In other words, your subscribers will trust people who talk like them and look like them instead of trusting the credibility of a no-face brand whose agenda is likely to sell something. For example, if your audience and influencers were to use the same headline used above, it’d look something like this: “How I visited five countries for under $3000 (and how you can do the same! ). ” This relatability factor makes your marketing message (and, ergo, your product/service) attainable, which is what motivates users to convert. 2. Use Them for Social Proof Another great... --- ### The Dos and Don'ts of Email Marketing > When it comes to email marketing, there is a definite list of do's and don'ts you should follow. Here are some of them. - Published: 2023-12-28 - Modified: 2024-08-20 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-dos-and-donts-of-a-mailing-list/ - Categories: Email Marketing Like most instances, with email marketing, there are things you should and shouldn’t do. Instead of taking a shot in the dark, why not follow a guide that will walk you through the do’s and don’ts so you can be as successful as possible? This comprehensive guide covers essential tips for creating effective and engaging email content, optimizing subject lines and preview text, personalizing messages, and segmenting your audience for better targeting. Additionally, the post emphasizes the importance of building a clean and opted-in email list, respecting subscribers' privacy and preferences, and complying with legal regulations such as GDPR and CAN-SPAM. By following the do's and avoiding the don'ts outlined in this blog post, you’ll gain valuable insights to improve your email marketing strategies and achieve higher open and click-through rates, ultimately driving better results for your business. The Do's of Email Marketing 1. Build a Permission-Based Email List One of the most important aspects of email marketing success is building a permission-based email list. This means obtaining consent from individuals who willingly opt-in to receive your emails. By ensuring you have a clean and opted-in email list, you are more likely to reach engaged and interested recipients who are receptive to your messages. 2. Personalize Your Emails Personalization goes a long way in email marketing. When you address recipients by their names and tailor your content to their preferences and interests, you create a more personalized and engaging experience. Personalized emails are more likely to resonate with recipients and... --- ### Building a Strong Online Presence: A Guide for Local Businesses > For local businesses, building a strong online business can expand your reach and be a game-changer when it comes to sales. - Published: 2023-12-27 - Modified: 2024-07-10 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/building-a-strong-online-presence/ - Categories: Retail The path to success for local businesses is intricately woven into the fabric of the online world as much as it is about the relationships between employees and leaders in the workplace. As communities embrace the convenience of technology, local businesses stand to gain immensely by establishing a robust online presence. But what strategies are most worth their precious time and resources? This article explores the pivotal role that a strong online presence plays in propelling local businesses forward, leveraging the potency of specific strategies that seamlessly connect businesses with their target audience. The Importance of Having an Online Presence Having a robust online presence holds paramount importance for local businesses in today's digitally connected landscape. It serves as a pivotal gateway for businesses to connect with their local audience, build credibility, and foster growth. In an era where consumers increasingly turn to the internet for information, products, and services, having an online footprint ensures that local businesses are discoverable and accessible. A professional website and active social media profiles not only provide essential information about the business but also establish trust and legitimacy, enticing potential customers to engage. Moreover, an online presence enables direct interaction, facilitating customer communication, feedback, and inquiries. This engagement bolsters relationships, as customers feel a stronger connection to businesses that are readily reachable through digital channels. By showcasing products, services, promotions, and events, local businesses can effectively market their offerings, reaching a wider audience beyond their immediate vicinity. Overall, a strong online presence empowers local... --- ### Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing for Retail Businesses: Strategies, Tools, and Customer Engagement Techniques > In the retail business, your email marketing strategy helps you move dead stock, engage with potential customers, and move your bottom line. - Published: 2023-12-21 - Modified: 2023-12-12 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-for-retail-businesses/ - Categories: Retail The retail world is dynamic, and staying ahead means not only having great products but also mastering the art of communication. That’s why email marketing is pivotal. It offers a direct line to customers' inboxes, where personalized experiences can be crafted and meaningful relationships nurtured. Email marketing stands as a cornerstone of customer engagement and sales growth, both crucial elements for a successful retail store. Without email marketing, building brand loyalty and driving purchasing decisions would be the stuff of myths. In this guide, we’ll explore the nuances of harnessing email marketing in the retail industry. Understanding the Retail Audience Retail consumers are a diverse group with varied preferences and behaviors. Segmenting this audience based on purchasing patterns, preferences, and history is crucial. Tailoring email content to these segments enhances relevance and engagement. Retail target audiences can vary widely depending on the products or services offered, the brand's positioning, and the market dynamics. Here are some common examples of retail target audiences: Budget-conscious Shoppers: This group is focused on finding the best deals, discounts, and affordable products. Retailers targeting this audience often emphasize value, sales, and cost-saving opportunities. Luxury Consumers: This audience seeks high-end, premium products and is willing to pay a higher price for exclusivity, quality, and luxury branding. Retailers targeting these consumers often focus on the quality, prestige, and status associated with their products. Millennials and Gen Z: These demographic groups are tech-savvy and value authenticity, experiences, and social responsibility. Retailers targeting these groups often focus on digital... --- ### Segmentation Secrets: Crafting Personalized Email Content for Different Segments in Manufacturing > If you're in the manufacturing industry, here's how you can personalize your emails and appeal to different audience segments. - Published: 2023-12-20 - Modified: 2023-12-12 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/personalized-email-content-for-manufacturing-segments/ - Categories: Manufacturing In the realm of manufacturing, where the audience ranges from suppliers to end-users, the power of personalization cannot be overstated. Segmentation is the cornerstone of any successful email marketing campaign, as it allows for the delivery of tailored messages that resonate with each unique group. Let’s delve into the secrets of segmentation and how to craft personalized email content for diverse segments in the manufacturing industry. Understanding Segmentation in Manufacturing Segmentation is the process of dividing a broad customer base into sub-groups based on shared characteristics. In manufacturing, this could mean categorizing your audience by their industry, role in the supply chain, purchase history, or even their engagement with previous emails. 1. Identify Your Segments Begin by identifying the different segments that make up your audience. Common manufacturing segments may include: Suppliers: Companies or individuals who provide the raw materials or components you need. Distributors and Wholesalers: Entities that buy your products to resell to retailers or directly to end-users. Retailers: Businesses that sell your products to the end-user. End-Users: The consumers or businesses that use your products. Influencers: Individuals or organizations that influence the buying decision but don’t directly purchase your products. 2. Define Segment-Specific Goals Each segment interacts with your business differently and, therefore, has different goals. For example, suppliers might be most interested in bulk order opportunities, while end-users might prioritize product features and usage tips. 3. Gather Data Use data from CRM systems, past purchase behavior, and interactions with your website and emails to further refine... --- ### Sales Enablement in the Financial Sector: Tools and Strategies > Sales enablement can look a little different depending on the industry. Here's what it looks like for the financial sector. - Published: 2023-12-19 - Modified: 2023-12-12 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/sales-enablement-financial-sector/ - Categories: Sales In the dynamic landscape of the financial sector, the role of sales teams has never been more critical. Whether it's attracting new clients, retaining existing ones, or navigating intricate financial products, success hinges on the ability of these professionals to deliver value and close deals. Yet, achieving this prowess demands more than financial acumen alone; it demands an arsenal of tools, knowledge, and strategies to thrive in the ever-evolving market. Welcome to the realm of sales enablement, an approach that is fast gaining prominence in the financial sector, equipping sales teams with the right resources, skills, and support to excel in an industry where knowledge is power and timing is everything. What is Sales Enablement for Financial Services? Sales enablement is a strategic approach that equips sales teams with the tools, resources, knowledge, and strategies they need to engage prospects, close deals, and drive revenue effectively. It is a holistic framework aimed at enhancing the capabilities of sales professionals, ensuring they have access to the right information and support at the right time to engage customers successfully. In the financial industry, sales enablement takes on a specific and crucial role due to the complexity of financial products and the need for trust and expertise in client interactions. Goals of Sales Enablement in the Financial Industry The primary objectives of sales enablement in the financial sector are: Improving Efficiency Sales enablement streamlines workflows, providing sales professionals with the right resources at their fingertips. This efficiency reduces time spent on administrative tasks... --- ### Automating Success: How Manufacturers Can Use Email Automation to Increase Efficiency > Email automation can assist the manufacturing sector with reaching their key audiences and engaging them. Here are some tips for success. - Published: 2023-12-14 - Modified: 2023-12-07 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-manufacturers-can-use-email-automation/ - Categories: Marketing Automation In the manufacturing sector, where efficiency and precision are not just goals but necessities, email automation stands out as a powerful ally. With the right strategy, manufacturers can streamline communication, nurture leads, and maintain critical relationships with minimal manual effort. In this blog post, we’ll dive into how email automation can be the catalyst for increased efficiency in the manufacturing landscape. We’ll also provide a crash course into email automation that will bring you up to speed and offer you tips and tricks along the way. What is Email Automation? Email automation is a way to create emails that reach the right people with the right message at the right time without doing the work every time. It's about using email marketing software to automatically send emails based on triggers and schedules you define. Email automation is quick, efficient, and easy to implement, so you can focus your time on other tasks and projects on your to-do list. Why do Manufacturers Need Email Automation? Manufacturers deal with complex processes that can benefit greatly from automation. From supply chain notifications to customer updates, automating these communications can save time, reduce errors, and keep operations running smoothly. Professionals within the manufacturing industry have a lot on their plate, and email marketing is just another thing. By utilizing automation, they can ensure they’re using an effective strategy that engages and nurtures leads while they’re busy doing the other things their job demands. Setting Up for Email Automation Success Before diving into automation, it’s... --- ### User-Generated Content on Social Media: Showcasing Customer Experiences in Retail > Incorporating user-generated content into your social media strategy is a great way to engage your audience. - Published: 2023-12-13 - Modified: 2024-05-01 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/user-generated-social-media-content/ - Categories: Retail In the modern retail landscape, consumers have access to an abundance of information and options when making purchasing decisions. However, this abundance can lead to skepticism and hesitation. Many consumers are wary of traditional advertising and brand-generated content because they perceive it as biased or promotional. This skepticism can make it difficult for retailers to establish trust and credibility with their audience. However, by harnessing user-generated content, retailers can break through to even the hardest skeptic. What is User Generated Content? User-generated content (UGC) is a marketing strategy that involves consumers, rather than brands or businesses, creating and sharing content related to a product, service, or brand. This content can take various forms, such as reviews, photos, videos, testimonials, blog posts, social media posts, and more. UGC has become a significant and powerful tool in retail marketing for several reasons. Here are some of the benefits that come with showcasing the customer experience: Authenticity and Credibility: UGC is perceived as more authentic and trustworthy compared to brand-generated content. When customers share their experiences, it adds credibility to the product or service being discussed. Potential buyers tend to trust the opinions of fellow consumers more than advertisements, which often have a biased tone. Engagement and Community Building: Encouraging UGC fosters a sense of community among customers. When people share their experiences, they engage with the brand and its other customers. This sense of community can lead to increased brand loyalty and repeat business. Cost-Effective Marketing: UGC can be a cost-effective marketing... --- ### Crafting Compelling Newsletters: Content Ideas for Manufacturing Companies > For manufacturing companies, crafting compelling newsletters is no easy task. Here is a step-by-step guide to help. - Published: 2023-12-12 - Modified: 2023-12-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/newsletters-ideas-manufacturing/ - Categories: Email Marketing For manufacturing companies, email newsletters are a golden opportunity to communicate directly with your audience, strengthen brand loyalty, and position yourself as a thought leader in the industry. However, the challenge lies in creating content that is both engaging and relevant to your readers. Below is a guide that will help you craft compelling newsletters designed to captivate your manufacturing audience. 1. Understanding Your Audience First and foremost, it’s crucial to have a deep understanding of who your audience is. Are they stakeholders, suppliers, distributors, or end-users? Knowing this will guide the content and tone of your newsletter. It's essential to tailor the information to the interests and needs of your readers while reinforcing the value your company provides. 2. Look Into Industry Insights and Trends One of the most valuable types of content you can offer is insight into industry trends. Discuss the latest advancements in manufacturing technology, such as 3D printing or the Internet of Things (IoT), and how they impact the industry. Dive into market trends, including shifts in supply and demand, to keep your readers informed and ahead of the curve. 3. Offer Behind-the-Scenes Access Give your subscribers a glimpse into the day-to-day operations of your company. Highlight innovative production methods, showcase your commitment to sustainability, or offer a virtual tour of your facilities. This transparency builds trust and humanizes your brand. 4. Share Case Studies and Success Stories Share detailed case studies that demonstrate how your company has solved specific problems or improved efficiency for... --- ### The Future of Retail: 13 Trends and Technologies Shaping the Industry > What's in store for the future of retail? Here are some trends and technologies making a big splash in the industry. - Published: 2023-12-07 - Modified: 2023-12-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/etail-trends-shaping-the-industry/ - Categories: Retail The retail industry is no stranger to disruption over the last couple of decades: first with the rise of online and mobile shopping and then with the uncertainty of the pandemic. If retailers are anything, they’re adaptive! Retail continues to thrive through all these changes, with a global growth rate of 3. 5% annually. If you’re a retailer who wants to stay on top of the latest trends and technologies shaping the industry, you’ve come to the right place. We’ll look at 13 emerging and evolving trends, including AI-powered personalization and contactless shopping, along with their impact on the retail sector so you can determine which approaches you should add to your strategy. Contactless and Cashless Payments Contactless and cashless payments like Apple Pay and Google Pay streamline transaction processes, making purchasing faster and eliminating the need to handle cash. This improves customer experience by reducing waiting times while allowing companies to handle a higher volume of transactions. Cashless payments also reduce the handling and storage of physical money, enhancing security and reducing the risk of theft. Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) Shopping Experiences AR and VR are a serious boon to customer shopping experiences. Allow customers to virtually try on clothes, visualize furniture in their homes, or walk through a virtual store from the comfort of their living room. And in-store AR can transform a regular shop into a creative wonderland! These technologies make customers happy and ultimately boost sales, too. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning... --- ### 6 Essentials of Inbound Lead Generation Success > Take your inbound lead generation to the next level by focusing on these six essentials. Supercharge engagement and land those conversions! - Published: 2023-12-06 - Modified: 2023-12-06 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/essentials-of-inbound-lead-generation/ - Categories: Inbound Marketing There’s a reason inbound lead generation is prized by commercial organizations everywhere. After all, without leads, you don’t have a business. Unfortunately, it’s not always easy to get right. If you’ve ever wondered what key factors contribute to successfully attracting hot leads, you’ve come to the right place. This article explores six vital elements of successful inbound lead generation that are crucial to master. What are Inbound Leads? Admit it: you don’t like being cold-called, do you? It’s an intrusive and irritating practice. The good news is that companies know this, too, and most have no interest in trying to annoy potential customers. This is why inbound lead generation has become one of the most popular marketing strategies for modern business. Inbound leads are potential customers who find you without you reaching out to them directly. Instead, you attract them using alternative techniques so that when the time is right, they engage with your offering themselves. Types of Inbound Leads Your inbound leads are categorized by what stage of the buyer’s journey they’re currently at. Information qualified lead (IQL): This is someone who is just dipping their toe into the sales funnel. It could be that they’ve been searching for information on how to solve their problem and have come across your business while doing so. Marketing qualified lead (MQL): An MQL has engaged with some of your organization’s marketing but hasn’t yet committed to purchasing anything. This could mean they’ve signed up for an email list or started following... --- ### Unlocking the Power of Email Marketing: A Comprehensive Guide to Boosting ROI > When it comes to boosting email marketing ROI, you may think you've tried it all. Here are some new tactics that are sure to help. - Published: 2023-11-30 - Modified: 2023-11-22 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/boosting-email-marketing-roi/ - Categories: Email Marketing In the world of digital marketing, email remains a cornerstone, steadfast in its ability to connect businesses directly with customers. In a world where instant communication is king, email marketing offers a unique blend of reach, relevance, and return on investment (ROI). In this guide, we’ll walk you through building a robust email list and crafting compelling content to optimize deliverability and analyze performance metrics. With a focus on practical, proven techniques and cutting-edge trends, we aim to equip you with the tools and insights needed to elevate your email campaigns from mere communication to powerful conduits of engagement and revenue generation. Before we dive in, let’s address the basics. Why Email Marketing is Important Email marketing stands out in the crowded digital marketing space for its efficiency and cost-effectiveness. It's a direct line to your audience, offering unparalleled opportunities for engagement, brand building, and driving tangible business outcomes. Let’s look closer at what email marketing affords you. The Benefits of Email Marketing Email marketing is a powerhouse in terms of benefits. It's not just about hitting inboxes; it's about opening doors to direct communication, enhancing brand visibility, driving web traffic, and fostering leads and sales conversions. Statistics on Email Marketing ROI Here are some compelling statistics that highlight the power and potential of email marketing: High Return on Investment: According to a study by the Data & Marketing Association, email marketing has an average ROI of $38 for every $1 spent, making it one of the most cost-effective marketing... --- ### Crafting Stunning Emails: Master the Art of Email Design with an Email Builder > You don't need to know how to code to create a beatifully designed email. All you need is an email builder. - Published: 2023-11-29 - Modified: 2023-11-22 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-design-with-an-email-builder/ - Categories: Email Marketing Email marketing stands as a vital channel in the digital world, connecting businesses with their audience in a personal and impactful way. However, in an inbox cluttered with countless messages, how can your email stand out? The key lies in the art of creating visually appealing emails. In this blog post, we'll explore how an email builder can be your ally in designing stunning emails that not only capture attention but also drive engagement and conversions. Understanding the Power of an Email Builder An email builder is a tool that simplifies the email design process. It offers a range of customizable templates, drag-and-drop functionality, and an intuitive interface, making it accessible for both seasoned marketers and beginners. By using an email builder like Benchmark Email, you can create professional-looking emails without needing extensive knowledge of coding or graphic design. Choosing the Right Template The journey to an engaging email begins with selecting the right template. Email templates serve as the foundation of your email design, setting the tone and structure. When choosing a template, consider your email’s purpose and your brand identity. A newsletter might require a different layout compared to a promotional email. The key is to select a template that is both aesthetically pleasing and functional, ensuring your message is delivered clearly. Color Schemes and Fonts: The Visual Voice Color and typography are powerful tools in conveying your brand’s personality. A well-chosen color scheme can evoke emotions and create a visual connection with your audience. When selecting colors,... --- ### Inventory Management Best Practices: Reducing Costs and Improving Efficiency > As the holidays approach, it's important that your small retail business uses the best inventory management practices possible. - Published: 2023-11-28 - Modified: 2024-05-18 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/inventory-management/ - Categories: Small Business The holiday season, a time of festivity and celebration, presents a significant challenge and opportunity for retail stores. It's a period marked by a substantial increase in consumer spending, making it crucial for retailers to have effective inventory management strategies in place. Efficient inventory management during this time is not just about stocking up on popular items; it's about accurately predicting consumer trends, ensuring a diverse range of products, and maintaining the right balance between demand and supply. Retailers must also be nimble in their approach, ready to adapt to unexpected changes in consumer behavior or supply chain disruptions. Advanced planning is key, involving meticulous analysis of the previous year's sales data, current market trends, and potential logistical challenges. By mastering these aspects of inventory management, retailers can capitalize on the holiday season's potential, ensuring that they meet customer demands while also optimizing their sales and profits. This period, therefore, is not only a test of a retailer's understanding of their market but also of their ability to operate efficiently under pressure, making it a critical time for the retail industry. In this article, we explore what inventory management is and some best practices that will help you prepare for the busy season ahead. What is Inventory Management? Inventory management is the process of overseeing and controlling a company's inventory or stock of goods and materials. It involves a series of activities and strategies aimed at efficiently tracking, storing, replenishing, and utilizing inventory to meet customer demand while minimizing carrying... --- ### Retail Sales Strategies for Peak Shopping Seasons: Black Friday and Beyond > Peak shopping season is upon us and your retail store needs to be ready. Here are some retail sales strategies to use this year. - Published: 2023-11-16 - Modified: 2023-11-28 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/retail-sales-strategies-for-peak-shopping-seasons/ - Categories: Small Business For the retail sector, some events stand as towering peaks on the calendar, casting their shadow over the entire industry. These are the peak shopping seasons, and at the summit, you'll find giants like Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the holiday shopping frenzy. For retailers, these moments aren't just dates on the calendar; they're make-or-break opportunities. The significance of peak shopping seasons is undeniable, and conquering them requires a strategic finesse that goes beyond discounts and doorbusters. In this article, we explore the dynamic realm of peak shopping seasons, emphasizing the need for innovative retail sales strategies that can mean the difference between triumph and tumble in this exhilarating retail rodeo. What/When is Peak Shopping Season? Peak shopping seasons refer to specific periods during the year when retailers experience a significant surge in consumer spending. These seasons are characterized by heightened shopping activity, increased demand for products, and a pronounced focus on retail promotions and sales events. Peak shopping seasons are crucial for retailers due to their potential to drive substantial revenue, impact profitability, and shape the annual financial performance of businesses. These periods matter to retailers for several reasons: Increased Sales: Peak shopping seasons offer retailers the opportunity to generate a substantial portion of their annual revenue in a relatively short timeframe. Clearance of Inventory: Retailers can clear out excess inventory from previous seasons and make room for new products. Brand Visibility: Effective participation in peak shopping seasons can increase brand visibility and attract new customers. Consumer Expectations: Shoppers... --- ### The Power of AI-Generated Email Design and How It’s Revolutionizing Email Marketing > Email is constantly changing, and a lot of these changes can be attributed to AI. Let's uncover the power of ai-generated email design. - Published: 2023-11-15 - Modified: 2025-03-14 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ai-generated-email-design/ - Categories: Email Marketing While email marketing has proven to be a robust and effective tool for engaging customers and driving conversions, it is not immune to the winds of change that sweep through the digital realm. Enter Artificial Intelligence (AI), a disruptive force that is ushering in a new era of email marketing. At the heart of this transformation lies AI-generated email design, a cutting-edge technology that is revolutionizing the way marketers connect with their audiences. The world of AI-generated email design is fascinating and has profound implications for email marketing professionals. Gone are the days when crafting visually appealing and personalized emails was a labor-intensive process. With AI as their creative ally, email marketers now have a powerful tool at their disposal, one that can generate stunning email designs, tailor content for individual preferences, and optimize engagement strategies—all at an unprecedented speed and scale. As we delve into the depths of this digital revolution, we will explore the key drivers behind AI-generated email design's rise to prominence, dissect the mechanics that power this transformative technology, and uncover the tangible benefits it brings to the email marketing landscape. From heightened personalization to dynamic content adaptation, AI is not only streamlining the creative process but also amplifying the impact of email campaigns. What is AI-Generated Email Design? AI-generated email design refers to the use of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to automate and enhance the process of creating visually appealing and effective email marketing campaigns. This innovative approach leverages AI algorithms and machine learning techniques... --- ### Hyper-Personalization: The Role of AI in Email Content > If you're looking to make your email content hyper-personalized so it will resonate better with your audience, look no further than AI. - Published: 2023-11-14 - Modified: 2024-07-30 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/hyper-personalization-email-content/ - Categories: Email Marketing Welcome to the age of the customer, where generic, one-size-fits-all emails just don’t cut it anymore. We’re talking about hyper-personalization—the sophisticated sibling of your run-of-the-mill personalization tactics. This is the juncture where Artificial Intelligence (AI) rolls up its sleeves and takes your email marketing game to a whole new level. And when we say “new level,” we mean personalizing every pixel and every word to resonate with individual behaviors, preferences, and real-time needs. No wonder businesses are turning to AI to craft emails that don’t just end up in the spam folder but spark engagement. How can you achieve this? Let’s find out. AI-Driven Hyper-Personalization Up Close Let’s get something straight—hyper-personalization isn’t just splattering first names across email bodies. No, we’re far beyond that. This involves a deep understanding of consumer behavior, something AI does like a pro. Data-Driven Insights AI consumes data for breakfast, digesting information from customer interactions, purchase histories, and even social media activities. This rich data diet helps AI models slice and dice your audience into highly targeted segments. For instance, if you have an eCommerce business, you can feed data to the AI and have it separate them into categories like “weekend shoppers,” “coupon hunters,” or “brand loyalists. ” Now, your email content can talk directly to each of these groups, significantly ramping up engagement levels. Dynamic Content Generation Now we’re warming up. AI doesn’t just inform your strategy; it can also create content. Using predefined templates and variables, these algorithms whip up product recommendations,... --- ### Holiday Email Marketing: Strategies for Maximizing Seasonal Sales > This holiday season, be ready to increase sales and ROI with these effective holiday email marketing strategies. - Published: 2023-11-09 - Modified: 2023-12-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/holiday-email-marketing-strategies/ - Categories: Email Marketing The holiday season isn't just a time for decking the halls and spreading cheer; it's also a golden opportunity for businesses to capitalize on the festive spirit and boost their bottom lines. As the days grow shorter and the air gets crisper, consumers worldwide embark on a gift-giving frenzy, and a well-executed holiday email marketing strategy can be your brand's ticket to a sleigh-full of seasonal success. From Black Friday to New Year's Eve, this article explores the significance of holiday email marketing in driving seasonal sales, shedding light on the immense potential it holds for businesses seeking to jingle all the way to increased revenue during the most wonderful time of the year. You Know it's the Holiday Season When... The holiday shopping season is a critical and highly anticipated period for both consumers and retailers. It typically spans from late November through December and is characterized by various key dates and shopping trends. Thanksgiving (Fourth Thursday in November) Thanksgiving, celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November in the United States, marks the beginning of the holiday shopping season. It's a time for families to gather and express gratitude. In recent years, Thanksgiving has become increasingly important for retail, with "Black Friday" sales often starting on Thursday evening. Retailers offer early deals, and consumers head out to take advantage of the discounts, both in stores and online. Black Friday (The Day After Thanksgiving) Black Friday is known for its doorbuster deals, huge discounts, and long shopping hours. Retailers open... --- ### Navigating Digital Marketing Trends: Strategies for Small Businesses > Navigating and staying abreast of digital marketing trends can be difficult, especially for small businesses. - Published: 2023-11-08 - Modified: 2024-10-16 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/digital-marketing-small-businesses/ - Categories: Small Business Staying ahead of the curve is essential for small businesses aiming to make their mark. As technology continues to reshape consumer behaviors and interactions, staying attuned to the latest digital marketing trends is no longer a choice—it's a necessity. In this article, we embark on a journey through the dynamic landscape of digital marketing, uncovering key trends that are reshaping the way small businesses engage with their audiences. From influencer collaborations to the dominance of video content and the rise of voice search optimization, we'll explore actionable strategies that empower small businesses to not only navigate but thrive in this ever-changing digital terrain. The Digital Marketing Evolution Digital marketing has undergone a remarkable transformation over the years, driven by advancements in technology, changes in consumer behavior, and shifts in the online landscape. The evolution of digital marketing can be summarized in several key phases: Emergence of Websites and Email Marketing (1990s) The earliest forms of digital marketing were centered around basic websites and email campaigns. Companies began to establish their online presence through static websites, providing basic information to potential customers. Acquiring a domain enabled them to establish a professional business email presence. Concurrently, email marketing also gained traction, allowing businesses to communicate directly with their audience. Search Engine Optimization (Early 2000s) With the rise of search engines like Google, businesses started focusing on optimizing their websites to rank higher in search results. This marked the beginning of Search Engine Optimization (SEO), which aimed to improve a website's visibility and... --- ### Clickbait Email Subject Lines and Emojis: Balancing Attention-Grabbing Tactics and Subscriber Trust > It may be tempting, but using clickbait email subject lines isn't wise and it won't win you the trust of your subscribers. - Published: 2023-11-07 - Modified: 2024-08-20 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/clickbait-email-subject-lines/ - Categories: Email Marketing In the fiercely competitive world of email marketing, grabbing the attention of recipients and enticing them to open emails is an ongoing challenge for marketers. To stand out in crowded inboxes, some marketers turn to attention-grabbing tactics, such as clickbait subject lines and emojis. While these strategies may achieve short-term gains in open rates, they are not without controversy. The use of clickbait subject lines, emojis, and other attention-grabbing techniques raises ethical concerns and can potentially harm a brand's reputation and trust with subscribers. Clickbait Subject Lines: The Tempting Trap Clickbait subject lines are designed to pique curiosity and lure recipients into opening emails. They often tease exciting or sensational content but may not fully deliver on the promise. While clickbait can lead to higher open rates initially, it can lead to disappointment when subscribers realize the email content does not live up to their expectations. This practice can erode trust, lead to decreased engagement, and increase the likelihood of recipients marking emails as spam. What are Clickbait Email Subject Lines? We’ve more or less covered this, but it never hurts to reiterate. Clickbait email subject lines are attention-grabbing and often false or far-reaching phrases or statements used to entice recipients into opening an email. They are designed to create curiosity, evoke emotions, or promise something intriguing, with the sole goal of increasing email open rates. Characteristics of Clickbait Email Subject Lines Sensationalism: Clickbait subject lines often use exaggerated language or make bold claims to capture the recipient's attention. Incomplete... --- ### The Average Workflow Journey for a New Email Subscriber > For a new email subscriber, their workflow journey looks very specific. Here's an outline of what it looks like and how to nurture them. - Published: 2023-11-02 - Modified: 2023-10-25 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/new-subscriber-workflow-journey/ - Categories: Marketing In an era defined by digital connectivity and information overload, email remains a stalwart of communication, marketing, and engagement. For businesses and organizations, building a robust email subscriber list is a fundamental component of their digital strategy. Yet, the journey of a new email subscriber is far from a mere click-and-send process. It is a dynamic and intricate workflow, a carefully orchestrated sequence of events that can make or break the relationship between sender and recipient. In this article, we delve into the intriguing world of the average workflow journey for a new email subscriber. We explore the steps, strategies, and considerations that shape this journey from the initial sign-up to becoming an engaged, loyal recipient. Whether you're an email marketer looking to refine your tactics or a curious subscriber seeking insight into what happens after you hit "Subscribe," join us as we navigate from welcome emails to personalized content, segmentation to automation. Automation and the Average Workflow Journey Marketing automation plays a pivotal role in shaping the average workflow journey for a new email subscriber. It acts as the behind-the-scenes conductor, orchestrating a seamless and personalized experience that can greatly impact the subscriber's engagement and conversion. Here's how marketing automation influences each stage of this journey: Welcome and Onboarding: When a subscriber first joins the email list, marketing automation can trigger a welcome email series. These emails introduce the subscriber to the brand, set expectations, and provide valuable content or incentives to encourage further interaction. Automation ensures that these... --- ### 42 Best Sales Prospecting Tools for Sales Teams in 2023 > Make sure your sales efforts for 2023 are off to a great start. Here are 42 of the best sales prospecting tools. - Published: 2023-11-01 - Modified: 2025-05-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/42-best-sales-prospecting-tools/ - Categories: Sales Good prospecting leads to good business. Prospecting is what brings you to the attention of your potential clients and keeps your sales pipeline full, leading to more business. But it is not as easy as sending a simple message randomly to people. Most sales reps consider prospecting to be the toughest part of the sales process. So, how do you get your sales prospecting process bang on? How do you know which prospects are good enough to approach? Where and how to approach them? How to track them and convert them? This is where sales prospecting tools come in as a savior for all sales reps. These tools allow you to control the entire sales process more easily and effectively. And today, we will share some of the best sales prospecting tools and how they can help you ace your sales game! Before jumping on the massive list of sales prospecting tools, let's first understand what exactly sales prospecting is. What is Sales Prospecting? Sales prospecting is the practice of gathering further information about potential leads who have expressed interest in your company's product or service. It contributes to the development of the sales pipeline and moves you one step closer to gaining potential clients. Prospecting is an essential component of your business and marketing plan. Sales prospecting can help you gain competitive insights, boost your sales team's productivity, enlarge your sales pipeline, and lower acquisition costs. Top Sales Prospecting Tools for 2023 Here's a list of the best tools... --- ### Top Sales Team Roles You Need for Team Success > Looking to recruit a top-tier sales team? Here are the key roles you’ll need to fill and the best ways to recruit for them. - Published: 2023-11-01 - Modified: 2025-03-26 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/top-sales-team-roles/ - Categories: Sales As the saying goes, a company is only as good as the people it keeps. This certainly applies when it comes to your sales team. With sales revenue the heart and soul of a business and the most critical component of its success, it follows that building a high-performing sales team will help organizations achieve their goals and generate profit. You need to hire staff with the right set of talents to deliver your targets. They should be teachable, complement each other’s skills, and match your own drive and motivation. While assembling your ‘dream team’ will begin during the recruitment process, it continues throughout the employee lifecycle. Creating and hiring for key roles and the way you structure your staff will have a huge impact on their success. Read on for more information on the top sales team roles you’ll need to ensure your team’s success. What is a Sales Team? Before you start assigning roles, it’s essential you know what a sales team is and how it’ll function within your business. Put simply, a sales team is responsible for selling your company’s products or services. Your team will work together towards sales targets with the ambition of increasing profitability while creating and maintaining customer relationships. Building an effective sales team is a skill in itself. Sales teams will comprise numerous staff, each with varying roles and responsibilities. Depending on the size of your organization, teams will range in scope from a handful to hundreds of roles. No matter the... --- ### New Gmail and Yahoo Spam Prevention Requirements and How Email Marketers Can Prepare > Is your team prepared for what the new Gmail and Yahoo spam prevention requirements will mean for your email marketing? - Published: 2023-10-25 - Modified: 2023-11-29 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/spam-prevention-requirements/ - Categories: Email Marketing Ending up in the spam folder is every marketer’s nightmare. Not only does it mean your message didn’t make it to your recipient, but it could set you up for failure later on. The more your emails get marked as spam, the worse your email deliverability can get over time. Also, being seen as a spammer isn’t great for your brand, as it corrodes your credibility and breaks down any trust you’ve worked hard to earn with your audience. Major email providers, like Gmail and Yahoo, know just how annoying it is for users to receive spammy messages. That’s why they’ve adjusted their screening policies to better enforce email marketing best practices. These new policies will go into effect in February 2024. But what does this mean for email marketers? While it’s crucial that you’re prepared to comply with Gmail and Yahoo’s guidelines, it’s also important to note that if you’re following email marketing best practices to begin with, you’re already set up for success. Let’s dive into these new spam screening policies Google and Yahoo are implementing so you can avoid being flagged as spam. Google and Yahoo's Spam Filtering Policies Google and Yahoo’s new spam filtering policies require that email marketers do the following: Set up domain verification Make it easy for recipients to unsubscribe from your emails Keep your complaint reporting below 0. 3% Email senders who do not comply with the terms of the policy are more likely to have their emails rejected or classified as... --- ### 10 AI Prompts to Help You Generate Newsletter Content > Need some help with your newsletter content? Here are some AI prompts to use that will help you avoid writer's block. - Published: 2023-10-25 - Modified: 2023-10-25 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ai-prompts-newsletter-content/ - Categories: Email Marketing Writer’s block is real. And when you only have a short amount of time to grab the attention of your newsletter subscribers, you’ll want to make sure your email content is next level. Creating engaging newsletter content can be a challenging task, especially when you're pressed for time or ideas. Fortunately, artificial intelligence has evolved to the point where it can assist you in generating newsletter content that captures your audience's attention. In this article, we'll explore some AI prompts to inspire and streamline your newsletter content creation process. 10 AI Prompt Ideas That Will Generate Great Email Newsletter Content 1. Trend Analysis AI-powered tools can analyze current trends in your industry or niche and provide you with insights to incorporate into your enewsletter. You can ask your AI assistant questions like, "What are the emerging trends in ? " or "What topics are currently trending among our target audience? " This can help you stay relevant and engage your readers with up-to-date information. "What are the latest trends in ? " "Can you provide insights on the current market conditions in ? " 2. Content Summarization If you have lengthy articles or reports that you want to include in your newsletter, AI can help you condense them into concise summaries. Simply provide the AI with the text you want summarized, and it will generate a shorter version that retains the key points. This can save you time and make your newsletter more digestible for readers. "Summarize the key points... --- ### 10 Tips for Creating a Newsletter Content Strategy > Use these tips to develop a newsletter content strategy that will boost your engagement rates with your newsletter subscribers. - Published: 2023-10-24 - Modified: 2023-10-25 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/newsletter-content-strategy/ - Categories: Content Marketing Looking for some tips on how to develop a newsletter content strategy that works? You’re in luck. This article explores ten of the best ways to make sure your content generates the kind of engagement you’re hoping to achieve. It covers best practices for creating the content, as well as for how best to present it so it lands well. To begin, let’s examine why you’d want to do this in the first place. Why It's Worth Developing a Dedicated Newsletter Content Strategy You may be wondering whether committing to producing a newsletter regularly is worth the time and effort. If so, you might be surprised to learn that email marketing remains highly popular among businesses. And that’s for one simple reason – it works. According to Statista, a survey carried out in October and November 2022 showed that over half of marketing professionals reported a two-time improvement in their email marketing campaigns' ROI from a year earlier. So, as you can see, it’s worth thinking about. And what’s the best way to harness this email goldmine? Simple: produce regular, authoritative content that people actually want to read. Of course, lots of people have the same idea, which means you need to work hard to stand out. Here are ten tips to help you do just that. Step-By-Step Process for Putting Together an Email Newsletter Content Strategy 1. Craft Some Newsletter Content Guidelines Your first priority should be to set up some standardized content guidelines. That’s because you want every... --- ### Omnichannel Retail: Creating a Seamless Shopping Journey for Modern Consumers > Creating a seamless marketing experience for your customers is what omnichannel retail is all about. Here's how to do it. - Published: 2023-10-19 - Modified: 2024-08-07 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/omnichannel-retail/ - Categories: Ecommerce - Tags: #Ecommerce The modern consumer's path to purchase has evolved into a dynamic and interconnected journey. Welcome to the era of omnichannel retail, where the lines between physical and digital commerce blur, and the shopping experience transcends traditional boundaries. For retailers and businesses aiming to thrive in this landscape, creating a seamless shopping journey has become not just a goal but a necessity. In this article, we embark on a journey into the world of omnichannel retail—a realm where brick-and-mortar stores, eCommerce platforms, mobile apps, social media, and more converge to offer consumers an integrated and immersive shopping experience. We'll explore the concept of omnichannel retail, dissect its core components, and uncover the strategies and technologies that empower businesses to deliver a cohesive and customer-centric shopping journey. Whether you're a retailer seeking to redefine your approach or a curious shopper interested in the evolving retail landscape, join us as we navigate the exciting terrain of omnichannel retail, where convenience, personalization, and connectivity are the cornerstones of the modern shopping adventure. What is Omnichannel Retail? Omnichannel retail is a comprehensive approach to commerce that seamlessly integrates various sales channels, both physical and digital, to create a unified and cohesive shopping experience for consumers. It's a strategy that acknowledges the changing behaviors and expectations of modern shoppers who often interact with a brand through multiple touchpoints, such as brick-and-mortar stores, websites, mobile apps, social media, and more. Key characteristics and principles of omnichannel retail include: Seamless Integration: Omnichannel retail seeks to eliminate the boundaries... --- ### Striking a Balance: Personalized Email Content vs. Privacy Concerns > How do you strike a balance between personalized email content and respecting and abiding by privacy concerns? - Published: 2023-10-18 - Modified: 2023-10-12 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/personalized-email-content-vs-privacy/ - Categories: Email Marketing Personalized email content has become a cornerstone of effective email marketing. Tailoring messages to individual preferences and behaviors can lead to increased engagement, higher conversion rates, and stronger customer relationships. However, as personalization grows in sophistication, so do the concerns surrounding data privacy and the potential for misuse of personal information. Striking a balance between the benefits of personalized email content and the preservation of user privacy is a pressing challenge for marketers and businesses alike. The Power of Personalization Personalization in email marketing is about delivering targeted content to subscribers based on their past interactions, preferences, demographics, and behavior. By analyzing data, marketers can create highly relevant and timely emails that resonate with recipients, making them feel valued and understood. Personalized content not only enhances the user experience but also increases the likelihood of recipients engaging with the email and taking the desired actions, ultimately driving business results. Benefits of Personalized Email Content It’s obvious that personalized content comes with tons of benefits. Let’s cover them: Increased Engagement Personalized emails capture the recipient's attention and create a sense of relevance, prompting higher open and click-through rates. Improved Customer Experience Customized content makes recipients feel like individuals rather than generic contacts, fostering a positive brand perception and long-term loyalty. Higher Conversion Rates Personalization enables targeted calls-to-action and product recommendations, increasing the chances of conversions and repeat purchases. Enhanced Customer Retention By catering to individual preferences and needs, personalized emails strengthen the customer-brand relationship, reducing churn rates. Data-Driven Decision Making Analyzing... --- ### What is Geotargeting (And How to Use it Efficiently) > What is geotargeting, exactly, and how can it benefit business results? Read on to find out, as well as some tips to use it in marketing. - Published: 2023-10-17 - Modified: 2023-10-12 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/geotargeting/ - Categories: Marketing Every business has a number of primary goals. Chief among them is maximizing sales and revenue. And, of course, all businesses encourage loyalty so that customers stay with them and spend more over the coming years. The journey towards those goals can have several steps, but one of the main ones - and a golden rule for any business - is knowing your target audience. You already know the importance of demographic targeting. After all, there is little point in targeting the over-55 age group when your products are designed for the under-25s. Your demographic segments may vary greatly and can include age, gender, socioeconomic status, and others. But what about where they are located? For this, Geotargeting can be an extremely useful marketing tactic. But what is Geotargeting, and how can you use it to your advantage? Read on to find out. What is Geotargeting Knowing the geographical location of your target audience has long been one of the demographic indicators that help businesses make informed decisions on everything from shipping charges to advertising. Yet many businesses are still not utilizing this information as well as they could. The first thing to note is that geotargeting is something that should not exist in a vacuum. It works best when combined with other demographics, such as age and gender. As the name suggests, geotargeting is about targeting potential customers based on their geographic location. More specifically, it’s about creating marketing content and adverts that are centered around that location. The... --- ### The Evolution of the Email Newsletter > The email newsletter has come a long way. Let's track its evolution to see how it got to where it is and where it might be in the near future. - Published: 2023-10-12 - Modified: 2023-10-12 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-evolution-of-the-email-newsletter/ - Categories: Email Marketing The email newsletter stands as a resilient and adaptive medium, continually shaping itself to meet the dynamic needs of an ever-connected world. From its humble beginnings as simple text-based updates to today's interactive, multimedia-rich publications, the email newsletter has transformed into a sophisticated tool for engagement, information dissemination, and brand communication. As we embark on a journey through the evolution of the email newsletter, we unravel its rich history and the pivotal role it has played in connecting individuals, businesses, and communities. Join us as we delve into the past, explore the present, and peer into the promising future of this enduring form of digital communication. In this article, we'll unravel the threads of innovation and adaptation that have woven the email newsletter into the fabric of our digital lives and discover how it continues to shape our world today. The Importance of How the Email Newsletter Has Evolved Understanding the evolution of the email newsletter is important for several reasons: Historical Context: Knowledge of the email newsletter's history provides valuable context for appreciating its current significance. By tracing its evolution, we gain insights into how communication methods have transformed over time, reflecting the changing needs and technologies of society. Adaptation and Innovation: The email newsletter's evolution showcases how it has adapted to the rapidly changing digital landscape. Marketers, businesses, and content creators can draw inspiration from past developments to innovate and stay relevant in today's competitive email marketing environment. Effective Communication: Learning from the past can help email marketers... --- ### Ditch the Office: Why Your Business Should Stick with Remote Work > Thinking about moving your small business back to the office? Here's why you should stick to with a remote work model. - Published: 2023-10-11 - Modified: 2025-05-21 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/why-your-business-should-stick-with-remote-work/ - Categories: Small Business In the wake of global disruptions, the traditional workplace has undergone a remarkable transformation. As organizations navigated the uncertainties brought forth by external forces, remote work emerged not only as a temporary solution but as a profound revelation of a new way forward. The conventional concept of a bustling office, once considered essential, has now encountered a worthy challenger – the remote business model. Amid this paradigm shift, businesses find themselves at a crossroads, facing a pivotal decision that could reshape their future. The allure of returning to familiar cubicles and water cooler conversations beckons, but so does the uncharted territory of remote work's untapped potential. Should your business choose to embrace the virtual advantage and commit to a remote work culture? Does the remote work revolution still hold promises that extend far beyond the confines of a physical office? At Benchmark Email, we’ve found that remote work has evolved from a temporary fix to a strategic imperative. There are multifaceted benefits, and our decision to stick with remote work isn't merely about adapting to change – it's about seizing the opportunity to thrive in a dynamic, digitally-driven world. Heading Back to the Office Businesses that chose to go back to the office after the pandemic did so due to a combination of factors. One key factor was obviously the importance of work culture and collaboration. In-person interactions can be essential for fostering a strong sense of teamwork, camaraderie, and company culture. While virtual tools facilitate communication, the nuanced aspects... --- ### Get Ready to Spook Up Your Inbox with Benchmark Email's Frighteningly Fun Halloween Email Templates! > Looking to share a little spookiness this Halloween? Download our free Halloween email templates or sign up for a free account. - Published: 2023-10-10 - Modified: 2023-10-06 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/frighteningly-fun-halloween-email-templates/ - Categories: Email Marketing The witching hour is almost upon us, and Halloween is just around the corner! Are you ready to cast a spell on your subscribers with email campaigns that send shivers down their spines? Look no further than Benchmark Email! We've been brewing up something special in our cauldron of creativity, and we're excited to announce the release of our brand-new Halloween email templates. Sign up for a free account and access our latest Halloween Templates! Why Choose Benchmark Email's Halloween Templates? Spooktacular Designs: Our designers have summoned their most ghoulishly gorgeous designs for you. From haunted houses to eerie graveyards, we've got it all covered. Customization Galore: Personalize your emails with ease! Add your logo, tweak colors, and tailor your messages to suit your brand's unique voice. Responsive & Mobile-Friendly: Your emails will look devilishly good on any device, ensuring you reach your audience wherever they may be lurking. Treats, Not Tricks: Enjoy a seamless email creation experience with our user-friendly drag-and-drop editor. No hocus-pocus required! Fang-tastic Features: Access advanced features like A/B testing, automation, and analytics to optimize your Halloween email campaigns. Sign up for a free account and access our latest Halloween Templates! This Halloween, let your creativity run wild, and let Benchmark Email be your partner in making your email campaigns scream-worthy! It's going to be a Halloween to remember! Sign up for a free account and access our latest Halloween Templates! Not ready to commit? Download our templates free here. --- ### No Website, No Problem: How Creators Can Use Social Media to Grow Their Email Lists > The creator economy is real. Here's how creators and influencers can use their social media presence to build their email list. - Published: 2023-10-05 - Modified: 2024-07-23 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/creators-use-social-media-to-grow-email-lists/ - Categories: Social Media Content creators and influencers are reshaping the way we connect, consume, and communicate. This seismic shift towards the creator economy has empowered individuals to carve their own unique paths to success, leveraging their passions and talents to build thriving online communities. But what happens when these modern-day visionaries aspire to cultivate a direct and lasting connection with their audience through email marketing yet find themselves without a website as the traditional launchpad? Fear not, for the absence of a website need not be a roadblock on the journey to growing a robust email list. The age-old adage, "If you build it, they will come," is being redefined in the digital realm, where social media platforms serve as the new cornerstone for creators to foster engagement, forge meaningful relationships, and, yes, cultivate their email subscriber base. In this article, we embark on an insightful exploration of how creators are harnessing the power of social media to achieve their email marketing objectives, all while sidestepping the need for a website. We'll delve into strategies and tactics that demonstrate how creators are seamlessly integrating email list growth into their social media ecosystems, providing valuable takeaways for both newcomers and established figures in the creator economy. If you've ever wondered how to bridge the gap between your social media presence and email marketing goals, we’ve got you covered. Discover the steps that will empower you to transform your digital following into a loyal, engaged, and ever-expanding email subscriber base, proving that in today's creator-driven... --- ### Winning at eCommerce: Strategies for Small Online Retailers > For small online retailers, things can feel like an uphill battle. Here are some eCommerce strategies that are bulletproof. - Published: 2023-10-04 - Modified: 2023-09-28 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ecommerce-strategies-small-online-retailers/ - Categories: Ecommerce Small online retailers are embracing innovation and carving out their own unique space. The digital marketplace offers an abundance of opportunities, but navigating this landscape requires a strategic approach tailored to the specific needs and challenges of small businesses. In this article, we delve into the dynamic world of eCommerce, unveiling a comprehensive guide for small online retailers striving not just to survive but to thrive. From optimizing user experiences to mastering inventory management, we uncover strategies that empower small retailers to stand out, connect with customers, and achieve eCommerce success. eCommerce Strategies for Small Online Retailers When charting your own course toward success, your strategic approaches must be tailored to your unique challenges. The following are some strategies that empower small businesses to shine just a little bit brighter in the digital marketplace. 1. A Website that’s User-Friendly and Visually Appealing A user-friendly and visually appealing website is an essential strategy that small online retailers should prioritize for several compelling reasons: First Impressions Matter Your website serves as the digital storefront for your business. Just as customers judge a physical store by its appearance, they assess your online store based on its design and user experience. A visually appealing website creates a positive first impression and establishes credibility. Enhanced User Experience A user-friendly website ensures that visitors can easily navigate, find products, and complete purchases. Intuitive navigation, clear categories, and an efficient checkout process contribute to a seamless user experience, reducing bounce rates and increasing conversions. Brand Identity Your... --- ### Overcoming Common Re-Engagement Campaign Challenges > Creating effective re-engagement campaigns can be daunting. Here are some strategies for overcoming common challenges. - Published: 2023-10-03 - Modified: 2024-03-20 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/re-engagement-campaign-challenges/ - Categories: Email Marketing When a customer visits your website, the ultimate goal is to get them to make a purchase. Unfortunately, customers aren't ready to buy during the discovery phase of the buyer’s journey. Instead, they're mostly looking for information. And eventually, if they trust your brand enough, they may choose to make the ultimate purchase decision. But before it reaches that point, potential customers may subscribe to your newsletter to receive a deliverable or lead magnet that promises to answer their burning questions or help solve their frustrating problems. However, throughout the buyer's journey, the customer may disengage and stop opening emails or interacting with your brand altogether. If this happens, many brands will implement re-engagement campaigns to warm up cold leads. Of course, it's not that simple of a solution because certain obstacles may get in the way. Let's look at some common re-engagement campaign challenges and different ways to overcome them. Common Re-Engagement Campaign Problems and How to Fix Them 1. Finding the Right Users to Segment and Target Determining why someone has decided to disengage with your brand can be difficult because it can happen for different reasons, such as a change in current priorities or needs. Or, they may have had a poor user experience. So, some companies struggle to create relevant and personalized messaging for each segment because they can't determine the root cause of disengagement. One way to fix this problem is simply by asking your subscribers why they haven't engaged lately. Consider conducting a survey... --- ### 7 Digital Branding Tips for Your SMB > Your SMB's brand is one of its most important assets. Here are some digital branding tips that will ensure you stand out from the rest. - Published: 2023-09-28 - Modified: 2024-02-01 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/7-digital-branding-tips-for-your-smb/ - Categories: Small Business Your brand is your business. And when you’re a small-to-medium-sized business working with a limited budget and resources, getting smart with your digital branding strategy is key to seeing positive outcomes online. You may not have a large budget to work with a branding agency, outsource content creation, or hire a design and development team to brainstorm a new logo or website design. But that doesn’t mean you can’t get a lot accomplished when left to your own devices. Moreover, focusing on branding — particularly branding in the digital realm — will help your SMB cut through the noise and stand out with your target audience. Defined brands are ones that exhibit long-term viability and success, and they’re universally recognized by their audience. Of course, though, how you approach digital branding matters and can greatly affect your performance. We’ve put together seven tips on how to get digital branding right so you can earn recognition and establish a presence with your audience and beyond. 1. Keep It Consistent Your brand strategy and identity should be consistent from platform to platform. Digital branding should be an omnichannel approach that ensures consumers get the same brand experience wherever they find you. This helps you stick in the minds of those interacting with your brand and sets the foundation for building trust. In addition to building trust, a consistent brand identity also nurtures more sales — in one study of more than 450 brand management experts, consistency was found to be associated with... --- ### Email Marketing vs. Social Media: Which is More Effective? > When it comes to email marketing vs. social media, which is the more effective marketing strategy to focus on? - Published: 2023-09-27 - Modified: 2024-03-26 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-vs-social-media/ - Categories: Email Marketing, Social Media Businesses are constantly seeking to maximize their online presence and find themselves grappling with the strategic dilemma of where to allocate their resources: email marketing or social media. These two stalwarts of the digital marketing realm have distinct approaches, advantages, and challenges, each wielding its own potential to engage audiences and drive conversions. Email marketing, with its personalized and targeted communication, has long been a cornerstone of direct online engagement, while social media platforms offer unparalleled reach and a dynamic, visually-driven platform for interaction. In this article, we embark on a comparative exploration of the effectiveness of email marketing and social media, dissecting their unique attributes and delving into the metrics that matter. By examining their strengths and limitations, we aim to guide businesses toward an informed decision, helping them navigate the evolving terrain of digital marketing confidently. Email Marketing Breakdown Email marketing refers to the practice of sending promotional messages or updates to a group of individuals via email. It has been a tried and tested method for businesses to connect with their customers for years. Advantages: Direct and personalized communication: Email marketing allows businesses to have a one-on-one conversation with their customers. Personalization features such as merge tags and dynamic content make it possible to tailor the message according to the recipient's preferences and behaviors. Higher conversion rates: Studies have shown that email marketing often leads to higher conversion rates compared to other marketing channels. This can be attributed to the fact that the recipients have already shown... --- ### The Benefits of Using an Email Editor for Your Campaigns > Having access to an email editor has numerous benefits for your email campaigns and your overall email marketing strategy. - Published: 2023-09-21 - Modified: 2023-09-13 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-editor/ - Categories: Email Marketing Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you were able to harness the full potential of your email campaigns without being restrained by technical complexities or design limitations? Enter the email editor. In this article, we’ll discuss the advantages that an email editor brings to the table, revolutionizing the way marketing professionals craft and deliver their messages. From unlocking the power of automation to ensuring mobile-responsive designs, we explore how an email editor can elevate your campaigns to unprecedented heights of effectiveness and impact. Discover the game-changing features that modern email editors offer and how they streamline the creation process, enhance customer interactions, and ultimately lead to higher conversions and a stronger brand presence. This article will equip you with the knowledge to leverage the full potential of an email editor and pave the way for email marketing excellence. Ready? What is an Email Editor? An email editor is a software tool or application designed to create, design, and customize email content for marketing campaigns, newsletters, and other communication purposes. It is an essential component of email marketing platforms and allows marketers, business owners, or individuals to craft visually appealing and engaging emails without the need for advanced coding skills. With an email editor, users can build and modify email templates using a drag-and-drop interface, which simplifies the process of adding various elements like images, text, buttons, social media links, and more. This intuitive approach makes it easier to create professional-looking emails with no technical expertise required. Some Features an Email Editor... --- ### From Prospects to Customers: How to Design a Winning Sales Funnel with Automated Email Sequences > Your email marketing strategy is only as good as your sales funnel. Here's how to design a sales funnel using automated email sequences. - Published: 2023-09-20 - Modified: 2024-06-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/sales-funnel-automated-email-sequences/ - Categories: Sales Without being able to build an effective sales funnel, converting prospects into customers is more or less impossible in modern times. Part of any serious funnel will be automated email sequences. The way they play such an important role is by guiding subscribers through each section of the funnel - from the awareness stage to consideration and then finally to the conversion stage. Today, we have a thorough guide for helping you create a successful sales funnel using automated email sequences. Understanding the Sales Funnel We will get into strategies in this guide, but first, you must understand all of the stages of the sales funnel: Awareness: The potential customer becomes aware of your product or service. Interest: They show interest in learning more about what you have to offer them. Consideration: The prospect is considering making a purchase. Intent: The intent to buy has been formed. Evaluation: The prospect evaluates your offering. Conversion: The prospect takes the final step of turning into a paying customer. So, how can you use automated email sequences to help guide your customers through these stages? Step 1: Capture Leads The first part of creating an effective email sequence (and the first part of any sales funnel) is going to be capturing the leads. Landing Pages: Make use of persuasive content and strong calls-to-action on your landing pages to encourage sign-ups. Lead Magnets: If you can offer incentives like discounts or free trials, you can greatly increase your visitor subscriptions. Integration with CRM: Customer... --- ### How to Learn Email Marketing > If you aren't sure how to learn email marketing, but know now's your time to figure it out, then look no further. - Published: 2023-09-19 - Modified: 2024-06-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-learn-email-marketing/ - Categories: Email Marketing We’ve said it time and time again. Email marketing remains one of the most effective marketing channels to reach customers and grow your business. If you prioritize other marketing channels and neglect an email marketing strategy, you are simply robbing your business of the opportunity to see a substantial return on investment. While email is excellent, there are numerous aspects of email marketing that contribute to a successful email marketing campaign, and it can be hard to learn all by yourself. If you’re just getting started, you’ll need to commit time and resources, which you may not have in high supply as a busy small business owner. What is the solution? Email marketing software. Using a tool for email marketing serves as a great introduction and a simple way to get started with an effective strategy. Read on to learn how email marketing software can help you learn more about email marketing and find how it fits in with your business. The Importance Of An Email Marketing Strategy 89% of businesses out there use email marketing to generate leads, boost conversions, and acquire new customers. If that isn’t enough to convince you that having an email marketing strategy is a must, below are more reasons you shouldn't think twice about: 1. High ROI A well-executed email marketing campaign can generate significant revenue for your business. In fact, the average ROI for email marketing is well over 4200%. Surveys have found that businesses earned an average of $42 for every $1... --- ### The Evolution of Email Marketing: From Plain Text to Interactive Experiences > Email marketing has come a long way, and still has a long way to go. Here we examine the evolution of email marketing. - Published: 2023-09-14 - Modified: 2024-06-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-evolution-of-email-marketing/ - Categories: Email Marketing Email marketing has traversed a remarkable journey over the years. From its humble beginnings as simple text-based messages to the emergence of dynamic, interactive content, email marketing has undergone a transformation that has revolutionized the way businesses engage with their audiences. Rewinding the clock, we’ll revisit the era when emails were nothing more than plain, static messages sent to inboxes. The advent of email marketing marked a new dawn for businesses, offering an efficient and cost-effective means of reaching customers directly. However, as inboxes flooded with monotonous and impersonal communications, the need to stand out became evident. As technology advanced and user preferences evolved, marketers began embracing creativity and innovation to capture their recipients' attention. We’ll take you through the introduction of images, color schemes, and basic personalization, which heralded a new era of visually appealing email marketing. These developments not only enhanced the aesthetic appeal but also boosted engagement and click-through rates, demonstrating the power of captivating design in email campaigns. But the transformative journey didn't stop there. A groundbreaking development was on the horizon: the rise of interactive and dynamic email content. As email clients and web technologies advanced, marketers found ingenious ways to infuse life into their emails. Suddenly, static images gave way to interactive carousels, product galleries, and even personalized video content. Emails ceased to be one-way communications; they became immersive experiences that encouraged recipients to actively participate. In this article, we’ll shine a spotlight on the adoption of interactive elements like surveys, polls, and quizzes... --- ### Adapting to Change: Marketing Strategies for Times of Uncertainty > For small businesses, times of uncertainty can make or break them. Here are some marketing strategies to help weather the storms. - Published: 2023-09-13 - Modified: 2023-09-06 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/marketing-strategies-times-of-uncertainty/ - Categories: Small Business When it comes to business, one thing remains constant: change. The past few years have shown us just how quickly circumstances can shift, presenting unforeseen challenges to even the most established brands. During these times, the value of agility and flexibility in marketing strategies has never been more evident. Embracing these qualities not only helps businesses weather storms but also positions them to thrive in the face of uncertainty. In this article, we’ll dive into how your business can adapt to change and what sort of approaches you should take that will help you be agile and prepared during times of uncertainty. Thriving Through Turbulence: 7 Creative Marketing Strategies In times of turbulence and uncertainty, the world of marketing undergoes a transformation. As traditional norms shift and consumer behaviors evolve, businesses find themselves presented with both challenges and opportunities. Here, we delve into the realm of creative marketing strategies that stand out amidst the chaos. By embracing innovation, reimagining traditional approaches, and tapping into the power of resilience, these strategies enable businesses not only to navigate the storm but also to emerge stronger, more relevant, and more connected to their audiences than ever before. From unexpected collaborations to experiential campaigns, join us on a journey to uncover seven creative marketing strategies that illuminate the path to thriving in the face of turbulence. 1. Maintaining Open Lines of Communication Communication is the cornerstone of resilience. In challenging times, it's crucial to keep customers informed about any changes in operations, services, or... --- ### The Ethics of Email Monetization > Email monetization is an effective strategy for increasing your bottom line and seeing more revenue. But, is it ethical? - Published: 2023-09-12 - Modified: 2023-09-13 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-monetization/ - Categories: Email Marketing Email marketing has long been a valuable channel for businesses to connect with their audiences, fostering brand loyalty and driving sales. However, as the digital landscape evolves, questions about the ethics of email content and list monetization have become increasingly important to address. In this article, we delve into the delicate balance between promoting products or services heavily in email content and the ethical considerations of monetizing mailing lists. We explore the potential benefits and pitfalls of these practices, examine the impact on subscribers, and seek to define responsible and ethical guidelines that marketers can follow to maintain trust and authenticity in their email campaigns. Examining Email Monetization As brands strive to maximize their reach and revenue, the temptation to bombard email subscribers with excessive promotional content can be strong. Yet, achieving commercial success must go hand in hand with preserving the subscriber's experience and respecting their expectations. There’s a fine line between providing valuable offers to subscribers and overwhelming them with sales-driven emails that erode trust and engagement. By striking the right balance, marketers can foster lasting relationships with their audiences and build a foundation of trust that sustains the success of email marketing initiatives. Additionally, the monetization of mailing lists through sponsorships or partnerships introduces another ethical dimension to consider. While collaborations can be beneficial for both marketers and sponsors, it is essential to be transparent about such arrangements with subscribers. There are ethical implications of sponsored content, and it’s important to maintain authenticity and relevance for subscribers.... --- ### Is Your Email Marketing Successful? > Do you know if people are actually reading your emails? Successful email marketing comes down to tracking a few metrics. - Published: 2023-09-07 - Modified: 2023-09-07 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/are-your-emails-successful/ - Categories: Email Marketing Do you know if people are actually reading your emails? While it might seem like a silly question, successful email marketing can’t run on hopes and dreams alone. It’s important that you know how to measure the performance of your email efforts, and that you’re regularly tracking the right email metrics so that if they’re not hitting the right marks, you can make the necessary adjustments. Gathering key email metrics tells you a few different things. First, it says whether your emails are driving engagement with subscribers, and if so, what kind of engagement they’re driving. And second, they tell you how you compare to others, both in your industry and beyond it. All of this is crucial to know if you want to maximize the impact of your email marketing campaigns. What metrics should you be paying attention to then? Well, before we dive into that, let's cover a few basics. Why is Email Marketing Important? Email marketing remains one of the most effective marketing channels. It offers a higher return on investment compared to other digital marketing methods. Additionally, email campaigns allow businesses to reach a targeted audience, deliver personalized content, and establish credibility and trust with customers. Setting Goals for Email Marketing Campaigns Defining clear goals is step one towards determining the success of your email marketing. By setting goals, businesses can align their email marketing efforts with their overall marketing strategy. Here are all the components that go into setting your goals. Identifying the Target Audience... --- ### Consumer Privacy and Its Impact on Personalized Marketing > Consumer privacy is a constant concern and it can cause issues for your personalized marketing tactics. Here's how one impacts the other. - Published: 2023-09-06 - Modified: 2023-08-31 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/consumer-privacy-and-personalized-marketing/ - Categories: Marketing Can you buy someone a gift or even start a conversation with a topic that interests them if you know little to nothing about them? Not reliably, no. The same goes for providing your customers with personalized offers and experiences, as well as upselling and cross-selling. You need information, but there’s a limit to how much information you’re allowed to get. People are concerned with their privacy. Sure, they want the personalized experience, but not when it comes at the expense of sharing too much sensitive information. If you ask them how much personalization they want – all of it. However, they might become incredibly hesitant if you ask them how much personal info they want to share. This means you’re walking a thin line between consumer privacy and necessary customer data. Here’s how consumer privacy laws and regulations impact personalized marketing and a few tips on how this can impact personalized marketing. 1. Understanding Consumer Privacy Consumers can decide how businesses and organizations collect, keep, and utilize their data. Just because most people randomly accept terms and conditions or immediately click “Allow all” when asked about the cookies' permission doesn’t mean their consent wasn’t sought. In the digital era, all your information is out there. Your device has personal photos, browser history, payment data, credit cards, cryptocurrency wallets, and more. All of this info needs to be kept safe at all costs. Sure, some information, like browsing habits, may be useful for personalizing marketing, but it could also be... --- ### What Is Email Personalization and Why Is it So Powerful? > We all know that email marketing is an effective strategy. But a lot of that credit is due to personalization. - Published: 2023-09-05 - Modified: 2024-07-30 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/personalization/ - Categories: Email Marketing, Benchmark Recommends There is no denying the necessity of personalization in email marketing. Personalization increases open rates, and it shows your audience that you acknowledge and understand their wants and needs. It leads to more engaged readers driven toward action, and it’s pretty central to an effective lead nurture strategy. According to Epsilon’s research, 80% of consumers say that they’re more willing to make a purchase when they’re provided with a personalized experience. As for where and how that personalization happens, half of marketing influencers cite email segmentation and individualized email messaging as their most effective personalization tactics. If you’re not personalizing your emails, you’re almost certainly losing customers to brands that do. Personalization will make all of the difference when it comes to the success of your email outreach. Below, we’ll go over how to do it, as well as some of the benefits you can expect from putting in the effort. What are the Benefits of Email Personalization, and Why is it Important? One of the key benefits of personalization in email marketing is its ability to capture the recipient's attention. In a sea of generic emails, a personalized message that speaks directly to the recipient is much more likely to grab their attention and stand out. This can significantly increase the chances of the email being opened and read. Another advantage of personalization is the ability to increase open rates. When recipients see their name or other personal details in the subject line or throughout the email, they feel... --- ### Marketing Ideas for Healthcare Companies > The healthcare industry has its work cut out for it when it comes to marketing. Here are some ideas and tips. - Published: 2023-08-31 - Modified: 2024-06-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/marketing-ideas-for-healthcare/ - Categories: Marketing The internet has made it easier than ever for people to research which healthcare providers they’d like to work with. And with so many options for them to choose from, it’s important that your practice stands out from the crowd. Whether you’re in the medical field, dentistry, or alternative medicine, marketing is essential for connecting with new clients and growing your business. This is especially true in a day and age when referrals and word of mouth aren’t always enough to keep your appointment book full. Great healthcare marketing — like all marketing — is about reaching the right audience with information about what you do and how you can help. To get you started, here are seven healthcare marketing techniques that can help you highlight your skills, build authority in your field, and, hopefully, expand your patient roster. 1. Start a Blog Blogging isn’t just for media companies and B2Bs. As a healthcare provider, you have a unique insight to offer. Additionally, you have the credentials and experience to become a thought leader among your peers. To do it, though, you have to start creating and publishing content — and a blog is a fantastic place to do it. The goal here is to be strategic with your content. Hone in on the topics that your audience is most likely to be searching, and optimize your keywords to help ensure that when they do search a topic, you’re an expert on, yours is one of the first pieces of... --- ### Email Marketing Strategies for Different Segments of the Financial Services Industry > The financial services industry has various different kinds audiences. Here are some email marketing strategies that work for each segment. - Published: 2023-08-29 - Modified: 2024-05-22 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-strategies-financial-industry/ - Categories: Email Marketing Email marketing is an effective way for financial services firms to communicate with their clients and prospects. It provides an opportunity to share valuable information, build relationships, and promote services and products. However, the key to success with email marketing is to tailor your message to your audience. In this blog post, we will explore the various types of clients within the financial services industry and the kinds of email marketing strategies that make sense for each. Let’s dive in. Wealth Management Clients Wealth management clients are typically high-net-worth individuals who are looking for customized investment solutions and personalized service. To effectively communicate with this audience, financial services firms should focus on building a relationship and providing relevant information. Personalized Messaging Wealth management clients expect personalized service and communications. Financial services firms should use data to segment their clients and personalize email messages based on their specific interests and needs. For example, if a client has a significant investment in a particular industry or sector, financial advisors can send updates on that industry's performance and outlook. Email example: Subject: Your Financial Journey: Navigating Towards Your Goals Dear , I hope this message finds you well. As we continue our journey together toward your financial aspirations, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the progress we've made and the exciting path that lies ahead. Your financial well-being remains our top priority, and we are committed to ensuring your goals are met and exceeded. Over the past few months, we... --- ### Know the Truth About Your Workplace with Employee Engagement Surveys > Employee engagement surveys allow you to tap into exactly just how happy and content your employees are. Here's how to use them. - Published: 2023-08-24 - Modified: 2025-03-26 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/employee-engagement-surveys/ - Categories: Small Business Great workplace culture is more than happy hours and free pizza. It focuses on innovation, career development, and, most importantly, employee engagement. The Great Resignation of 2021 exemplified that. Pew Research asked employees what made them quit, and 63% responded low pay was the major reason. Other top reasons include lack of career advancement opportunities (63%) and disrespect at work (57%). If you flip through the entire report, you’ll notice that employees may leave the workplace for factors you can uncover and remedy utilizing employee engagement surveys. In this guide, we’ll show you how to use employee engagement surveys to find the soul, passion, and real issues going on within your workplace from day to day. We’ll show you how to save your small business and build a happy, positive environment for employees. What is Employee Engagement? Employee engagement refers to the mental and emotional connection your employees feel towards your organization, their work, and the team. It measures how committed your employees are to their work and the company’s overarching goals and values. A happy or satisfied employee isn’t necessarily engaged. An employee might be happy, but that doesn’t mean they work productively to benefit the organization. A satisfied employee might show up for work without complaint but may be uninspired to put in the hard yards on their own. An engaged employee shows up to work every day with purpose. They’re dedicated to performing well, show a collaborative attitude, and have good communication with their co-workers. In addition,... --- ### Measuring Marketing ROI: Metrics and Tools for Success > When it comes to measuring marketing ROI, you need the right tools and strategy to ensure success. Here are some tips. - Published: 2023-08-23 - Modified: 2023-11-10 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/measuring-marketing-roi/ - Categories: Marketing For marketers, seeking to maximize the impact of their efforts while ensuring every dollar spent yields tangible results is a constant effort. The ability to measure the Return on Investment (ROI) for marketing campaigns has become an indispensable skill, enabling businesses to optimize their strategies, allocate resources wisely, and drive sustainable growth. While the notion of measuring ROI seems straightforward, the reality is often more complex. The diverse array of marketing channels, campaigns, and audience interactions can create a labyrinth of data, leaving marketers uncertain about which metrics truly capture the effectiveness of their campaigns. To navigate this maze and unlock meaningful insights, a strategic approach to ROI measurement is essential. In this article, we delve into the art and science of measuring ROI for marketing campaigns. We demystify the process by providing a comprehensive guide on identifying the most relevant metrics that truly reflect campaign performance and align with overall business objectives. By understanding the nuances of each metric and its role in the larger picture, marketers can paint a clear and insightful portrait of their marketing ROI. From traditional key performance indicators (KPIs) such as conversion rates and customer acquisition costs to more advanced metrics like customer lifetime value (CLV) and attribution modeling, we explore a wide spectrum of data points that empower marketers to make informed decisions. Additionally, we address the intricacies of multi-channel marketing and how to properly integrate data from various sources to gain a holistic view of campaign performance. What is ROI in Marketing?... --- ### Email Marketing Templates: Your Cheat Sheet to Success > Email marketing templates are your best friend and number one go-to when it comes to sending high quality emails quickly. - Published: 2023-08-22 - Modified: 2024-06-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-templates/ - Categories: Email Marketing For digital marketing, efficiency and effectiveness go hand in hand. As businesses strive to engage their audiences, nurture customer relationships, and drive conversions, email marketing continues to be a reliable and impactful channel. However, crafting compelling and visually appealing emails from scratch can be time-consuming and resource-intensive. This is where the value of email marketing templates becomes evident. Email marketing templates provide marketers with pre-designed layouts and structures that streamline the email creation process. These ready-to-use templates offer a range of benefits, from saving time and effort to maintaining brand consistency and optimizing campaign performance. By leveraging email marketing templates, marketers can expedite the process of designing and deploying engaging emails without sacrificing quality or creativity. Whether you're a seasoned email marketer looking to streamline your workflow or a business seeking to establish a strong email marketing foundation, understanding the value of email marketing templates is key to unlocking your email marketing success. So, let's dive in and explore the world of email marketing templates, where efficiency meets effectiveness, and remarkable results are just a template away. Why You Should Be Using Email Marketing Templates Email marketing templates offer significant value to marketers in several ways: Time-Saving Efficiency One of the primary benefits of using email marketing templates is the time saved in designing and creating emails from scratch. Templates provide pre-designed layouts, structures, and sections that can be easily customized to fit specific campaign goals. This eliminates the need to start from a blank canvas, allowing marketers to focus... --- ### Paid and Organic Ads: How To Combine the Best of Both Worlds > Combine paid and organic ads for the ultimate lead generation machine and to build your email list effectively. - Published: 2023-08-16 - Modified: 2023-08-10 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/paid-and-organic-ads/ - Categories: Marketing Today, most marketers rely on various marketing strategies to boost brand awareness, generate leads, and increase conversions. However, some believe that organic marketing tactics are not enough to reach a brand’s advertising goals. Some modern brands rely on paid advertising to fill the gaps that organic advertising might leave. In this article, you will learn how to use these two tactics to get the best results for your business. What You Need To Know About Paid and Organic Ads Before learning the tips and tricks to successful marketing, you must understand paid and organic advertising. In this section, you will discover the similarities and differences of each concept, as well as how each can provide value. Paid Marketing Paid advertising is a marketing tactic involving paying various social media sites and search engines to promote brand content. These ads will be visible at the top of search results so internet users will see them first. The most famous example of paid advertising is pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, where advertisers pay for each click their content or ad gets. The following are also common examples of paid advertising: Google ads Influencer marketing Remarketing adverts Paid social media ads More and more marketers are investing in this strategy because it can boost visibility and exposure while offering a wider reach. This tactic improves digital marketing results by targeting users interested in your services. With more brands in your industry turning to digital marketing, looking for people who are interested in seeing your offerings... --- ### How to Maintain a High-Quality Email List > Your email list is arguably the most important asset for your marketing strategy. Here's how to maintain a high-quality email list. - Published: 2023-08-15 - Modified: 2024-07-23 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/maintain-a-high-quality-email-list/ - Categories: Email Marketing Building a high-quality email list is just the first step in successful email marketing. However, to maximize the effectiveness of your campaigns and drive tangible results, it is equally important to maintain the quality of your email list over time. A high-quality email list consists of engaged and interested subscribers who eagerly await your messages, interact with your content, and ultimately convert into loyal customers. In this article, we will delve into the best practices for maintaining a high-quality email list that remains vibrant and responsive. We will explore strategies to keep your subscribers engaged, minimize list churn, and foster long-term relationships with your audience. By implementing the best practices outlined in this article, you can maintain a high-quality email list that continues to deliver positive results over time. Sustained engagement, increased conversions, and stronger customer relationships await those who prioritize list maintenance and ensure their subscribers receive valuable, targeted content. Get ready to unlock the full potential of your email marketing efforts and achieve sustained success by nurturing a vibrant and engaged subscriber base. Why is a High-Quality Email List Important? Having a high-quality email list is of paramount importance for successful email marketing. Here are several key reasons why a high-quality email list is crucial: Relevance and Targeting A high-quality email list consists of subscribers who have willingly opted in to receive communication from your brand. These individuals have shown interest in your offerings, making them more likely to engage with your emails and convert into customers. By... --- ### Data-Driven Marketing: Leveraging Analytics to Make Informed Decisions > Data is crucial for marketing success. It allows you to create strategies based on facts. Here's how to use a data-driven marketing strategy. - Published: 2023-08-10 - Modified: 2024-10-23 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/data-driven-marketing-2/ - Categories: Marketing Consumer preferences and market trends shift unpredictably, forcing companies to face a crucial challenge: how to stay ahead of the competition and achieve sustainable growth. The answer lies in harnessing the power of data-driven decision-making and leveraging cutting-edge analytics tools to optimize marketing efforts. Data has become the lifeblood of successful marketing strategies. No longer can businesses afford to rely on gut instincts and intuition alone when making critical decisions. Instead, they must embrace data-driven approaches that offer invaluable insights into customer behavior, market dynamics, and overall performance. By employing data as a compass, businesses can confidently navigate the complex terrain of modern marketing, making informed choices that drive efficiency, precision, and, ultimately, success. The importance of data-driven decision-making cannot be overstated. It allows marketers to move away from vague assumptions and subjective opinions and instead base their actions on tangible evidence derived from thorough data analysis. By understanding customer preferences, pain points, and purchase patterns, businesses can tailor their marketing efforts with unparalleled precision, fostering stronger connections with their target audiences. One of the cornerstones of data-driven marketing is the use of analytics tools. With the rise of advanced technologies and big data solutions, marketers now have access to an array of sophisticated analytics platforms that can extract valuable insights from vast datasets. These tools not only aid in deciphering complex data but also enable marketers to discover hidden trends and patterns, enabling them to predict market shifts and optimize strategies accordingly. In this article, we will explore the... --- ### How to Use Email Autoresponders to Improve Customer Relationships > Email autoresponders make your life easier, improve customer relationships, and ensure you providing top-notch customer support. - Published: 2023-08-09 - Modified: 2023-12-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-autoresponders-improve-customer-relationships/ - Categories: Small Business Building strong and lasting relationships with customers is an essential ingredient for business success. When providing exceptional customer experiences, email marketing has moved to the forefront, proving a powerful tool for nurturing connections and fostering meaningful interactions. Among the various techniques available, email autoresponders have become a cornerstone of successful customer relationship management. An email autoresponder is an automated series of emails triggered by specific actions or events, such as subscribing to a newsletter, making a purchase, or abandoning a cart. This powerful tool allows businesses to engage with customers at critical touchpoints, delivering timely and relevant messages that enhance their experience and deepen the connection. In this article, we will explore the art of using email autoresponders to improve customer relationships. We will uncover the strategies and best practices that will help you leverage this automated communication tool to its fullest potential. Get ready to increase and strengthen your customer relationships as we delve into the realm of email autoresponders and uncover the key tactics that will transform your email marketing efforts into a customer-centric powerhouse. 8 Autoresponder Strategies That Improve Customer Relationships Business owners can effectively use email autoresponders to improve customer relationships by implementing the following strategies: Welcome and Onboarding Set up an automated email series to welcome new customers and guide them through the onboarding process. Provide them with valuable information, resources, and tips to help them get started with your product or service. This helps create a great first impression with your brand so you... --- ### Unlocking User Insights: How Benchmark Email Leverages AI-Powered Research with Outset.ai > Benchmark Email uses Outset.ai to unlock user insights that ultimately help us improve our products and our services. - Published: 2023-08-08 - Modified: 2023-08-03 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-benchmark-email-leverages-outset-ai/ - Categories: Marketing Traditional email marketing tools can be cumbersome and overwhelming - especially for small businesses that just want an efficient way to send communication. Simplicity is what sets Benchmark Email apart, and we’re always looking for ways to provide a better, cleaner user experience. In that spirit, we’re harnessing the power of AI not only to enhance our feature offering but to ensure we’re driving innovation in our product and building a better experience for our users. Enter Outset. ai, the AI-moderated research platform. More intelligent than the stale survey tools of the past, Outset. ai has given us a better way to listen to our customers. We’ll tell you about our experiences with customer feedback and why we think Outset. ai is an essential tool for closing the customer feedback loop. Our Mission What sets Benchmark Email apart in a crowded email marketing space? At Benchmark Email, we want to provide easy-to-use marketing software that anyone can use to grow their business. Our product helps users craft engaging, eye-catching newsletters and emails and grow their email list with tools like website forms and landing pages. We’re focused on building tools that help users of any email marketing experience achieve results, for example: When we realized our users could use help crafting email copy, we developed Smart Content, an AI-generated content creator powered by OpenAI. Deliverability is a common concern for anyone who sends emails, so we developed Smart Sending - machine learning that helps improve deliverability automatically. When building new... --- ### Ideal Customer Profiles: What Are They and How They're Different Than Buyer Personas > What are ideal customer profiles and how are they different from customer personas? We dive into it all in our blog post. - Published: 2023-08-03 - Modified: 2023-08-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ideal-customer-profiles/ - Categories: Marketing Email continues to reign as a highly effective channel for engaging with customers. It allows businesses to deliver targeted messages directly to the inbox of their audience, fostering meaningful connections and driving valuable interactions. However, amidst the ever-increasing competition for attention, the need to maximize the impact of email marketing campaigns has become paramount. This is where the concept of Ideal Customer Profiles (ICPs) emerges as a game-changer. An Ideal Customer Profile is not just a generic outline of a potential customer; it represents the epitome of a company's ideal customer, the perfect match for their offerings. By meticulously defining the characteristics, needs, and preferences of these ideal customers, businesses gain a deeper understanding of who they should be targeting and how to engage them effectively. While ICPs have proven their worth across various facets of marketing, their significance in email marketing specifically cannot be overstated. In this article, we will delve into the essence of Ideal Customer Profiles and explore their vital role in driving the success of email marketing campaigns. We will uncover the key elements that comprise an ICP and highlight the numerous benefits it brings to email marketing strategies. By harnessing the power of ICPs, businesses can unlock new levels of personalization, relevance, and engagement, leading to increased email open rates, click-through rates, conversions, and, ultimately, a stronger connection with their target audience. So, whether you're a seasoned email marketer looking to optimize your campaigns or a business owner aiming to make the most of your... --- ### 4 Tips to Successfully A/B Test Your Social Media Strategy > If you want to use social media to its full effect, you'll need to A/B test your social media marketing strategy. Here are some tips. - Published: 2023-08-01 - Modified: 2024-07-24 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/a-b-test-your-social-media-strategy/ - Categories: Social Media A/B testing your social media strategy is a great way to see which aspects of your campaign are working and which aren’t. Here’s everything you need to know about A/B testing and how you can successfully apply it to your social media strategy to yield great results and improve your marketing. What is A/B Testing? A/B testing, sometimes referred to as split testing, is a scientific method for trialing slight variations in a marketing campaign and seeing which works best. Simply put, you split your audience into two different groups and show each group a variation of the same ad, with the one variable that you’re testing changed. You’re then able to see which version is most effective by the responses you receive. A/B testing is different from something like automation testing, as instead of looking for bugs and errors, you’re investigating people's thoughts, feelings, and reactions. You can use different metrics to measure the success of the campaign, depending on what factors are most closely aligned with your individual marketing strategy and brand values. Why Should You A/B Test Your Social Media Strategy? A/B testing helps you to produce marketing materials that are relevant to your audience, resonate with them well, and achieve the results you desire. This allows you to make well-informed decisions about which areas of a marketing strategy are effective and are worth dedicating your time and resources to. A/B testing can also help you get to know your audience better by leveraging social media analytics... --- ### CTAs and Sign-offs: Effective Ways to End Your Emails > If you ever get stumped on how to end your emails, here are some effective sign offs and CTAs you can use that are sure to work. - Published: 2023-07-27 - Modified: 2023-07-20 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/effective-ways-to-end-your-emails/ - Categories: Email Marketing Picture this: you politely knock on your neighbor’s door, and they gladly let you in. You have a cordial conversation, and then as you leave, you bang the door violently. The chances are good that the neighbor will quickly forget about your chat and might not invite you to the house again. Email marketing works in a similar way. Your catchy subject line, precise copy, and conspicuous call to action must be accompanied by a befitting sign-off. If the sign-off isn’t great, the recipient might not remember you or may fail to show interest in your message in the future. Why You Should Create A Strong Sign-Off An email sign-off dictates how the recipient perceives your email. An excellent sign-off creates a good final impression. It elicits a receptive attitude from the recipient and encourages them to take some action, such as contacting you to learn more about your business. In addition, a perfect sign-off: Clarifies your intentions Opens up upselling and cross-selling opportunities Leaves the door open for the conversation to continue How to Sign-Off Business Emails An email sign-off is essentially a way to say “goodbye for now, but let’s keep this conversation moving. ” Here are some tactics to use when signing off: 1. Ask a Question Signing off with a question works for several different scenarios. You can use it when scheduling a meeting with a client, soliciting the recipient's feedback, or clarifying next steps. Examples of polite sign-offs are: Are you happy with your current... --- ### The Importance of Constantly Upskilling Your Marketing Team > Making sure your team is as skilled as possible is crucial. Here are some benefits to constantly upskilling your marketing team. - Published: 2023-07-26 - Modified: 2024-05-01 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/upskilling-your-marketing-team/ - Categories: Marketing In marketing, the only constant is change. And to keep up with this change, you need a team that has a pulse on the ever-evolving demands of the industry. From new digital marketing trends to the rise of artificial intelligence and the complexity of social media algorithms — there’s never a shortage of topics to learn. That’s where a culture of constant upskilling takes an average marketing team and turns them into the movers and shakers of any given niche. And with your marketing team responsible for shaping your brand and presenting your offer to your target audience, the actions of your marketing team often determine how you’re perceived in the market. Consumer perceptions are powerful. One false move and your upward growth trajectory can come crashing down. Case in point, Bud Light saw sales drop 26% after one controversial marketing campaign. Ouch. In this article, we’ll explore the importance of constantly improving your marketing team. We’ll start by reviewing the benefits of upskilling your marketing team before diving into some actionable tips for making this happen. Let’s dive in. Why Upskill Your Marketing Team? 1. Strengthen Your Workforce As we move towards a digital and knowledge-centric economy, the vitality of our workforce takes on a new level of significance. Studies indicate that a material part of a company's market value is now vested in its intangible assets. These assets include highly-skilled employees, outstanding leaders, and the collective knowledge they carry. So the most obvious benefit of upskilling your marketing... --- ### 7 Alternatives to Constant Contact > When looking for an email marketing solution, it's important to know your options. Here are some alternatives to Constant Contact. - Published: 2023-07-25 - Modified: 2023-07-25 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/alternatives-to-constant-contact/ - Categories: Email Marketing Constant Contact has long been a popular choice for businesses seeking an email marketing solution. With its robust features and user-friendly interface, it has helped countless organizations effectively engage with their audiences. However, as the marketing landscape evolves and businesses seek more diverse options, it's important to explore alternative email marketing solutions that offer unique features and capabilities. In this article, we delve into a range of alternatives to Constant Contact, highlighting their key strengths and benefits. Whether you're a small business looking for affordability, an enterprise seeking advanced automation, or a creative professional craving design flexibility, there are alternative email marketing platforms out there that may better suit your specific needs. Join us as we explore these alternatives, empowering you to make an informed decision and discover the perfect email marketing solution to drive your business forward. The Value of Email Marketing But first, why is email marketing so powerful and important? Email marketing provides significant value for businesses in several ways: Direct and Personal Communication: Email allows you to communicate directly with your audience in a personalized manner. It provides a dedicated space to deliver targeted messages, offers, and information directly to your subscribers' inboxes. This direct communication fosters a sense of personal connection and enables you to build relationships with your audience. Targeted and Segmented Campaigns: With email marketing, you can segment your audience based on various criteria such as demographics, interests, purchase history, or engagement levels. This segmentation allows you to tailor your messages and offers... --- ### Empowering Nonprofits: 25 Tools for Nonprofit Growth > If you're looking to grow your nonprofit, you needx to make sure your toolkit is stacked. Here are some nonprofit tools to look into. - Published: 2023-07-20 - Modified: 2024-10-23 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/tools-for-nonprofit-growth/ - Categories: Marketing In today's dynamic and competitive landscape, nonprofits face unique challenges as they strive to make a positive impact on society. While their missions are noble, navigating the complexities of fundraising, marketing, and operations can often be daunting. However, thanks to the ever-expanding realm of technology, a wide array of tools and resources are available to empower nonprofits and fuel their growth. From streamlining administrative tasks to amplifying outreach efforts, these tools have revolutionized the way nonprofits operate, allowing them to focus more on their core objectives. In this article, we will explore 25 powerful tools that have emerged as invaluable assets for nonprofits seeking to maximize their impact and achieve sustainable growth. 25 Tools That Will Lead to Growth for Nonprofit Organizations By harnessing the capabilities of these tools, nonprofits can streamline their operations, strengthen their outreach efforts, and cultivate a robust support network. The following tools empower nonprofits with the ability to effectively manage resources, nurture donor relationships, and amplify their message to a wider audience. Productivity Trello Trello is a project management app that allows nonprofits to create boards, lists, and cards to organize tasks and collaborate with team members. It is helpful for managing projects, assigning tasks, and tracking progress. Slack Slack is a communication and collaboration platform that facilitates real-time messaging, file sharing, and team discussions. Nonprofits can create channels for different teams or projects, improving communication and reducing reliance on email. Asana Asana is a task management app that enables nonprofits to create and assign... --- ### 8 Ways Agencies Can Streamline Sales During a Recession > Wondering how to weather the storm when a recession hits? Here are research-backed ways agencies can effectively streamline sales processes. - Published: 2023-07-19 - Modified: 2023-07-19 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/agencies-streamline-sales-recession/ - Categories: Agency During a recession, streamlining sales processes becomes paramount for agencies seeking to weather the storm and maintain profitability. However, as you may expect, sales teams face unique challenges during these times that demand innovative approaches and strategic adaptations By implementing recession-proof sales techniques, agencies can confidently navigate the economic downturn, capitalize on new opportunities, and emerge as a more resilient brand in their sector. This blog post will explore eight research-backed ways agencies can effectively streamline their sales processes during a recession. So, whether your company is based in a country battered by recessionary market forces or you’re simply looking to cut costs, read on to learn how you can future-proof your company’s finances. How a Recession Impacts Agency Sales A recession can have a significant impact on agency sales in a variety of ways. They can reshape the business landscape and pose challenges requiring careful consideration and strategic action. Some of the effects include: Decreased consumer spending: During a recession, cost-conscious consumers tend to tighten their belts and reduce discretionary spending. This shift in consumer behavior directly affects agencies as they experience declining demand for their products or services. Budget cuts and reduced marketing spend: In times of economic uncertainty, businesses must often resort to cost-cutting measures, and marketing budgets are frequently among the first areas to face reductions. Consequently, agencies need to proactively address this by demonstrating the value proposition and return on investment their services can provide and doing so with leaner budgets. Increased competition for a... --- ### How to Create an Email Autoresponder (Without Alienating Potential Customers) > An email autoresponder is a well-proven solution for email drip campaigns. Here are some benefits and examples of email autoresponders. - Published: 2023-07-18 - Modified: 2023-07-26 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-create-an-email-autoresponder/ - Categories: Uncategorized In the early days of the internet, providers like AOL and Yahoo ruled the world of email. During this time, online messaging with email was like the wild west. Scammers and spammers proliferated like rabbits. Over time, consumers got used to ignoring marketing emails due to the difficulty of sifting gold from the dirt. Today, email providers have made things much easier with new technology like natural language processing or disrupting the way we craft content. However, we must not lose sight of what already works well in email marketing, an email autoresponder. We know what you’re thinking, “Generic auto-replies that sound robotic and alienate recipients. ” If that’s what you think about email autoresponders, then you’ve come to the right place to dash such misinformation to pieces. What is an Email Autoresponder? An email autoresponder is a tool that sends a pre-written message in response to predefined conditions being met. Autoresponses are typically triggered by actions taken by the customer, such as making a purchase or signing up for an email newsletter. While a simple form of marketing automation, email autoresponder customization helps to build a personalized experience for your audience segments. This is accomplished through simple features such as trigger categories, customer tags, and bracketed variables. What is the Difference Between Autoresponders and Auto-Reply? Auto-reply is a feature of many email services, including Gmail, that allows users to create automatic email responses. These types of emails are often generic and apply to narrow conditions. A classic example is... --- ### How to Build an Effective Email Drip Campaign > There's a lot that goes into an effective email drip campaign. In this blog post, we share their benefits and how to build them successfully. - Published: 2023-07-13 - Modified: 2024-01-23 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-build-an-effective-email-drip-campaign/ - Categories: Email Marketing, Benchmark Recommends Drip campaigns are one of the types of emails you should be sending and are crucial in educating, nurturing, and converting your prospects. They’re the star player in your overall marketing and sales game, so assembling them must be done with a lot of thought, care, and strategy. You also need a firm grasp on what makes your prospects tick so you can fill your campaigns with targeted content and the right message, which will move them through the funnel more seamlessly. Drip campaigns have this annoying habit of seeming like a very confusing strategy, one with a lot of moving parts and factors that ultimately determine their success. While it’s true that a lot goes into them, they’re actually a huge time-saver, and putting them together doesn’t have to be such a headache. We’ll cover all of the basics that you need to know about drip campaigns, including the benefits that they offer your marketing strategy and how to put them together effectively. So don’t grab the Excedrin just yet. What is a Drip Campaign? A drip campaign is a form of marketing automation where you send customers and prospects a series of emails ‘drips’ at specified time intervals based on their actions and changes in status during the sales cycle. Since it’s automated, you don’t have to lift a finger to send out individual emails. Instead, you can pre-program the triggers, conditions, and actions that the email marketing software should use to decide when to send which email.... --- ### 10+ Sizzling Summer Newsletter Ideas to Keep Your Audience Cool and Engaged > Let's explore some sizzling summer newsletter ideas to help you stand out in crowded inboxes and spark a connection with your subscribers. - Published: 2023-07-12 - Modified: 2023-07-12 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/summer-newsletter-ideas/ - Categories: Email Marketing As the temperature rises and the days grow longer, summer presents a unique opportunity for marketers to inject a dose of sizzle into their email marketing strategies. The sun-drenched season offers a chance to captivate your audience with engaging content that resonates with their summertime desires and aspirations. Whether your goal is to promote products, share valuable information, or foster a sense of community, crafting compelling summer newsletters is the key to keeping your audience cool, engaged, and eagerly awaiting your next message. In this article, we will explore a collection of sizzling summer newsletter ideas designed to help you stand out in crowded inboxes and spark a genuine connection with your subscribers. From sun-soaked promotions and seasonal tips to captivating storytelling and interactive experiences, we'll dive into a wide range of strategies that will elevate your email marketing game throughout the summer months. So, grab your metaphorical sunglasses and join us as we embark on a journey to discover newsletter ideas that will make your audience feel the heat, keep them engaged, and leave a lasting impression long after the sun sets on the season. Why Are Audiences Less Engaged in the Summer? Before we dive in, let’s examine some reasons why engagement tends to dip during the summer. The summer months can pose challenges for keeping audiences engaged with email marketing due to several factors: Vacation and Travel Many people take vacations or travel during the summer months, which can result in reduced email engagement. People may be... --- ### How to 'Jazz Up' Your Email Capture Forms (And Secure High-Quality Leads) > Your email capture forms play a big role in making sure you secure high-quality leads. Here are some tips for jazzing up your forms. - Published: 2023-07-11 - Modified: 2023-12-20 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-capture-forms/ - Categories: Inbound Marketing Email capture forms are a crucial component of any successful lead-generation marketing strategy. They provide a way to capture the contact information of your audience and build your email list. However, are you struggling to capture high-quality leads through your email sign-up forms? Are potential subscribers ignoring your forms or abandoning them halfway through? If so, it may be time to jazz up your email capture forms and make them more engaging and effective. In this article, we'll share expert tips and strategies for creating eye-catching and effective email capture forms. From getting the timing right to including social proof and incentives, we'll cover everything you need to know to make your forms stand out and capture high-quality leads. First up, let’s prove how important email marketing is in today’s B2B landscape. B2B Email Marketing In today's fast-paced digital world, many B2B businesses are focusing on social media, content marketing, and other new forms of communication. However, if you’re not investing in email marketing, you could be missing a trick. Email marketing remains a highly effective tool for building relationships and driving business growth. Here are some reasons why email marketing still matters for B2B businesses: Personalization: Recent research tells us that B2B companies believe that the greatest benefits of a successful personalization strategy are an improved customer experience (51%). Email allows you to deliver highly personalized messages to your target audience. By segmenting your email list and tailoring your messages to each group, you can increase engagement and build... --- ### Your Step-by-Step Guide for Creating an HTML Email > Interested in learning about how to create an HTML email? Here's your step-by-step guide using Benchmark Email. - Published: 2023-07-06 - Modified: 2024-05-01 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-create-an-html-email/ - Categories: Email Marketing When it comes to plain text emails versus HTML emails, there’s a time and a place for both. However, when it comes to keeping audiences and prospects engaged constantly, plain text emails may not always cut it. Plain text emails are great for one-on-one emails, but when it comes to sending automated emails to your segmented email lists, HTML emails are great. We’ll take you through HTML emails and how you can them to create engaging emails for your business. What is an HTML Email? In contrast to plain text emails, HTML emails are formatted emails that contain style and design elements to increase engagement and visual appeal. HTML emails are built using HTML codes and inline CSS styles. HTML offers diverse design opportunities, making it perfect for your engaging marketing emails. With HTML emails, multimedia files can be included directly in emails, with custom fonts and colors, amongst other styling options. What Typically Goes Into Building an HTML Email? Behind the visually captivating HTML emails are multiple lines of code, including tables and inline CSS. To build an HTML email manually, you need to know how to use HTML codes to design your emails for desired results. Beyond knowing your codes, building an HTML email by hand requires much more. Let’s take a look at the behind-the-scenes of setting up an effective HTML email. HTML codes: The HTML email is divided into the header and body. The header section contains codes that specify styling, media, and CSS animations. The... --- ### 30 Best Blogging Tools to Skyrocket Your Blog > Driving results from blogging means using the right set of tools. Here are essential blogging tools to help you manage, write, and rank. - Published: 2023-07-05 - Modified: 2025-02-06 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/30-best-blogging-tools-to-skyrocket-your-blog-in-2023/ - Categories: Marketing Are you a blogger looking to take your blog to new heights? Well, you're in luck! In today's digital landscape, where content is king, having the right tools can make all the difference in the success of your blog. In fact, 80% of bloggers reported that blogging drove results for them in 2022. But it is also true that with the ever-increasing number of blogs vying for attention, it's hard to set yourself apart and deliver high-quality content that engages your audience. Thankfully, there are a plethora of powerful blogging tools available that can streamline your workflow, enhance your content, and maximize your blog's potential. Whether you're a seasoned pro or just starting out, we have a handpicked selection of essential blogging tools that are set to dominate. From content creation and editing to SEO, social media management, and email marketing, these tools will equip you with the resources you need to skyrocket your blog's success. So, let's dive in and explore these must-have tools that can revolutionize your blogging journey! The Massive List of 30 Blogging Tools Tools for Hosting & Managing Your Blog 1. WordPress The first thing that every blogger needs is a way to publish and manage their content, and WordPress is one of the best platforms to help with that. WordPress is a content management system (CMS) that provides bloggers with a powerful platform to create and manage their websites. With a vast library of customizable themes and plugins, bloggers can create stunning and personalized... --- ### The Psychology of Email Marketing: Understanding How Human Behavior Impacts Email Campaigns > There's a psychology behind email marketing, and understanding human behavior is key to successful email campaigns. - Published: 2023-07-04 - Modified: 2023-06-29 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-psychology-of-email-marketing/ - Categories: Email Marketing Email marketing has been a powerful tool for marketers for decades, but what makes some campaigns more successful than others? The answer lies in the psychology behind email marketing and how human behavior impacts email campaigns. By understanding the psychological principles that influence people's actions, marketers can create more effective campaigns that resonate with their target audience. Let’s dive into the various email marketing strategies that tap into and encourage human behavior, like clicks, opens, and other forms of engagement. The Psychology Behind Email Marketing The psychological aspects behind email marketing relate to the ways in which human behavior and decision-making influence the effectiveness of email campaigns. When referring to email marketing, there are six psychological principles that impact it: Personalization People are more likely to engage with content that is personalized to their interests and preferences. Reciprocity People are more likely to respond positively to a message if they feel they owe something in return. Offering something of value in the email, such as a free resource or discount, can increase the likelihood of a response. Social Proof People are influenced by the actions of others, and email campaigns that highlight positive reviews, testimonials, or social media shares can leverage this psychological principle to encourage recipients to take action. Authority People are more likely to follow the lead of those they perceive as knowledgeable or authoritative. Establishing authority in the email, such as including credentials or industry awards, can increase the likelihood of a response. Urgency or Scarcity People... --- ### Get Your Fourth of July Email Templates and Make a BANG! > Use our free HTML Fourth of July email templates to send special offers and promotions to your audience and commemorate the holiday. - Published: 2023-06-29 - Modified: 2023-06-29 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/fourth-of-july-email-templates/ - Categories: Email Marketing The Fourth of July is just around the corner, and what better way to celebrate the land of the free and the home of the brave than with a stunning email campaign? Whether you're a marketer, business owner, or simply someone looking to spread some patriotic spirit, we've got you covered. Get ready to light up your audience's inbox with our exclusive Fourth of July email templates, designed to make your campaigns sparkle and sizzle. With our exclusive Fourth of July email templates, you can take your marketing campaigns to new heights and leave a lasting impression on your subscribers. Whether you're aiming to boost sales, celebrate the holiday, or express gratitude, these templates provide you with the tools you need to make a bang. So, don't miss out on this opportunity to dazzle your audience and download our templates today. Let freedom ring in your inbox this Fourth of July! DOWNLOAD TEMPLATES NOW --- ### Will Minimalistic Email Marketing Work for You? > What is minimalistic email marketing? Read on to find out and to determine if it will work for you and your brand. - Published: 2023-06-29 - Modified: 2023-06-22 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/minimalistic-email-marketing/ - Categories: Email Marketing The internet isn’t new technology anymore. It’s not like in the days of the Wild West of Internet 1. 0 when there were barely any rules in digital marketing, users saw everything as new, and conversions were easy. Things have and continue to change, and one such change in the marketing world is the arrival of minimalistic email marketing. So is it worth pursuing? We’re going to answer that question today. What Is Minimalistic Email Marketing? The philosophy of minimalistic email marketing is based on the simple idea that less is more. It means using simple, clean designs and a clear, streamlined message to grab the user’s attention. The goal is to make the email content more digestible for the audience. So how does minimalistic email marketing actually add value? Well, simplicity sells. You follow a minimalistic design with a simple layout without unnecessary elements to keep the recipient’s attention focused on what matters. Usually, a minimalist email will have a single call-to-action (CTA) to help recipients understand the action needed and to eliminate distraction. The Benefits of Using Minimalistic Email Design For one, minimalistic emails look better on different devices. This is incredibly important because most people use their mobile devices for everything, including email. If you don’t have a simple and clean design for your emails, the recipients will probably get frustrated trying to read them, and you will lose sales. Another great reason is quicker decision-making. A cluttered email with multiple messages can confuse readers and cause... --- ### What Are You Waiting For? 8 Common Reasons Marketers Neglect Email Marketing > Do you keep putting off email marketing? Here are some common reasons marketers put it off and why they shouldn't. - Published: 2023-06-27 - Modified: 2023-08-28 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/reasons-marketers-neglect-email-marketing/ - Categories: Email Marketing In this fast-paced digital landscape, marketers are faced with an ever-increasing array of tasks and responsibilities. From managing social media accounts and creating compelling content to analyzing data and staying on top of industry trends, their to-do lists seem to be never-ending. Amidst this whirlwind of activities, one crucial aspect of marketing often gets pushed aside: creating an email marketing plan. Email marketing remains a powerful and effective tool for engaging with audiences, driving conversions, and nurturing customer relationships. Yet, despite its proven success, many marketers find themselves struggling to carve out time and energy to develop a comprehensive email marketing strategy. With competing demands and the constant pressure to deliver results, it's no wonder that email marketing often falls to the bottom of their priority list. In this article, we delve into the reasons why marketers are busy and tend to put off creating an email marketing plan. We explore the common challenges they face, the implications of neglecting email marketing, and the steps they can take to overcome these hurdles and harness the full potential of this valuable marketing channel. By understanding the underlying causes behind marketers' reluctance to tackle email marketing planning, we can shed light on the importance of prioritizing this crucial aspect of their overall marketing strategy. Let's delve into the core reasons behind marketers' busyness and uncover actionable insights that will empower them to take control, optimize their efforts, and leverage the immense power of email marketing. Why Marketers Put off Email Marketing There... --- ### ChatGPT: Marketer's Friend or Foe? > There's been a lot of discussion around ChatGPT and if it's good for marketers or bad. Let's take a look to determine it once and for all. - Published: 2023-06-22 - Modified: 2023-07-05 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/chatgpt-marketers-friend-or-foe/ - Categories: Marketing There is a common notion that ChatGPT, a large language model developed by OpenAI, will eventually steal marketers' jobs. However, this is not the case. In fact, ChatGPT can enable marketers to be better at their jobs by automating tedious tasks and providing insights that can lead to more effective marketing strategies. Still not convinced? Let’s dive into why ChatGPT is a friend, not a foe, of the modern marketer. The Value of the Human Touch While ChatGPT is capable of generating human-like text, it will always need a human touch to ensure that it is providing accurate and ethical responses. One of the key limitations of ChatGPT is its inability to understand the nuances of human communication. ChatGPT is trained on large amounts of data, but it cannot understand the context or tone of a conversation in the same way that a human can. This can lead to misunderstandings or inappropriate responses, particularly in sensitive or complex situations. Another limitation of ChatGPT is its inability to understand the emotional state of the person it is communicating with. ChatGPT is not equipped to recognize the emotions behind a customer's message or tone of voice. This can lead to misunderstandings or inappropriate responses that could damage the customer's trust in the brand. Furthermore, ChatGPT may not always have access to the most up-to-date information. While ChatGPT is capable of learning and improving over time, it may not have access to the latest industry trends or company updates. This is where a... --- ### Is Your Email Design Affecting Your Deliverability? How to Optimize Your Emails for Success > When it comes to your email design, there are things you could be doing that are negatively affecting deliverability. - Published: 2023-06-21 - Modified: 2024-04-09 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-design-deliverability/ - Categories: Email Marketing Email marketing is one of the most effective ways for businesses to connect with their customers, but even the most well-crafted email campaigns won't be effective if they don't make it into subscribers' inboxes. One factor that can impact email deliverability and that often gets overlooked is email design. While many marketers focus on best practices for email design to make their messages more engaging and effective, it's also important to consider how email design impacts deliverability. How Your Email Design Can Land Your Emails in the Spam Folder Email clients and spam filters use a variety of techniques to block unwanted or potentially harmful emails from reaching subscribers' inboxes. One common technique is to scan emails for certain design elements or formatting that may indicate that the message is spam or a phishing attempt. For example, emails with too many images, certain color combinations, or specific fonts may trigger spam filters and cause the message to be blocked or sent to the spam folder. Bad email design can affect email deliverability in several ways, including: Triggering spam filters: Some email clients and spam filters may flag emails with certain design elements or formatting as spam, which can prevent the message from reaching the recipient's inbox. Causing emails to be marked as spam: Even if an email does make it into a recipient's inbox, poor design can still cause them to mark the email as spam, which can hurt the sender's reputation and lower future deliverability rates. Decreasing engagement rates:... --- ### 8 Things You Must Include in Your 2023 Marketing Agenda > A good marketing agenda can help you plan your marketing strategies and tactics so that you can better meet any set goals. - Published: 2023-06-20 - Modified: 2024-06-29 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/marketing-agenda/ - Categories: Marketing Efficient marketing is crucial to your business. It spreads brand awareness, engages with potential (and existing) customers, and of course, drives business to your website and increases revenue. With a global market that was worth around $321 billion in 2022, and is expected to reach a staggering $671. 86 billion by 2029, it is also a highly lucrative and fiercely competitive market. Most marketers would acknowledge that a full year can bring many changes in trends, tastes, and technology used. However, they would also emphasize the importance of having a good plan to follow, a marketing agenda that identifies what their particular organization's goals are and what they might have to do to achieve those goals. In this blog post, we’ll examine eight things you should be including in your 2023 marketing agenda. What is a Marketing Agenda? Image sourced from Expert Market Research A marketing agenda is a document that highlights the different points and factors you want to discuss, including in any marketing strategy or plan. It can be used to discuss long-term plans (usually up to a year), or it can be used in the short-term or for a particular campaign. It should align with the business’s values and mission and should focus on specific goals. Your marketing agenda should identify what your main goals are. For example, a short-term goal may be to increase brand awareness, and a long-term goal could be to improve conversion and retention rates and see better CSATs (customer satisfaction scores). Any... --- ### How to Build Your Email List Using a Lead Magnet > Your email list is super important, and building it is even more important. Here's how to grow your email list using a lead magnet. - Published: 2023-06-15 - Modified: 2024-07-23 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-build-your-email-list-using-a-lead-magnet/ - Categories: Inbound Marketing Having an email list holds significant value for a business as it provides a direct and personal channel of communication with your target audience. Unlike social media or other platforms where your reach may be limited, an email list allows you to connect directly with individuals who have voluntarily expressed interest in your business. This direct communication enables you to deliver targeted marketing messages tailored to specific segments of your audience, increasing the likelihood of engagement and conversion. By consistently delivering valuable content, exclusive offers, and personalized insights through email, you can build trust, establish credibility, and nurture long-term relationships with your subscribers. The Value of Your Email List This relationship-building aspect fosters loyalty, leading to repeat business and customer advocacy. Additionally, email marketing has proven to be a highly effective channel for driving conversions and sales. Your email list comprises individuals who have already shown interest in your products or services, making them more receptive to your offers. With strategic email campaigns, you can promote new releases, showcase products, provide exclusive discounts, and encourage subscribers to take specific actions, resulting in increased sales and revenue. Moreover, email marketing is often considered a cost-effective channel compared to other advertising methods. Building and maintaining an email list typically incurs lower costs, and with automation features, you can efficiently reach a large audience with personalized messages. Your email list also serves as a valuable source of traffic for your website, blog, or other online platforms. By including relevant links and calls to... --- ### How to Create Powerful Outbound Email Content/Sequences Using AI Content Tools > Learn how to use AI content tools to create engaging, powerful outbound email sequences. Discover the tips to reach your desired audience. - Published: 2023-06-13 - Modified: 2024-08-20 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/create-outbound-email-content-using-ai-content-tools/ - Categories: Content Marketing Have you ever felt like your outbound emails were as effective as a carrier pigeon with a broken wing? Even after spending hours perfecting your outbound emails, you’re left with disappointing results. This is probably because your content is lacking in key elements that engage your audience and motivate them to take action. Perhaps your subject lines are not attention-grabbing, or your message is not tailored to their needs. But fear not; there is a solution - AI content tools. With the power of AI content tools, you can take your emails from snooze-fest to sales magnet in no time. These tools can help you craft compelling subject lines, personalized messages, and even entire email sequences that are designed to convert. It could provide your email campaign the boost it needed all along. So, get ready to learn how to unleash the full potential of AI content tools for your outbound email sequences. In this article, we’ll cover everything, from the top AI content tools for creating powerful email content to tips for deriving maximum value out of these tools. AI Tools for Email Content AI-driven email automation tools leverage machine learning algorithms and natural language processing (NLP) to analyze email data, identify patterns, and provide insights that help could improve the performance of email campaigns. With an Artificial Intelligence tool as your email content assistant, you can provide your recipients with beautifully-crafted emails that are tailored to their needs while keeping customer empathy at the forefront. Besides this, these... --- ### Types of Content That Will Re-Energize Your 2023 Strategy > There is various kinds of content you should be focusing on this year, and here are some examples that will re-energize your strategy. - Published: 2023-06-08 - Modified: 2025-05-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/types-of-content-that-will-re-energize-your-strategy/ - Categories: Content Marketing In 2023, most businesses comprehend the immense benefits of investing in content. Survey data indicates that 83% of very successful marketers have a documented content marketing strategy. And 49% of marketing teams allocate between 30% and 50% of their total budget to content. But while the role of content marketing in shaping the success of small brands is increasing, the diversity of content being served to audiences is starting to dwindle. You don't have to go into much research to realize that almost every single blog topic has at least a dozen (or more for those targeting high-volume keywords) similar variants. And even videos, which seemed daunting to most brands just a few years back, are becoming washed out carbon-copies of one another, vying for consumers' attention. In other words, originality and creativity have somehow managed to disappear from most businesses' attempts at creating content and have been replaced with the same-old templates that promise big wins with minimal effort. The good news is that investing in content production doesn't have to mean confining your business and brand to the cookie-cutter "trends" that everyone else in your industry is so intent on following. Instead, these types of content will re-energize your 2023 strategy and allow you to stand out. Text-to-Speech Publishing Naturally, genuine impact in terms of revitalizing your content marketing efforts requires a bit more than an app subscription. Nonetheless, you can still achieve satisfactory results with minimal effort. And one of the things you can immediately start doing... --- ### Automatic Welcome Emails Playbook: How to Automate Your Welcome Emails Using Benchmark Email > Automatic welcome emails are a way to welcome your new subscribers without missing a beat. Here's how to set them up using Benchmark Email. - Published: 2023-06-07 - Modified: 2023-06-07 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/automatic-welcome-emails/ - Categories: Email Marketing Hooray, a new subscriber has joined your list! Now what? Sending your new subscribers a welcome email is the perfect way to kick off your relationship with a new subscriber. But how do you create one? And how do you ensure each new subscriber gets a welcome email? In this guide, we’ll walk you through the value of a welcome email and show you how to automate them using Benchmark Email so you can ensure your relationship with each new subscriber is off to a great start. What is a Welcome Email? A welcome email is the first email a new subscriber or customer receives from a company after signing up or making a purchase. It's a type of transactional email that is automatically triggered by a specific action, such as a sign-up or a purchase. The purpose of a welcome email is to introduce the subscriber or customer to the company, confirm their subscription or purchase, and provide any necessary information or instructions. A typical welcome email might include a thank you message for subscribing or making a purchase, a brief introduction to the company and its products or services, instructions on how to get started or access their purchase, and possibly a call to action to encourage further engagement or provide an incentive for future purchases. Welcome emails can be an important part of a company's email marketing strategy, as they can help set the tone for future communication and establish a positive relationship with subscribers or customers.... --- ### Addressing the Challenges of Email Marketing for Small Businesses: Cost-Effective Strategies for Success > Small businesses face unique challenges when it comes to implementing an email marketing strategy. Here are some. - Published: 2023-06-06 - Modified: 2024-08-20 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/challenges-of-email-marketing-for-small-businesses/ - Categories: Small Business As a small business owner, you know the value of using email marketing to reach out to your target audience and promote your products or services. However, you may also be aware of the challenges that come with it, such as budget constraints and limited resources. In this article, we'll discuss cost-effective strategies that can help your small business succeed in email marketing. Small Business Challenges with Email Marketing Small businesses may face several challenges with email marketing, including: Limited resources: Small businesses may have limited resources, such as time, staff, or budget, to devote to email marketing campaigns. Growing and maintaining an email list: Building a quality email list can take time and effort, and maintaining subscriber engagement can be a challenge. Creating compelling content: Creating content that engages subscribers and drives action can be a challenge, especially for small businesses with limited resources or marketing expertise. Ensuring email deliverability: Email deliverability can be a challenge for small businesses, as emails may be blocked or sent to spam folders due to various factors, such as low sender reputation or email content. Keeping up with industry changes: Email marketing trends and best practices are constantly evolving, and small businesses may struggle to keep up with these changes and adapt their strategies accordingly. Balancing frequency and relevance: Small businesses may struggle to strike a balance between sending frequent emails to stay top-of-mind and sending relevant content that provides value to subscribers without overwhelming their inboxes. These challenges may seem overwhelming. But,... --- ### The Ethics of Email Marketing: Navigating the Line Between Promotional and Intrusive > The line between being promotional and intrusive is a fine one. It's important to follow an email marketing code of ethics for success. - Published: 2023-06-01 - Modified: 2023-10-18 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ethics-of-email-marketing/ - Categories: Email Marketing As email marketers, our primary goal is to create email campaigns that engage our subscribers and drive conversions. But with great power comes great responsibility. We must navigate the line between promotional and intrusive, ensuring that our campaigns respect our subscribers' time and privacy while still achieving our business objectives. To create ethical email marketing campaigns, we must first understand the definition of "ethical. " Ethical marketing is about creating value for the consumer while respecting their autonomy and privacy. It involves a commitment to honesty, fairness, and responsibility in all aspects of marketing, including email campaigns. So, how do we ensure our email campaigns are ethical? Here are a few key principles to keep in mind: Permission-Based Marketing Permission-based marketing refers to a type of marketing in which the recipient has explicitly given permission or consent to receive communications from the marketer. Here are some examples of permission-based marketing: Opt-in email lists: Subscribers sign up to receive email communications from the marketer, typically by filling out a form or checking a box indicating their consent. SMS marketing: Subscribers opt-in to receive text message communications from the marketer by sending a keyword or shortcode to a designated number. Push notifications: Users opt-in to receive notifications from an app or website, allowing marketers to send targeted messages to their devices. Social media: Users follow or subscribe to a brand's social media account, giving permission to receive updates, promotions, and other communications. In all of these examples, the recipient has explicitly given... --- ### The Future of Email Marketing: Trends and Predictions for the Years to Come > What's in store for the future of email marketing? Here are some trends and predictions for the years to come. - Published: 2023-05-31 - Modified: 2023-06-07 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-future-of-email-marketing/ - Categories: Email Marketing Email marketing has long been a staple of digital marketing, but it's an ever-evolving field that requires businesses to stay up-to-date with the latest trends and technologies. But with things changing so often, staying up to speed is a job in and of its own. In this article, we'll explore the current state of email marketing, emerging technologies that will impact the industry, and strategies for staying ahead of the game. The Importance of Staying Up-to-Date With Email Marketing Trends Staying up-to-date with email marketing trends and predictions is crucial for marketers who want to remain competitive and successful in their campaigns. The world of email marketing is constantly evolving, and new technologies, strategies, and trends are emerging all the time. By keeping up with these changes, marketers can stay ahead of the curve and ensure that their email campaigns are relevant, engaging, and effective. Failing to stay up-to-date with email marketing trends can result in missed opportunities and reduced ROI. For example, if a marketer is still using outdated tactics, such as sending mass, generic emails to their entire list, they may not be seeing the same level of engagement and conversion rates as their competitors, who are using more targeted, personalized approaches. Additionally, if a marketer is not aware of emerging trends, such as interactive emails or machine learning, they may miss out on opportunities to innovate and improve their campaigns. Staying up-to-date with email marketing trends also shows a commitment to continuous learning and improvement. The world... --- ### How to Reward Employees Without Breaking the Bank > If your small business is trying to say mindful of your budget, here are great ways to reward your employees without spending tons of money. - Published: 2023-05-30 - Modified: 2023-08-22 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-reward-employees/ - Categories: Small Business It would be impossible for your business to operate without members of staff who carry out the critical tasks that keep the business going. Recognizing the hard work that your employees put into your business is one of the quickest and most efficient methods to make them know how much you appreciate them, which can further improve their productivity. While many business owners believe appreciating their employees means giving monetary rewards, it’s not always possible for small business owners to give cash bonus payments on a regular basis. Fortunately, there are some low-cost but effective ways to renew the passion of hardworking staff members. We’ll show you how to reward excellent employees without breaking the bank. 1. Create a Culture of Recognition Everyone craves recognition: children crave recognition from their guardians at an early age, and adults need it too. Your star employees who are doing the much-needed work feel the same. Recognize employees for their achievements, when they go above and beyond in meeting expectations when they hit milestones in their work relationships and duties, or for their stellar habits and behavior like punctuality. When you recognize hard-working employees, you encourage high performance, boost employee satisfaction and engagement and hopefully even retain your top talents. Recognized employees are more willing to go above and beyond to ensure your business succeeds. You can recognize awesome employees by: Thanking them individually for their contribution. Appreciating them at staff meetings. Sending an internal email to members of staff requesting that they join... --- ### 7 Must-Have Qualities of a Stellar Customer Service Rep > Your customer service team needs to be comprised of rock stars so you can keep customers happ. Here are qualities every rep should have. - Published: 2023-05-25 - Modified: 2025-03-12 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/qualities-customer-service-rep/ - Categories: Small Business Customer service is a critical part of your small business. Based on this, it’s incredibly important to hire the right people for the job. Your customer service team will ultimately be the face of your company and the main point of human contact with your customers. Excellent customer service is the key to loyalty, retention, business growth and profits. In other words, your customer service reps are your business’s secret weapon. Just have a look at some of the data: 81% of companies with strong competencies for delivering an excellent customer experience are outperforming their competition. (Peppers & Rogers Group) 70% of buying experiences are based on how the customer feels they are being treated. (McKinsey) 9 out of 10 U. S. consumers say they would pay more to ensure a superior customer experience. (Harris Interactive/RightNow) 7 in 10 Americans said they were willing to spend more with companies they believe provide ideal customer service. (American Express) What is Good Customer Service? Good customer service is an essential component of any successful business, but what exactly constitutes good customer service? First and foremost, good customer service must be friendly and welcoming. When customers interact with your team, they should feel comfortable bringing their concerns to your attention. They should also feel that they are being listened to and that their concerns are being taken seriously. Making sure your customer service representatives are approachable and friendly goes a long way in creating a positive customer experience. Your customer service team should... --- ### Internal Linking Tree: What is it, Why You Need One, and How to Create It > To ensure you're internal linking strategy is on point, consider putting together an internal linking tree. - Published: 2023-05-24 - Modified: 2023-06-07 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/internal-linking-tree/ - Categories: Content Marketing If you're DIY'ing your SEO strategy, then you're probably giving your content strategy a lot of focus and attention. You may already be thinking of your content strategy as a tree: the trunk is your main topic, the branches are the subtopics, and the leaves are individual, related content pieces or blog posts. Your internal linking tree needs to be just as organized, logical, and strong as your content strategy. The more effective the internal linking is, the better the SEO results of your website. In this article, we’ll show you how to build an effective internal linking tree so your internal linking strategy is bulletproof. Before we dive into linking trees, let’s review what internal links are, how they relate to SEO generally, as well as some benefits of internal links and their different shapes and sizes. What are Internal Links? Internal links are hyperlinks that point to other content within the same website. They are used to help users navigate a website and can be helpful for SEO purposes. Internal links help establish information hierarchy for the given website, and can also help boost page ranking and visibility in search engine results. Internal links provide an easy way for users to find related content on a website without having to search through multiple pages. This can result in more time spent on the site, which is beneficial for both user experience and overall success of the website. Internal linking should be done strategically: relevant keywords should be used... --- ### How ChatGPT Can Help Marketers Drive Revenue for Their Business > ChatGPT, when paired with a thought-out strategy, can help marketers create efficiencies and drive revenue for their businesses. - Published: 2023-05-23 - Modified: 2025-05-09 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/use-chatgpt-to-drive-revenue/ - Categories: Marketing Revenue generation is the lifeblood of any organization. Without sufficient revenue, a business cannot cover its operational costs, invest in future growth, or remain financially sustainable in the long term. Marketing plays a vital role in attracting customers, generating leads, and converting them into paying customers, thereby driving revenue for the business. However, driving revenue can be challenging for marketing teams due to several reasons. Businesses operate in highly competitive markets where multiple companies vie for the attention and spending of customers. Standing out from the competition and capturing market share requires marketers to develop unique value propositions, compelling messaging, and innovative marketing strategies. It can be challenging to differentiate a brand and its offerings in crowded markets. Also, marketing teams often face resource constraints in terms of budget, personnel, and technology. Limited resources can limit the scope and effectiveness of marketing initiatives. Marketers must carefully allocate their resources to maximize their impact on revenue generation. Balancing the need for innovative campaigns with the available resources can be a significant challenge. However, with developments like ChatGPT, marketers are able to leverage the power of AI to create better campaigns, better content, and better strategies that can ultimately help them drive revenue. In this blog post, we're going to dive into what ChatGPT is, how using it for marketing is in your best interest, and how to use it to drive revenue. What is ChatGPT? ChatGPT is a large language model developed by OpenAI that uses deep learning techniques to generate... --- ### Before You Hire an SEO Company, Try These 16 DIY Tips > You don't have to pay and arm and a leg to outsource your SEO strategy. We have some DIY tips that will keep your SEO in-house. - Published: 2023-05-18 - Modified: 2025-05-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/hire-seo-company/ - Categories: Content Marketing So you want to drive more online visitors to your website or increase your rankings in Google's search engine, but don't know where to start. Should you hire an SEO company or go at it yourself? When it comes to search engine optimization it can be an overwhelming process, but it doesn't have to be. An SEO expert or agency can help ensure that when consumers do a web search, your website is one of the first resources to appear in the search results. But prior to paying someone else to help facilitate improved web results, you may want to enlist a few DIY tips yourself to give your SEO a boost. Here are 16 do-it-yourself SEO tips that small business owners should try before hiring an SEO firm: 1. Start with Personas Driving more visitors to your site starts with knowing the persona of your ideal buyer and understanding what makes them tick. Why? Because websites are ultimately built for humans and not robots. So dig into their challenges, understand why they buy, and create a customer persona. This will help you to best align your SEO and website strategy so you can get found online by your ideal customer. To create a customer persona, start by researching your target audience. Gather as much data on them as possible - such as age, gender, income level, and career industry. Also, consider their interests and hobbies to get a better idea of who they are and what drives them. Look... --- ### The Impact of eCommerce on Traditional Retail > With eCommerce comes tons of benefits and effeciencies. But how exactly is eCommerce impacting traditional retail? - Published: 2023-05-16 - Modified: 2025-03-21 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/impact-of-ecommerce-on-traditional-retail/ - Categories: Ecommerce The rise of eCommerce has been one of the biggest disruptions in the retail industry in recent years. With the convenience of online shopping and the ever-increasing range of products available, traditional retail models have been challenged like never before. Retailers that have been slow to adapt to the changing landscape have struggled, with many even going out of business. In this article, we will explore how eCommerce has disrupted traditional retail models and discuss how retailers can adapt and compete in an increasingly eCommerce-driven world. The Rise of eCommerce Online shopping has revolutionized the way people shop, with consumers now able to browse and purchase products from anywhere, at any time. And with eCommerce logistic options expanding, customers can often receive their products the same day they order them. eCommerce has brought a level of convenience and accessibility that traditional retail models simply cannot match. Online shopping has also allowed consumers to compare prices and products easily, leading to increased competition and pressure on retailers to offer better value for money. How eCommerce Impacts Traditional Retail Models The growth of eCommerce has had a significant impact on traditional retail models. Brick-and-mortar stores are struggling to compete with the convenience and accessibility of online shopping. Retailers have had to adapt their business models to incorporate eCommerce, whether by building their own online stores or partnering with established eCommerce platforms such as Shopify or Amazon. Some retailers have also invested in experiential retail, creating a unique shopping experience that cannot be... --- ### 6 CTAs That Will Get Your Audience to Forward Your Email > When you get your emails forwarded, you're able to extend your reach and audience. Here are some CTAs taht will help you achieve that. - Published: 2023-05-11 - Modified: 2023-05-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ctas-that-get-your-emails-forwarded/ - Categories: Email Marketing At its most basic level, email forwarding is a way for businesses to expand their audience reach by getting more eyeballs on their emails. By having people forward your emails, you can gain exposure with greater numbers of potential customers. Also, a forwarded email provides you with more brand exposure, and if people like what they see, they’ll want to see more. They’ll likely subscribe to your email marketing, allowing you to grow your email list by doing basically nothing at all. Let’s take a closer look and really break down sharing and forwarding emails. We’ll talk about why it’s important, as well as give you some real tools to get your emails out there. Why You Want People to Share Your Emails First of all, having your emails forwarded and shared helps build brand recognition since when someone shares an email from your business, it adds third-party credibility and trust to your message; it’s like having a friend recommend your product or service to another person. This kind of advocacy from external sources can be hard to come by otherwise and can provide a valuable boost in terms of reputation building. When people forward emails they have received from you, it indicates that the content resonated with them in some way: they found something in the message that resonated with them and wanted to share it. This is an opportunity for you as a business to learn more about your customer base, as well as what kind of content... --- ### How to Create Top-Notch Product Images for Your eCommerce Store > Your eCommerce online store needs top-notch product images in order to adequately entice customers to purchase your products. - Published: 2023-05-10 - Modified: 2023-05-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-create-ecommerce-product-images/ - Categories: Ecommerce In order for your eCommerce business to thrive, you need to sell products. But you can’t sell products if consumers can’t see what they’re buying. It’s one thing to provide product images, but if your images are low-quality or don’t do a great job of depicting the product, then no one will be buying that product. It can be hard to create images when you aren’t a photographer or don’t know the first thing about how to take a solid product shot. That’s why we created this simple guide for you to follow. Read on for some tips that will help you create and use product images that will improve the visual appeal of your eCommerce website. The Importance of High-Quality Product Images Product images are one of the most important elements of any eCommerce website or online store. They can make the difference between someone making a purchase and simply browsing your site. High-quality product images should be clear, crisp, and eye-catching. This means not only selecting professional images that truly capture the essence of your product, but also editing them to make sure they are optimized for web use. When it comes to displaying product pictures on an eCommerce website or online store, there is more to consider than just aesthetics. An image needs to do more than look good; it needs to accurately represent the item being sold and offer customers a chance to see what they’re getting before they buy. Customers want detailed visuals that accurately... --- ### How to Prioritize SEO in Your Content Creation Process > Your SEO strategy should begin at content creation. Here's how to ensure every piece of content you create starts with SEO in mind. - Published: 2023-05-09 - Modified: 2023-05-09 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/prioritize-seo-in-your-content-creation/ - Categories: Content Marketing Sixty-eight percent of online experiences begin with a search engine. So if you want to make sure that your content is in the right place at the right time, you have to be thinking about SEO at every single stage of the content creation process. SEO — or search engine optimization, for the uninitiated — is a marketing strategy designed to increase your content’s visibility and organic reach. It also helps ensure that your content ends up in front of the right audience. Keyword and keyword research are a big part of SEO, and they’re usually what we think of first when the term comes up. But there are more ranking factors to be aware of, including the security, accessibility, and loading speed of your website, your content’s mobile-friendliness, and links, both internal and external. In terms of content creation, being aware of SEO from the start is a good idea if you want to grow your reach and tap into a bigger audience. But don’t feel like you have to outsource your SEO. Where here to help you do it with a quick step-by-step guide for ensuring your content ranks. Step 1: Ideate Your Content SEO plays a big role in what you decide to write about. Stick to topics that are relevant to your brand and that you have some presumed authority to speak on. Not only will this help your content perform better, but it will also help you connect with higher-quality prospects. Build a mind map,... --- ### 10 Fast and Simple Email Marketing Tips For The Finance Professional > Attention finance professionals! Here are some simple email marketing tips that will help you connect with your audience. - Published: 2023-05-09 - Modified: 2024-08-20 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-tips-for-the-finance-professional/ - Categories: Email Marketing Email marketing is a powerful tool for finance professionals looking to grow their networks and increase their client base. With the right strategy, email campaigns can be an effective way to reach potential customers and build relationships with existing ones. In this article, we will provide you with some simple tips that you can use to create successful email marketing campaigns for your business. With these tips, you'll be able to reach more prospects, get more responses, and increase your bottom line. 1. Look Into Your Target Market When crafting an email, it's important to tailor it specifically to the people you're sending it to. You need to make sure that the content reflects what they care about, as this will make them more likely to engage with the email. Knowing who your target market is should be at the forefront of any marketing strategy. Do some market research to determine what your market looks like. Also, consider your existing customer base and what market they may fit into, which can be a more straightforward path for uncovering your target market. 2. Define Your Client Persona Having an understanding of who your ideal customer is can be very helpful when creating email content. This goes beyond understanding your target market, and instead, means understanding various individuals that fit within that market. These individuals are your target audience, and they’re actual people who could use your services. Think about their age, profession, interests, etc. , that could influence how they will... --- ### How Your eCommerce Business Can Become More Sustainable > If you're looking for some sustainable practices for your eCommerce store, here are some great tips to keep in mind. - Published: 2023-05-04 - Modified: 2024-07-31 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ecommerce-business-sustainable/ - Categories: Ecommerce The demand for sustainable and eco-friendly products has been growing steadily over the past few years. Consumers are becoming more conscious of their environmental impact and are seeking out businesses that share their values. This trend is particularly relevant in the eCommerce industry, where online shopping has become increasingly popular. Increasing your sustainability isn’t just great for the environment; it’s a great initiative to help fuel your eCommerce marketing strategy and help you appeal to more environmentally conscious consumers. In this blog post, we’ll take a close look at how eCommerce businesses can reduce their environmental impact and meet the needs of these conscious consumers. 1. Sustainable Packaging One of the most visible ways that eCommerce businesses can reduce their environmental impact is through sustainable packaging. This can include using biodegradable or recyclable materials for shipping boxes, packing materials, and even product packaging. In addition to reducing waste, sustainable packaging can also be a way to showcase a business's commitment to environmental sustainability. Some examples of sustainable packaging include: Biodegradable/compostable packaging: These are packaging materials that can break down naturally without causing harm to the environment. Examples include compostable mailers made from corn starch, biodegradable packing peanuts made from plant-based materials, and biodegradable bubble wrap made from recycled materials. Recyclable packaging: This includes packaging materials that can be recycled, such as cardboard boxes, paper envelopes, and recyclable plastics. Reusable packaging: This includes packaging materials that can be used multiple times, such as reusable bags or containers. Some eCommerce brands are... --- ### The Future of Fundraising for Nonprofits > The future of nonprofit fundraising lies in technology and various different ways these brands can raise money. - Published: 2023-05-03 - Modified: 2023-09-12 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/future-of-non-profit-fundraising/ - Categories: Marketing The world of fundraising for nonprofits is evolving rapidly with the advent of new technologies and tools. In the past, most fundraising was done through direct mail and telephone calls, but now, nonprofits have a wide range of digital tools at their disposal. From digital giving platforms and crowdfunding to peer-to-peer fundraising and email marketing, there are a plethora of ways that nonprofits can engage donors and raise more funds. In this post, we will explore some of the latest trends and innovations in fundraising and how nonprofits can use these tools to achieve their fundraising goals. Digital Giving Digital giving is revolutionizing the way nonprofits raise funds and engage with donors. It is becoming an increasingly popular method of giving for donors, as it offers a convenient, secure, and efficient way to make donations. With the rise of mobile and online payment systems, donors can now make donations quickly and easily from their smartphones or computers. According to a survey by the Nonprofit Tech for Good, 54% of donors prefer to give online, while 14% prefer to give via mobile. Therefore, nonprofits need to ensure that they have a user-friendly and secure digital giving platform to encourage donors to give. Here are some ways that digital giving is shaping the future of nonprofits: Increased Accessibility: Digital giving platforms make it easier for people to donate from anywhere, at any time. This means that nonprofits can reach a wider audience beyond their local community and gain support from donors all... --- ### The Rise of Voice-Based Email Marketing: Opportunities and Challenges for Brands > What is voice-based email marketing? What are some of the opportunities it presents and challenges for brands. - Published: 2023-05-02 - Modified: 2023-08-28 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/voice-based-email-marketing/ - Categories: Email Marketing As the world becomes increasingly digital, marketing efforts are also effectively shifted from traditional channels to online platforms. Email marketing, in particular, has been a go-to strategy for marketers looking to reach their audience cost-effectively and efficiently. However, with the rise of voice assistants, a new form of email marketing is emerging: voice-based email marketing. Voice-based email marketing allows users to send and receive emails using voice assistants like Amazon’s Alexa, Google Home, and Apple’s Siri. This new channel presents unique opportunities for brands to engage with their audience in a more natural and conversational way. By leveraging the strengths of voice assistants, brands can create more engaging and personalized email experiences. However, like any new technology, voice-based email marketing also presents some challenges. This article will discuss some of the opportunities and challenges of voice-based email marketing. We’ll also provide insights and best practices on using this emerging technology to your advantage. How the Rise of Voice-Based Technology Is Impacting Email Marketing Voice-based technology has come a long way. In 2013, it saw significant improvements due to a combination of factors such as greater word accuracy and the impact of deep neural networks, making it a pivotal year for the industry. The technology evolved exponentially, and speech recognition systems already had an error rate of less than 5% by the end of 2019. Over the years, voice technology has significantly improved, and consumers across the US have embraced it enthusiastically. In fact, research shows that by the end of... --- ### The Rise of Social Commerce > Is your eCommerce store utilizng social media to increase sales? In this blog post we dive into social commerce and what it means. - Published: 2023-04-27 - Modified: 2023-04-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/social-commerce/ - Categories: Social Media Social media platforms have transformed the way people communicate, share ideas, and consume content. With the rise of eCommerce, social media platforms have also emerged as powerful channels for online retailers to engage with customers and drive sales. In this blog article, we will explore the growing importance of social media platforms in eCommerce sales and provide tips and best practices for leveraging social commerce effectively. The Growing Importance of Social Commerce Social commerce is the use of social media to promote, sell, and purchase products and services. With over 4. 2 billion active social media users worldwide, social media platforms provide a massive opportunity for eCommerce businesses to reach their target audience and drive sales. Here are some key statistics that highlight the importance of social commerce: 54% of social media users use social media to research products. 68% of social media users have made a purchase through a social media platform. 90% of Instagram users follow at least one business account. Social commerce sales are projected to reach $84. 2 billion by 2024. Tips and Best Practices for Leveraging Social Commerce Effectively If you want to leverage social commerce effectively, here are some tips and best practices to follow: 1. Choose the Right Platform Different social media platforms have different audiences and features, so it's important to choose the right platform for your business. For example, Instagram is ideal for visual-heavy products like fashion, food, and beauty, while LinkedIn is better suited for B2B businesses. 2. Optimize Your... --- ### 89 Winning Email Subject Lines Online Retailers Can Take Inspiration From > Looking for some email subject line inspiration? Here are 89 email subject line examples online retailers can take inspiration from. - Published: 2023-04-26 - Modified: 2024-08-20 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/winning-email-subject-lines-for-online-retailers/ - Categories: Email Marketing Despite trending social media channels and mobile messengers, email is still one of the top channels for businesses. In 2020, there were four billion global email users, a number that’s projected to reach 4. 6 billion in 2025 — more than half of the world’s population. That’s why every eCommerce business must have a solid email marketing strategy. But what’s one of the most important aspects of email marketing? Crafting the best email subject lines. Before we give you a list of 89 winning email subject lines, let’s take a look at what makes a successful subject line. What Makes a Successful Email Subject Line? 47% of email recipients open emails based on the subject line alone. In other words, your email subject line determines whether recipients will open the emails you send them. Before we go over subject line examples, let’s examine at how to create a successful email subject line. Here are five tips to keep in mind: 1. Aim for 6 to 10 Words Per Subject Line. 21% of email recipients open emails with subject lines that have six to ten words, but just 14% open them if subject lines have 11 to 15 words. Image Source 2. Include The Recipient’s Name 18. 30% of email recipients open emails with subject lines that include their name (while 15. 70% open them if the subject line doesn't include their name). 3. Test Your Subject Lines Beforehand Testing your subject lines ahead of time with A/B testing and subject... --- ### The Future of eCommerce Logistics > What does the future hold for the eCommerce logistics? You'll be surprised at the developments happening and how they impact the industry. - Published: 2023-04-25 - Modified: 2024-01-10 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-future-of-ecommerce-logistics/ - Categories: Ecommerce In recent years, the eCommerce industry has experienced significant growth, with online sales expected to exceed $7 trillion by 2025. With this growth comes the challenge of logistics, including the timely delivery of products to customers and meeting consumer demands. To address this challenge, the industry has seen the emergence of innovative logistics solutions. But what do these innovations mean for consumers and eCommerce businesses alike? And how will these innovations shape the future of the eCommerce industry? Let’s take a closer look so your eCommerce business can be as prepared as possible. Innovations in eCommerce Logistics The emergence of these trends and innovations in eCommerce logistics is expected to shape the future of the industry. These developments will lead to faster and more efficient delivery times, lower costs and improved customer satisfaction. They will also have a significant impact on the job market, as some jobs, such as truck driving, may become automated. Additionally, these trends will also impact the physical infrastructure of eCommerce, with companies investing in regional warehouses and delivery hubs. These investments will allow companies to fulfill orders faster and more efficiently, leading to increased competition in the industry. Here are some specific innovations that are taking the eCommerce space by storm: 1. Same-Day Delivery Same-day delivery has become increasingly popular, with companies such as Amazon, Walmart, and Target offering this service. This trend is driven by consumer demand for immediate gratification and convenience. Same-day delivery allows customers to receive their orders within hours of placing... --- ### The Role Technology Plays in Nonprofit Work > You may not necessarily think of technology when you think of the nonprofit sector. But tech plays a huge role in the future of nonprofits. - Published: 2023-04-20 - Modified: 2024-10-30 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/technology-and-nonprofit-work/ - Categories: Marketing You may not necessarily think of technology when you think of the nonprofit sector. Typically restricted due to the model in which they receive funding, nonprofits have to remain nimble and focus on cost-effective solutions. Traditionally, technology hasn’t always made the cut. However, nonprofits operate in a dynamic environment that requires them to be efficient, effective, and adaptive to change. Technology can play a critical role in enhancing nonprofit operations and impact by streamlining certain processes, increasing visibility into compelling data for better decision-making, and empowering staff and volunteers to collaborate and communicate more effectively. In this blog post, we will discuss four ways that technology can be used to enhance nonprofit operations and impact. 1. Data Management and Analysis Data management and analysis is an essential aspects of nonprofit operations. Nonprofits must be able to collect, store, analyze, and report on data to make informed decisions, measure their impact, and comply with regulatory requirements. Technology can help nonprofits manage and analyze their data more efficiently and effectively in the following ways: CRM Software: Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software can help nonprofits manage their donor and volunteer data, track interactions, and analyze giving patterns. CRM systems can provide nonprofits with valuable insights into their donor base, such as donor demographics, giving history, and communication preferences. Data Visualization Tools: Data visualization tools can help nonprofits transform their data into visualizations that are easy to understand and communicate. Nonprofits can use data visualization tools to create dashboards, reports, and infographics that showcase... --- ### Generating Email Campaigns Using Benchmark Email's Smart Content > Curious as to how to create email campaigns using Benchmark Email's Smart Content? Look no further! We'll walk you through our amazing tool. - Published: 2023-04-19 - Modified: 2024-01-23 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-campaigns-using-benchmark-emails-smart-content/ - Categories: Email Marketing, Benchmark Recommends AI-generated content is everywhere. Thanks to ChatGPT by OpenAI, marketers and business owners no longer have to do it all. Small teams and business owners have so much to do, and oftentimes creating content can fall toward the end of the list. Creating content, while extremely beneficial for every component of your marketing strategy, just isn’t sustainable for everyone. But not anymore. At Benchmark Email, we’ve harnessed the power of AI-generated content to bring our users a unique and groundbreaking feature called Smart Content. With Smart Content, our users no longer have to fight email marketing writer’s block and, instead, can leverage a tool that allows them to send an engaging email copy to their audience quickly and easily. Your email list is one of your most important assets, and if you aren’t able to engage every person on your list by sending them quality content, then you’re missing out on a huge opportunity to grow your business. The last thing you want to do is neglect creating email content because you just don’t know what to write. And now, with Smart Content, that won’t be a problem. We can’t wait to tell you more about what Smart Content is and how it will change the way you send emails. What is Smart Content? Smart Content is Benchmark Email’s proprietary AI-powered email content creation tool that uses natural language processing to help Benchmark Email users generate high-quality content. Powered by OpenAI, the research firm behind ChatGPT, Smart Content can provide... --- ### Google’s Emphasis on E-A-T: How Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness Can Help Your Content Soar > Google's emphasis on EAT is all about expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. Here's what it means for your content marketing. - Published: 2023-04-18 - Modified: 2023-04-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/googles-emphasis-on-e-a-t/ - Categories: Content Marketing As marketers, we’re always on the lookout for those magic bullet SEO factors that can help our content woo search engines. While most of us are familiar with common ranking factors, Google’s E-A-T metrics often get overlooked. Well, the good news is that adhering to these guidelines can help you do well with search quality evaluators and establish yourself as an authoritative source of information online. But first, what is E-A-T? The initialism stands for Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. It’s important to note that E-A-T isn’t a direct SEO ranking factor like domain age or page speed. However, it is something that Google’s search quality evaluators use to rate web pages and is likely factored into the knowledge graph that Google creates for factual content. In case there’s any doubt whether E-A-T is a legitimate consideration for Google, let’s hear it straight from the horse’s mouth. Here’s Google’s vice president of Search, HJ Kim, saying that E-A-T metrics were developed about 12 years ago to ensure that the content the search engine serves up is not harmful to users and can serve their needs in some way. Expertise According to Google, expertise is a measure of how much knowledge or training a content creator has in the area that they’re writing on. It’s basically a way to understand whether you know what you’re talking about. The search engine establishes expertise by looking at both what the author says about herself and the main content of a page. An author who... --- ### How to Create a Birthday Email Campaign Using Benchmark Email > A birthday email campaign is a great way to personalize your outreach and treat your subscribers to something special. - Published: 2023-04-13 - Modified: 2023-04-05 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-create-a-birthday-email-campaign/ - Categories: Email Marketing Birthday emails are the perfect blend of integrating automation and personalization in your email marketing campaigns. It’s the ideal opportunity to personalize your content and automate it at scale. Sending out automated, personalized birthday emails to your customers is effective when it comes to improving brand trust while also making your customers feel seen on their special day. And, of course, these campaigns inevitably lead to easier sales — Birthday emails generate 342% higher revenue than other promotional emails. This blog post will walk you through why personalization in email marketing is crucial and why birthday emails are a quick win for your brand. We’ll also take a look at how you can use Benchmark Email to easily create a birthday email campaign in a few quick and easy steps. Why You Should Use Personalization in Email Marketing Humans like being remembered as much as they like being acknowledged. Research shows that more than 60% of North American customers and more than 80% of European customers say that they would respond favorably to personalized emails. Personalization Makes Customers Find and Purchase Products Faster Sending personalized emails to customers can lead to more engagement and interaction. Around 52% of customers now expect offers to be personalized. They want brands to understand their preferences. Personalization Improves Customer Experience Apart from increasing brand loyalty, personalized emails are a way to enhance customer experience. No one thing is guaranteed to get results, but remember: people like being treated as a person instead of a... --- ### 8 Must-Have Elements For A Valuable eBook > When putting together a valuable eBook, there are crucial elements to include. Here are the 8 must-have elements for your eBook. - Published: 2023-04-12 - Modified: 2023-04-05 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/elements-for-a-valuable-ebook/ - Categories: Content Marketing “I barely have time to write blog posts. Now you’re telling me I need to create eBooks? ” If this is your reaction to the blog title, your frustration is valid. Writing a valuable eBook takes time and effort but can do a great deal of good for your business. Authoring an eBook sets you up as an authority within your industry, strengthens your brand, and can sometimes evolve into a new revenue stream. Even if you don’t sell your eBooks, they can indirectly bring you new business. Building an email list of opted-in contacts is easier when you can offer something as valuable as a free eBook. Prospects are typically more willing to fill out an online form that asks for information such as their job title and email address if they’re getting something useful in return. As a result, you can use the data from these forms to strengthen your buyer personas, segment your email campaigns, and reach out to potential customers. Feeling a little more excited about writing that eBook? We thought you might be. But before you rush off to get started, read on. In this guide, we’ll explain what an eBook is and discuss eight elements that can make your eBook stand out. 8 Must-Have Elements of an eBook Attention-Grabbing Cover Remember the old adage, “Never judge a book by its cover? ” It doesn’t ring true when it comes to creating an eBook. On the contrary, eBook readers will judge the book by its... --- ### How to Hand Off Marketing-Generated Leads to Your Sales Team > Your sales teams need to be prepared when they receive new leads. Here's how to hand off marketing-generated leads to sales. - Published: 2023-04-11 - Modified: 2023-04-05 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-hand-off-leads/ - Categories: Inbound Marketing You spend a lot of time, effort, and marketing budget generating valuable leads for your business. But what do you do with your leads once you’ve got them? Having a plan in place ensures all that effort and money doesn’t go to waste. And making sure your marketing and sales team are aligned is the key to an effective inbound funnel. In fact, a misaligned marketing and sales team can cost businesses about 10% in revenue annually. How your marketing team hands off leads to sales will help you avoid losing out on crucial sales opportunities. In this blog post, we'll look at the roles of your marketing and sales teams throughout the buyer's journey. We'll also share tips on how to properly hand off marketing-generated leads to your sales team—ensuring that your leads get the attention they need and become paying customers for your business. What Is the Inbound Marketing Process? The Inbound marketing process is divided into four phases. These are: 1. Attract The attract stage comprises getting found by your target audience. To attract, you must create content that targets your ideal buyer persona and answers their questions. This could be in the form of blog posts, eBooks, webinars, or even just helpful articles. 2. Convert This stage is all about turning your website visitors into leads. To convert, you have to provide something valuable to your prospects to give them a reason to choose your services or purchase from you. This can be a free trial,... --- ### How to Use Visuals to Increase Your Newsletter Open Rates > Want to increase the open rate of your email newsletters? Using visuals can be a great way to engage your subscribers and get more opens. - Published: 2023-04-06 - Modified: 2023-08-22 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/visuals-increase-newsletter-open-rates/ - Categories: Email Marketing Email marketing has become one of the most used tools by marketers and, because of this, it is getting harder to engage subscribers and achieve solid email newsletter open rates. The key to standing out from the other newsletters your users are subscribed to is providing value and sharing well-designed content. Images, such as videos, photos, infographics, and even gifs are no longer an accessory on the internet, and that is also true for email marketing and newsletters. Your subscribers expect the same high-quality imagery that they look for on the web and sending poorly-designed content might mean losing subscribers and, even worse, being flagged as spam. This means that one of the secrets to increasing open rates is to leverage visuals to communicate in an engaging way and present your message quickly, so users will find reading your content a pleasurable experience. If improving newsletter open rate is all about sending users valuable content designed engagingly, visuals, such as infographics, videos, icons, posters, and photos are great tools when it comes to email marketing. To provide insights and hopefully help you out, we will present a few tactics to boost your newsletter open rates, backed by our experience and expertise. Use a Combination of Visuals and Text When that data is transformed into visuals, it becomes much easier to understand. Also, using visuals make your content more appealing and eye-catching than merely textual emails. You can vary the kind of visuals you share in your emails to convey your... --- ### How to Create Your Shopify Store > As an eCommerce business, having a Shopify store can create tons of opportunity for you and your sales. Here's how to create one. - Published: 2023-04-04 - Modified: 2023-11-10 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-create-your-shopify-store/ - Categories: Ecommerce Are you looking to start your own eCommerce business but don't know where to begin? Look no further than Shopify! With over one million businesses using the platform, Shopify is the go-to trusted option for entrepreneurs looking to create their online store and sell their products. In this article, we'll guide you through the process of setting up your own Shopify store, from selecting a theme to launching your first product. Whether you're a seasoned entrepreneur or just starting out, we'll provide you with the tools and knowledge you need to succeed in the world of eCommerce. Let's get started! What is a Shopify Store? Shopify is an eCommerce platform where users can create their own online store. It provides users with the tools and resources they need to set up their own storefronts, process payments, and manage products and inventory. Shopify stores come in many different sizes and shapes, from single-product shops to larger multi-category stores. With its intuitive design interface and advanced features, Shopify allows users to customize the look of their store, add new features as needed, and start selling. If you’re still wondering what you can do with Shopify, here are some basic applications according to the Shopify website: Create and analyze your online marketing campaigns Create and customize your online store Sell via the web, mobile, social media, and brick-and-mortar Manage all your products, inventory, payment transactions, and shipping With Shopify, you can set up discounts and promotions, add additional payment methods, list products on... --- ### What is Local SEO And How to do it Right For Your Retail Business > You've heard the term before but what exactly is local SEO? In this blog post, we dive into it and why your business needs it. - Published: 2023-03-30 - Modified: 2023-03-30 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/local-seo/ - Categories: Small Business Local SEO helps retail businesses to convert online traffic into in-store visits, utilizing geographical advertising and marketing in specific locations. With the widening variety of unique tools to advertise your company’s products – for example, using chatbots for marketing – SEO is a great tool to be used in any organization’s IT strategy and should be used by all businesses looking to grow. In the current retail landscape, businesses are increasingly focusing on their online IT strategy to generate higher profits in their online stores. However, by investing time in local SEO, you can show customers that you still value their presence in your brick-and-mortar stores. Creating a combination of customers who shop online and customers who visit in-store is always going to benefit your company and help you turn a higher revenue. Optimizing your online presence is a surefire way to make sure customers know about your brick-and-mortar outlets and are enticed to visit them. This guide will give you a good understanding of what local SEO is and how you can use it to benefit your retail business. What is SEO? You’re probably already aware that SEO stands for “search engine optimization,” and refers to the process of improving search traffic to your website from search engines like Google. In essence, search engines operate on keywords. The more keywords you include on your website, the more likely it is to appear at the top of a search query. There are other various important intricacies and skills within generating... --- ### 14 Small Business Inbound Marketing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them > If your conversions are low or you're not generating enough leads you could be making some of these inbound marketing mistakes. - Published: 2023-03-29 - Modified: 2023-06-21 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/b2b-inbound-marketing-mistakes/ - Categories: Inbound Marketing Whether it’s indiscriminate advertising or cold calls, the buyer's benumbed senses are experts at shutting down the noise created by traditional outbound marketing practices. Today, the internet offers consumers a wealth of information on topics they want to explore. Hence, customer journeys begin before a company knows. This is why small business marketers need a unified strategy that can offer value and create exceptional experiences for customers before they interact with the brand. That’s what inbound marketing is about - creating stellar content that educates prospects in a non-intrusive manner. The goal is to educate and lure prospects, not to sell (at least not directly! ). A HubSpot 2021 report reveals that 82% of B2B companies globally leverage inbound tactics like content marketing and SEO to attract and convert leads. Yet, even the biggest brands can with inbound tactics and make some serious mistakes. Is your small business making them, too? 14 Small Business Marketing Mistakes—and How to Overcome Them Running a small business is not easy; you face numerous challenges, particularly when it comes to marketing. Some of these difficulties include a limited budget, keeping up with technological innovation, and juggling lots of tasks at once. Marketing is key to small business growth, and small businesses must develop a solid marketing strategy in order to stay focused and avoid distractions. Here are some inbound marketing mistakes that small businesses face and how you can overcome them. 1. Failing to Build a High-Converting Marketing Funnel The role of a high-conversion... --- ### Is Everyone Going Dark? What You Need to Know About Dark Mode > Are you up to speed on dark mode and what it means for your email marketing? Here are some things you need to know to be prepared. - Published: 2023-03-28 - Modified: 2023-03-23 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/what-you-need-to-know-about-dark-mode/ - Categories: Email Marketing With email marketing, it can seem like there’s always something new coming into the fold, challenging your strategy. It’s a fast-moving industry, and being aware of every development is crucial for engaging your audience in the best, most optimal manner. One of the more recent developments is dark mode. Dark mode, alongside Apple’s iOS15 update, is just one of the more user-focused developments that are shaping the way we market to our customer base. But what is dark mode? Why do people use it, and how does it impact your email marketing? We answer that and more in this blog post. What is Dark Mode? Dark mode, also known as dark theme or night mode, is a design feature that switches the user interface of digital devices from the light background with dark text to a dark background with light text. This allows users to reduce glare and strain on their eyes when viewing devices in low-light environments. Increasingly, it has become popular among apps and websites that offer dark mode as an optional alternative to traditional white backgrounds. Dark mode also enables the device to preserve battery life by using less power, especially on devices with OLED displays. It can also help reduce screen fatigue and enable users to focus more easily on the content of the page or app. To enable dark mode, users simply need to toggle a switch in their settings. Dark mode is available across a variety of popular platforms like MacOS, iOS, Android, Windows... --- ### 9 Effective Ways Your Small Business Can Compete Against Larger Brands > As a small business, competing against larger brands is almost impossible. But here are strategies that will put you up against the big dogs. - Published: 2023-03-23 - Modified: 2024-03-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ways-small-business-ccompete-against-larger-brands/ - Categories: Small Business As a small business owner, it can feel difficult – if not impossible – to compete against much larger businesses, especially well-established megacorporations. Good news, though. You don’t need a giant budget or established infrastructure to compete against those bigger brands and still turn a profit. In fact, there are lots of ways in which your smaller enterprise can compete against larger brands and win. Not sure where to start? Check out these nine suggestions to start formulating a winning business strategy: Go Digital for Advertising In this day and age, the best way to reach your target audience when marketing is to go digital, not necessarily to focus on out-of-home/OOH advertising. Why? Simply put, big brands probably already have a monopoly on things like billboard advertisements and pure brand recognition. However, your small business can still attract its target audience members if you double down on marketing directly to them. The best vector through which to do that is online advertising. With online advertising, you can target specific users or site visitors based on things like demographics, website habits, and much more. PPC or pay-per-click advertisements, as well as advertisements that show up at the top of Google search engine results pages (SERPs), can deliver your marketing materials straight to the eyeballs of the people most likely to buy from your brand in the first place. In this way, digital advertising allows you to get more marketing bang for your buck. Pay Attention to Marketing Trends Similarly, for your... --- ### How to Track Email Traffic Using UTM Tracking > Tracking email traffic is not as easy as you'd think. Here's how to use UTM tracking to track your email marketing efforts. - Published: 2023-03-22 - Modified: 2023-03-13 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-track-email-traffic-using-utm-tracking/ - Categories: Email Marketing When applied strategically, you can use email marketing to generate a significant amount of website traffic. You can target specific pages, blog posts, or landing pages in your email campaigns, creating an influx of eyes on certain promotions, educational material, and product pages. This is obviously beneficial in terms of exposure, but it can also help you create revenue and sales and provide your customers with what they need quickly. However, tracking email traffic isn’t as simple. In this blog post, we’re going to discuss why tracking email traffic isn’t as straightforward as you’d think and how to use UTM tags to track website traffic generated from your email campaigns. Why is Email Traffic not Tracked Accurately in Google Analytics? Email traffic is often not tracked accurately in Google Analytics because it's grouped with other sources, such as direct traffic, social media, organic search, and referral. However, if you use a unique tracking code called "UTM" (Urchin Tracking Module), you can accurately monitor how people interact with your emails after they click through to your website. What are UTM Tags? A UTM tag is a code added to the end of a URL that helps track user engagement from email campaigns. It consists of five main components that illuminate user behavior and track the performance of your campaigns: Source (utm_source) The utm_source tag is used to identify the source of a user's traffic, whether it be from an email newsletter, social media post, or another website. If a user clicks... --- ### The Small Business Guide to Surviving and Thriving During a Recession > A recession is a scary reality for a small business. Here's your small business guide to not only surving a recession, but thriving. - Published: 2023-03-17 - Modified: 2025-05-15 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/small-business-guide-to-surviving-a-recession/ - Categories: Small Business Owning a small business has tons of benefits. You're essentially your own boss. You make the rules, and you hand-pick your staff. You get to steer your own ship, which is a huge privilege. However, with privilege comes sacrifices as well. You dedicate a lot of time and resources to ensure your small business thrives, even under the harshest of circumstances. In a lot of ways, your small business is your baby. And you want to watch it grow to its potential. Right now, there are plenty of obstacles to that growth. There are a recession, inflated costs, supply shortages, and shipping delays, just to name a few. Your small business is no doubt feeling the pressure, and you may be wondering how long you can tread water in this environment. The good news is that you can get through this. Recessions aren't new; in fact, they're common in most economies. And as long as your small business has the tools and know-how, you'll not only be able to survive these choppy waters, but you'll be able to thrive, too. In this guide, we'll walk you through our biggest tips for getting through a recession and coming out on the other side. But first, let's look at some recession stats and see where other businesses stand. Let's Look at Some Stats 80% of small businesses are confident they can survive a recession. 43% of businesses still expect revenue to increase. 27% of small business owners say current conditions are strong.... --- ### The Best Mailchimp Alternatives for Email Marketing > Mailchimp isn't the only email marketing solution out there, and it may not be what you need. Here are the best alternatives to Mailchimp. - Published: 2023-03-16 - Modified: 2023-05-16 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/best-mailchimp-alternatives/ - Categories: Email Marketing Selecting an email marketing tool is a process. There’s a lot to consider, and it can get so overwhelming that some people just opt for the tool that is widely known. That’s one way to go about it. However, we don’t recommend that route. You run the risk of paying for bloated software you aren’t fully using and getting overwhelmed by an array of tools that you can’t maintain consistency with or see any real results from. The reality is that there are other bulk email senders out there. Ones that can provide you with exactly what you need without costing you an arm and a leg. Let’s examine some great email marketing tools so you can determine the best Mailchimp alternatives for your email marketing campaigns. Mailchimp: The Default Option Mailchimp is probably one of the most popular email marketing tools out there. But that’s not a good enough reason to select it for your needs. Mailchimp is an appealing email marketing software for several reasons, including its user-friendly interface, variety of email templates, and features like marketing automation and analytics. What’s more, Mailchimp integrates with a wide range of third-party tools and platforms, including eCommerce platforms, social media platforms, and CRM software. And while Mailchimp has a free plan, which is budget-friendly for nimble teams, the truth is that most of the features Mailchimp has other tools have as well for a fraction of the cost. It may seem like going with Mailchimp just because it’s popular is... --- ### ChatGPT Prompts For eCommerce That Help You Work Smarter, Not Harder > eCommerce moves fast enough, but with AI content generating tools, you can keep up. Here's how to use ChatGPT promps for eCommerce marketing. - Published: 2023-03-15 - Modified: 2023-03-27 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/chatgpt-prompts-ecommerce/ - Categories: Ecommerce The eCommerce industry moves at the speed of light. And now, with the recent AI developments largely impacting digital marketing, it can feel impossible to keep up. Don’t get left behind. Instead, take advantage of this amazing tool to stay one step ahead of the game. You can use generative AI, like ChatGPT, to assist with every aspect of your marketing strategy. The results? You’ll work half as hard, twice as smart - and get more accomplished than ever before. But where to start? We've rounded up nine ChatGPT prompts to show you how you can put AI to use in more ways than one. Be it to discover an untapped audience base, create social media captions, take care of email copywriting or get inspiration for future content ideas, ChatGPT can help you get creative with your marketing process. Let’s dive in! But First, What is ChatGPT? ChatGPT is a cutting-edge natural language processing technology developed by OpenAI. It is a large language model trained on a vast amount of data to generate human-like responses to text inputs, making it a powerful tool for conversational applications. For marketers, ChatGPT can be used to enhance a marketing strategy by engaging with customers in a more personalized and conversational manner. For instance, you can integrate ChatGPT into your site’s chatbot. Instead of manning your bot with a person, ChatGPT can provide prospects and customers with immediate responses to their inquiries and even anticipate their needs based on their previous interactions. Perhaps more... --- ### 5 Newsletter Templates Ideas That Will Help You Increase Conversions > Newsletters are a fantastic way to grow your followers, conversions, and revenue. Here are some newsletter template ideas. - Published: 2023-03-15 - Modified: 2023-03-13 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/newsletter-templates-ideas/ - Categories: Email Marketing Newsletters have become a trendy and cost-effective way for businesses to maintain consistent outreach with their subscribers and alert them of important milestones and rollouts. With an eye-catching design, easy-to-read layout, and a clear purpose, your newsletters can become more engaging for your audiences, leading to higher open rates that turn into conversions. However, the wrong newsletter template can be the difference between delighting your subscribers or ending up in their spam folder. If you’re looking to up the engagement with your newsletters and create emails that bring some joy to your subscribers’ inboxes, we've got you covered! We're diving into five unique ideas for templates that can supercharger reader conversion — complete with essential elements and optimization tips tailored for maximum impact. We’ll also offer up best practices for creating effective newsletter templates to ensure you and your business can maximize the benefits of your email campaigns. What is a Newsletter Template? A newsletter template is a pre-designed layout used for creating email newsletters. The templates typically include pre-made graphics, designs, and layouts to simplify assembling a newsletter. They can be customized to match the brand's aesthetic, and personalized content can be added based on the needs of the target audience. Why are Newsletters Essential For Business Growth Today? Let’s discuss why starting a newsletter for your business or brand is essential in today’s climate. Building Relationships: Newsletters provide a regular, personal touchpoint with subscribers, allowing businesses to build and maintain relationships with their audience. Companies can establish trust... --- ### Using ChatGPT Prompts to Improve Email Marketing Results > Using AI-generated content isn't just great for your blog posts, it's great for email marketing, too. Here's how to use ChatGPT for email. - Published: 2023-03-14 - Modified: 2024-08-20 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/chatgpt-email-marketing/ - Categories: Email Marketing Email marketing is a powerful tool for businesses to reach their target audience and promote their products or services. However, crafting effective email campaigns that drive engagement and conversions can be a challenge. This is where ChatGPT can help. Trained by OpenAI, ChatGPT generates human-like text and can be used to create compelling email marketing copy. In this article, we will discuss the benefits of using ChatGPT in email marketing and provide prompt examples for six crucial components of email creation: email subject line, body copy, A/B testing, call-to-action, list segmentation, and email purpose. The Benefits of Using ChatGPT in Email Marketing If the thought of content creating AI services both excites and scares you, you’re not alone. Many people are concerned about what AI will mean for their job security, but when it comes to marketing teams, excitement should definitely be the largest emotion felt. Not only are AI content tools extremely smart, but they can also serve as an additional team member so you can get more achieved without sacrificing time and a large portion of your marketing budget. AI-generated content is changing the way marketers strategize, craft blog posts and downloadable resources, and even how emails are created. Using ChatGPT specifically offers tons of benefits to your email creation process, including: Improved efficiency. ChatGPT can generate content quickly and easily, allowing marketers to focus on other aspects of their campaigns. Increased engagement. By using ChatGPT to create personalized and compelling copy, email open and click-through rates are... --- ### 7 Unique Ways to Use Benchmark Email > Benchmark Email is full of features that will elevate your email marketing. Let’s take a look at the unique ways to use Benchmark Email. - Published: 2023-03-09 - Modified: 2023-03-02 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/unique-ways-to-use-benchmark-email/ - Categories: Email Marketing An effective email marketing campaign can help build relationships and turn leads into paying customers. Whether you’re an expert at building emails or an email marketing beginner, Benchmark Email’s suite of smart email marketing tools can ensure your emails stand out in crowded inboxes. For example, our Smart Sending technology is just one unique feature we offer that helps improve our users’ overall deliverability and demonstrates to inbox providers that they’re reputable senders. In a time when it can feel like you’re constantly sifting through spam emails, it’s these kinds of details that help ensure important messages make it to the right people. But that’s not all. Benchmark Email is full of features and tools that help users take their email marketing to the next level. Let’s take a closer look at some of the unique ways you can use Benchmark Email to delight your subscribers. 1. Strengthen Customer Relationships Staying in touch with your customers is important to maintain loyalty and brand awareness. Email marketing is wonderful for these efforts, and there are many different emails you can create to engage and stay top of mind with your customers. Every email you send is a chance to provide education about your product and brand. Emails rooted in education allow you to demonstrate the value of your offerings, show that you care about the experiences and satisfaction with each purchase, and help solidify each relationship you’re working hard to build. Make sure your emails include high-quality content, like blog posts... --- ### How SEO Plays a Part in Each of Your Marketing Channels > SEO doesn't just touch your content marketing. Here is how SEO plays a part in each of your marketing channels. - Published: 2023-03-08 - Modified: 2023-04-26 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/5-marketing-channels-that-need-to-be-included-in-your-seo-strategy/ - Categories: Marketing There’s a running joke among content marketers, and it goes like this: Where’s the best place to hide a dead body? The answer: The second page of Google! And, as with all jokes, there’s an element of truth to this statement. Research shows that 75% of people never venture onto the second page of search engine results. Why is this important? You want to be on that first page. It is, after all, rule number one of marketing: always make yourself seen, known, and trusted. So, you’re probably wondering, “How can I get onto the first page of Google? ” The short answer is Search Engine Optimization or SEO. What is SEO? SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is an essential part of digital marketing. It’s a set of strategies and tactics used to increase the visibility of a website or page in search engine results. SEO helps to drive more organic traffic to websites and pages. SEO involves a variety of activities, such as keyword research, content optimization, link building, and technical website optimization. By implementing these practices, a website can increase its chances of ranking higher in search engine results pages or SERPs. This helps to attract more visitors and potential customers to the website. By using SEO, businesses can increase their website traffic and visibility, helping them to gain more customers and generate more sales. SEO can also help build brand awareness and trust, which is essential for any successful business. What is SEO Marketing? To understand SEO... --- ### The Beginner's Guide to Writing Your First Email Newsletter > Not sure where to start when writing your first email newsletter? No worries, we've got you covered with this beginner's guide. - Published: 2023-03-07 - Modified: 2023-03-02 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/beginners-guide-email-newsletter/ - Categories: Email Marketing Email newsletters keep subscribers updated on your latest news, products, and services. But they can be more than just updates; they can offer opportunities for businesses to foster trust with their audiences. If you haven’t yet created an email newsletter, doing so can seem daunting. Luckily, I’ve put together a beginner's guide to help you get started. In this post, I’ll cover everything needed for crafting an effective newsletter that engages your readers and builds loyalty with them. Let's get started! Why Email Newsletters are a Great Way to Connect With Your Audience Email newsletters help you stay connected with your audience, keep them informed about new developments in your industry, and even promote your products or services. They can create an engaging story or narrative around the topics that matter most to your business and provide valuable content that keeps readers coming back for more. And, given their format, email newsletters are an extremely cost-effective way to reach a large, engaged audience. Email newsletters are also great for building trust with your readers—you can use them to showcase recent work or successes, highlight customer reviews, or share exclusive offers. In short, email newsletters are a powerful tool for building relationships with your audience and can be an invaluable asset to any business. How to Create an Email Newsletter Campaign that Works Creating an email newsletter campaign can be successful with the right tools and strategies. Here are some tips to help get your newsletter campaigns off the ground: 1.... --- ### The Most Impactful Features Your Email Marketing Software Needs > When it comes to your email marketing software, features are essential. Here are seven of the most impactful features your software needs. - Published: 2023-03-02 - Modified: 2023-03-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/most-impactful-email-marketing-software-features/ - Categories: Email Marketing Email marketing is the marketing holy grail for most businesses. Given that the ROI for email marketing is around $36 for every $1 spent, it’s no surprise. Email marketing builds customer loyalty, provides valuable information, nurtures leads, and increases awareness and direct sales. The most important part of running a successful email campaign is to choose a good email marketing software. The right email marketing software helps businesses run effective email campaigns without friction; run rewarding campaigns without overshooting their budgets—and unnecessarily complicating the process. Why do You Need Email Marketing Software? Personalizing emails, running customized campaigns, sending newsletters, organizing your email list, etc. —all of these tasks are time-consuming and cost-intensive. Doing all of them manually significantly reduces the time you can spend doing other important value-add activities for your business. Email marketing software automates these tasks and helps manage them all efficiently. Even so, when searching for an email marketing solution for your business, you don’t necessarily have to hunt for the most robust software on the market. In fact—choosing a bloated, feature-heavy service can be counter-intuitive. Disadvantages of Choosing the Wrong Email Marketing Service Disadvantage #1: Missing Important Information in Your Campaigns Due to a Complicated Interface Using an email marketing solution with a clunky interface does more than lower efficiency—it also makes information difficult to access. A visual editor makes building campaigns incredibly easy and intuitive. Benchmark Email prioritizes your user experience with a clear interface designed for ease of use. Disadvantage #2: Unnecessary Features Drive... --- ### Where Are Your Leads Coming From? Breaking Down Lead Sources > It's important to know where your leads are coming from. Check out our blog post where we break down lead sources. - Published: 2023-03-01 - Modified: 2023-03-15 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/breaking-down-lead-sources/ - Categories: Inbound Marketing If you want to generate leads, it's important that you bring in a lot of traffic to your site. To make the most of your website, you need to identify the top traffic sources that provide your business with the leads it needs. In this blog post, we'll break down the most important lead sources: SEO, social media, paid ads, organic traffic, and referral. We’ll touch on what each means and what you have to do to ensure you're getting enough traffic from those sources. Why Do You Need to Know Your Lead Sources? Tracking your lead sources helps you identify how effective your marketing is and what you can do to improve. When you have information about where your leads are coming from, you can: Identify where your qualified leads are coming from and brainstorm ways to improve results. Identify potential problems with your marketing efforts, online presence, and website. Track the performance of your marketing campaigns and adjust your budget so you’re putting more money toward the best-performing channels. Gain insights into your target audience’s behavior and the marketing messages they respond to. Improve conversions using strategies and content targeted and optimized for your audience. The Top Lead Sources There are several channels through which leads can get to your website or simply learn about your brand. Some of the most high-volume lead sources include: Social Media As the world becomes increasingly digital, businesses leverage social media to reach a larger audience. In fact, social media marketing is... --- ### How To Write an Email In 10 Minutes > You don't need to labor over your email creation process. Here's how to put together an email in 10 minutes using Benchmark Email. - Published: 2023-02-28 - Modified: 2023-02-23 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-write-an-email-in-10-minutes/ - Categories: Email Marketing Email marketing is a critical tool for marketers. It's a way to reach out to customers, build relationships, and drive sales. But crafting great emails can be time-consuming, and if you're not careful, it can quickly become a code-heavy nightmare. That's where Benchmark Email comes in. Our easy-to-use platform makes email creation quick and simple, so you can focus on what's important–your message. Plus, our drag-and-drop editor and pre-made templates make creating beautiful, responsive emails wonderfully intuitive. Let's take a look at how you can start creating successful emails in under 10 minutes with just a few steps. The Power of Benchmark Email's Smart Content Like most people, you probably spend a lot of time agonizing over crafting the perfect email. But what if there was a way to write an email in minutes without sacrificing quality or effectiveness? Enter Benchmark Email's Smart Content feature. With smart content, you can quickly get over the anxiety of a blank page and get into the exciting part, crafting your email copy. It also helps you do more with your best-performing email campaigns. Simply use Smart Content to regenerate the content from those emails to create unique and snappy content for new email campaigns. If you don't know what creative angle to take, use the feature to get fresh ideas that you can build on without worrying about how to structure your email or which creative angle to follow. Plus, with Smart Content, you can save yourself hours by not having to manually... --- ### 7 Tips to Create a CTA That Really Converts > Check out these CTA tips that will ensure every CTA you create converts site visitors into new leads and/or customers. - Published: 2023-02-24 - Modified: 2023-02-27 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/cta-tips/ - Categories: Marketing Calls to action do just that – they call a visitor to take action on your website, in an email, on an ad and more. But there’s more to it than simply putting a “click here” or “buy now” button on a webpage. As with any marketing practice, there’s a certain strategy involved. To really make your CTAs compelling, try putting the following seven tips into action. Make Them Visible You’d be surprised at how many marketers hide their CTAs below the fold. Others may place them higher on the page, but fail to make them stand out. Simply put, if your visitors can’t quickly and easily get to the next step, they probably won’t and you’ll miss out on countless opportunities as a result. Tell your visitors what you want them to do in a clear, concise and compelling way and use a well-placed, eye-catching button to do so. Use Practical Language Don’t stuff your CTA with too much junk or use confusing jargon. If you want people to click on your calls to action, you have to use practical language that speaks to them. Think about the problem you’re trying to solve for your target audience and then communicate that as simply and effectively as possible in your CTAs. Be Consistent A bright yellow oval-shaped CTA on the top of your landing page, followed by a dark red square one down below, can confuse your visitors. You should most definitely repeat your calls to action as many times... --- ### 8 Simon Sinek Quotes That Will Change The Way You Do Business > Here are a few Simon Sinek quotes that will inspire you to innovate, improve and change your business to achieve better results. - Published: 2023-02-24 - Modified: 2023-02-27 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/simon-sinek-quotes-will-change-your-business/ - Categories: Small Business If you’re not familiar with Simon Sinek, you should drop what you’re doing to watch his famous TED Talk: “How Great Leaders Inspire Action. ” In his talk, he explores what made people like Martin Luther King Jr. and the Wright Brothers become the leaders they were. And his infamous TED Talk is just a sample of his work. Sinek has dedicated his career to studying leaders of all fields to find patterns in their successes and to make that knowledge accessible to everyone who aspires to become a champion in their field. Here are just a few slices of Sinek’s wisdom that will hopefully inspire you to innovate, improve and change your business to achieve better results. “People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it. ” Many companies are focused on selling the features and benefits of their products. In reality, what motivates people the most is your mission and vision of what you’re hoping to achieve with your business. Apple isn’t about selling personal computers; it’s about ‘thinking different’ and challenging the status quo. Airbnb isn’t about short-term rentals. It’s about connecting people so that you can belong anywhere. “Great companies don’t hire skilled people and motivate them; they hire already motivated people and inspire them. ” An ideal candidate is someone with an excellent attitude and a broad skill set. But in reality, you don’t always find these people, and you have to choose between skills and attitude. And that’s where most companies... --- ### How To Use Popups To Get Quality Leads > Issues generating leads from your website? Complete with examples, here are eight ways to use popups to get quality leads. - Published: 2023-02-24 - Modified: 2023-02-27 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-use-popups-to-get-quality-leads/ - Categories: Inbound Marketing Popups seem like annoying ads that unexpectedly appear when customers visit a page. In truth, when done effectively, they can help you score quality leads and a considerable amount of conversions. Neil Patel believes that popups can give customers one last chance to convert. In fact, one popup improved the conversion rates on his site by 17 percent! Now, how can you use popups to get quality leads? How can you use them to grow your business? Here’s what you need to know. 1. Use Exit-Intent Popups Exit-intent popups are meant to win back site visitors by piquing their interest when they’re about to leave an e-commerce website. They show up exactly before a customer clicks the back button. The ideal exit trigger should have an overwhelming offer. It needs to draw people in and make them move along the buyer’s journey. For example, this popup from GQ appears as readers browse through the site. They encourage people to get annual releases of the magazine with a whopping 81 percent discount. If you’re interested in creating an exit-intent popup, here are some tips that you need to know: Determine exit triggers: Identify mouse movement or scrolling behavior that signal that users are about to leave your website. Provide a relevant offer: Exit-intent popups should offer incentives that encourage people to subscribe or provide their email. Be straight to the point: Make copy clear and concise so readers can easily understand what you have to offer. 2. Pay Attention to Design... --- ### How Often is Too Often for School Communicators to Send Emails? > With BenchmarkONE's K12 Edition, school communicators can send emails and keep important contacts up to date with ease. - Published: 2023-02-24 - Modified: 2023-02-27 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-often-is-too-often-for-school-communicators-to-send-emails/ - Categories: K12 The role of a parent is to help nurture and care for their child. It’s the parent’s job to ensure their children grow into well-functioning and contributing adults. But in recent months, the standard parent role has morphed into one that now includes educators. Working from home with kids has proven to be an immense obstacle. Most parents are lucky if their child can sit still for a full lesson. And while being your child’s teacher may offer you a deeper understanding of what your child does and learns most days, parents still need to be updated regarding school information and procedures. Perhaps now more than ever. This is why school communicators need to assist parents as much as possible by keeping them in the know. But how in the know is too in the know? How can you tell when your effective communication becomes annoying over-communication? Reading the Room We’ve all been there. We’re telling a joke that we think is hilarious, but no one is laughing. And no matter how much you ramble on, smiles just aren’t cracking. In daily life, we call this “reading the room. ” It’s essential to understand the type of crowd you’re in before you try to engage with them. In marketing, we call this knowing your key audience members or buyer personas. To effectively speak to the group of people you’re hoping to resonate a message with, you have to fully understand who they are, what they want and need, and where... --- ### Using a CRM to Measure Client Relationships > A CRM can help you measure client relationships at every stage of the buyer's journey, including sales, marketing, and operations. - Published: 2023-02-24 - Modified: 2023-06-21 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/crm-client-relationships/ - Categories: CRM Do you know the secret to success in today’s highly competitive digital age? Relationships. That’s right. There has never been a time when establishing a long-term connection with clients has been so important. The good news is, using a CRM can help make this goal much more achievable. By measuring the right metrics and how those aspects affect the customer lifecycle, you’ll be able to more accurately evaluate your efforts and optimize their effectiveness. Here’s what to focus on. Marketing The primary goal of your marketing team is to raise awareness of your product or service. Your marketing efforts mark the beginning of the buyer journey and will hopefully set the stage for a long-term client relationship. As such, using your CRM to track the effectiveness of your campaigns throughout the various stages of the marketing funnel can help improve your team’s efforts. The most basic and obvious metric to measure is ROI. Regardless of the type of campaign, a CRM can help by tracking such things as leads generated, conversion rates, and resulting sales. These can then be compared to the cost of those campaigns to determine their return. Keep in mind, also, that marketing doesn’t just end when a customer makes a sale. Down the road, your marketing team is also responsible for keeping existing clientele engaged. Using a CRM can help by enabling you to track and measure customer retention rates so you can identify which areas of your marketing strategy might be missing the mark. Lastly,... --- ### 5 Things Your Marketing Campaign Could Be Missing if Engagement is Low > Not seeing as much engagement as you hoped in your marketing campaign? Here are a few things it could be missing. - Published: 2023-02-24 - Modified: 2023-02-27 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/marketing-campaign-engagement/ - Categories: Marketing A lot goes into creating an effective marketing strategy. Whether you work in-house or hire an outside firm, companies need to hire specialists to conduct research, profile customers, set goals, create content, and analyze data — all in the hopes that they will be able to generate leads and, ultimately, increase sales. According to a recent study, companies invest between 10–14 percent of their total annual budget in marketing alone, so it’s important that their marketing campaigns are effective. Engagement is a useful metric for companies looking to ensure that their strategy aligns with their audience’s interest. On top of that, engagement is related to profitability. It helps companies broaden their audience, build trust and loyalty, inspire action, increase brand awareness, and stay in touch with customers. Low engagement could be a sign that you need to improve your digital marketing strategy. If you’re worried about it, here are a few things you could be missing from your marketing campaign: Attention-Grabbing Content Easy-to-Share Features Targeted Audiences Timing A Well-Designed Website 1. Attention-Grabbing Content It’s undeniable — quality content can have a huge impact on your business because it increases brand awareness, boosts site traffic, drives engagement, grows leads, and ultimately, helps you make sales. However, it can be very difficult to create content that your audience wants to engage with. As companies continue to turn out massive amounts of content every day, it’s easy for your work to get lost in the fold. On top of that, most people spend... --- ### Why Transparency Matters and How Not To Be Afraid Of It > When it comes to your content marketing and overall marketing strategy, showing transparency shouldn't be something to be afraid of. - Published: 2023-02-24 - Modified: 2023-02-27 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/why-transparency-matters-and-how-not-to-be-afraid-of-it/ - Categories: Marketing Today’s consumers have a lot of choices when it comes to where and with whom they make a purchase, and overwhelmingly, transparency seems to be a key deciding factor. In an Edelman survey of 16,000 consumers in eight global markets, 81 percent of respondents globally and 80 percent of U. S. respondents said that trust is integral to purchasing decisions. In fact, ranked among the 11 top buying considerations, brand trust came in just behind product quality, convenience, and value, outpacing good reviews and corporate reputation as major factors in whether or not a purchase happens. You don’t have to have been in marketing long to know that being transparent is one of the most effective strategies you can have. In this article, we’ll discuss why transparency is so important for your brand, plus tips for being more transparent in the content you create. The Value of Transparency Being well-liked is a good thing, especially in business. Digital marketing has broken down the conversational divide between brands and the people who buy from them, in turn increasing expectations around likeability and trust. Getting buyers to feel that way about you isn’t something that just happens on its own, though — it requires transparency and plenty of it. Transparency begets trust, trust begets likeability, and likeability begets strong, sustainable connections. Regardless of your niche, your audience, or the product or service that you’re selling, prioritizing transparency in your outreach is crucial for forging productive relationships and becoming a trusted brand. It... --- ### Something’s Not Right: How to Detect a Problem With Your Agency and Fix It > Uh oh. Something's off at your agency, but you aren't quite sure what it is. Here's how to detect a problem at your agency (and fix it). - Published: 2023-02-24 - Modified: 2023-02-27 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-detect-a-problem-with-your-agency/ - Categories: Agency As an agency owner, your dream is to scale your business to get new clients, expand to new sectors, and increase your revenue. Scaling up also means your agency is no longer reliant on you alone but on your entire team to get the work done. Beyond delegating, assigning tasks, and overseeing day-to-day business operations when scaling up, everyone must be on the same page on business goals and how things work. That’s why it’s important to identify internal issues and blockers that may cause problems so your agency can keep thriving and growing. What internal issues should you look for to prevent your agency’s downfall? Read below as we discuss how to detect a problem with your agency and how to fix it. Internal Issues With Your Agency As you continue to grow, internal issues can grow with you. You need to recognize them and find ways to dissolve them. Here are some common internal issues you may find in your agency. Being Prepared to Scale Growth is one of the primary objectives of many business and agency owners today. You may have decided it’s time to scale and started setting things in motion. But are you preparing your agency for the growth you have planned? Every aspect of your business must be able to scale up as you plan to scale up operations. If you once had a team of four and decided to grow, do you know how many more team members you’ll need to handle the... --- ### How To Create a Sustainable Instagram Content Strategy > Instagram is an important platform for branding and connecting with your audience. Here's how to put together an Instagram content strategy. - Published: 2023-02-24 - Modified: 2023-02-27 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/instagram-content-strategy/ - Categories: Social Media When marketers use social media to reach today’s consumers, there is only one golden rule: content is the absolute king. But do you think the biggest and most successful Instagram brands pump out content off the cuff, with no strategy for what they’re going to post? Of course not—that would be akin to a basketball team going into a game with no playbook, no plan for how to win. A diverse, sustainable, and efficient strategy for creating and posting content is just as important as any other facet of your marketing. A report by the Content Marketing Institute shows that companies with a concrete strategy are more effective in almost all aspects of content marketing compared to those with only a verbal strategy or no strategy. So, in today’s article, we will demonstrate how to put together a killer Instagram content strategy to set you on the path to success. Crafting your Instagram Content Strategy Study Your Audience A scattershot plan isn’t going to work—nobody puts together a game plan by first trying anything and everything and then figuring it out afterward. On the contrary, good strategies come together by first learning about your audience. The more you know about the customers you’re trying to attract, the more effective your content—you’ll be better able to serve them content that engages them. You do this by knowing their pain points and challenges. If you think of content as a product, then your audience is your consumer. If you want your audience... --- ### How and Why You Should Build Your Partnerships > Brand partnerships are essential for reaching a larger audience and growing your brand. Here are some tips to help you build partnerships. - Published: 2023-02-24 - Modified: 2023-02-27 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-and-why-you-should-build-partnerships/ - Categories: Marketing When you effectively brand your company or product, you create something truly memorable and lasting. But when you pair that memorable brand with another, you create a partnership that can take both brands to the next level. Brand partnerships are a great thing in the marketing world and can play a notable role in company growth. A co-branding opportunity could be just the thing you need to refresh your image and boost your business’s growth. When done right, a brand partnership can help you increase visibility and tap into new markets — and you only have to do half of the work. Below, we’ll detail the benefits of brand partnerships and share some tips for building them. Why You Need to Build Partnerships Marketing is a competitive sport. And while it’s mostly done solo, there are some big advantages to bringing on a teammate every once in a while. A brand partnership helps strengthen your influence through third-party credibility, allowing you to make a strong, positive impression on a new audience. In turn, it opens the door for more referrals and leads and can help you expand everything from your email list to your customer base. There’s a ton of opportunity in partnerships. Join forces with your partners on co-branded efforts like promos, webinars, and social media campaigns and add value to both your voice and your product or service. You can also create partnership programs by offering each other’s services to your respective clients, thereby instantly boosting your referral... --- ### 8 SEO Strategies for Driving Traffic to Your Website (with Examples) > These eight SEO strategies are sure to get you more site traffic. Check them out, along with examples, and start driving traffic asap! - Published: 2023-02-24 - Modified: 2025-03-19 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/seo-strategies-for-driving-traffic-to-your-website/ - Categories: Content Marketing SEO may be the single most important marketing strategy for a small business. It brings potential customers to you and it can expand your reach since it allows you to tap into an interested online audience. If you haven’t yet invested in it, you’re not only behind the curve; you’re missing out on tons of opportunities to convert more customers. Still wondering, is SEO worth investing in? Here are some SEO statistics you can’t ignore: 68% of online experiences start with a search engine 63% of all shopping starts online, including purchases that happen in a store 70% of online marketers state SEO is better than PPC when it comes to sales 66% of consumers perform online research before making a purchase 76% of consumers who search for a local business visit a related business in 24 hours People use search engines frequently to make purchase decisions or to find businesses that will fulfill their needs. It’s important for your business to be on the first page of Google (or, even better, listed as one of the first three organic search results). Mastering SEO can be confusing, which is why a lot of businesses spend tons of money hiring SEO consultants or agencies. But SEO is a journey, not a race, and seeing results can take time. That means you could be exhausting your marketing budget before seeing anything worthwhile. So, before you look into outsourcing, consider DIY’ing your SEO. Trust us, it can be done, especially if you try... --- ### 6 Tips for Increasing Engagement With Your K12 Newsletter > Increasing newsletter engagement is easier said than done. For K12 communicators, it can seem almost impossible. - Published: 2023-02-24 - Modified: 2023-02-27 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/increasing-engagement-k12-newsletter/ - Categories: K12 We’ve heard it before: school communications professionals are frustrated. Sending their district’s email newsletters is like posting a billboard in the middle of a vast desert. No response, no engagement. It’s almost as if they didn’t send anything at all. Concerns over email engagement are nothing new. They don’t discriminate, and they span various industries. However, for the K12 sector, email engagement struggles can be especially frustrating. K12 messaging goes beyond your average marketing email. School communicators aren’t necessarily interested in selling something or converting leads to customers. School newsletters are meant to share important, time-sensitive information. If they go unread, it could lead to more serious issues. Your K12 newsletter doesn’t have to be a lonely, unnoticed billboard in an unresponsive desert. By following these six practices, you’ll see your newsletter engagement metrics soar. 1. Use Marketing Automation Software If you had the choice to make your life easier, wouldn’t you? That’s the beauty of marketing automation software. Not only does it help you organize and segment your contacts so you can keep better track of them, but it enables you to automate your emails. You can be emailing your contacts while you perform your regular day-to-day duties. It’s a win-win for productivity. As K12 communicators, there’s tons on your plate and various initiatives to keep track of. Adding email marketing to the list typically results in something else being pushed off. Since you can’t afford to drop the ball, it’s vital to have a cost-effective email marketing solution... --- ### 7 Unique Social Media Ideas to Engage Your Audience > When it comes to social media, it can seem like there are no unique ideas left. Here are some ideas that you probably haven't tried yet. - Published: 2023-02-24 - Modified: 2023-02-27 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/social-media-ideas-to-engage-your-audience/ - Categories: Social Media Social media marketing is all about engagement. More than 3 billion people around the globe use social media; many of them on a regular basis. That’s a huge opportunity for your brand to connect and grow. This form of communication and outreach breaks down a lot of the barriers that stand in the way of traditional outbound marketing, opening you up to a massive audience of potentially interested individuals, many of whom could go on to become leads and customers if you play your cards right. With so much potential, it pays to invest in strategies driven toward increasing engagement on your social channels. Chances are, there is a lot more that you could be doing on a day to day basis to engage your audience and give a glimpse into your brand and the people behind it. Below, we’ll cover some unique ways to get the ball rolling. 1. Highlight Your Team Marketing is about forging connections. When you highlight your team members, you show your followers that you’re not just a logo — you’re a real group of people working hard to make your brand and product special. Create a series that showcases each of your team members so your social audience can learn who they are and what they do for the company. Create a Typeform survey with fun questions for your team to answer. Ask things like, “As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? ” or “What’s one item on... --- ### 3 Ways Customer Surveys Can Improve Your Business > Customer surveys can improve various areas within your buiness. Read our blog post to discover which areas and how. - Published: 2023-02-23 - Modified: 2024-08-13 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/improve-business-with-customer-surveys/ - Categories: Small Business Thanks to polling services, the ability to reach out to existing or prospective customers is just a few clicks away, allowing businesses to interact directly with the market. Customer surveys, in particular, can be an information goldmine. Tapping into the minds of those who are willing to pay for the service or product you provide is a sure way to acquire more like-minded customers. Customer survey data is an invaluable tool for making business decisions, better understanding customer pain points, and achieving product or service innovation. At TSheets, we thrive on customer surveys and have found a few key ways they improve our business. 1. Surveys Can Help You Customize Your Product For TSheets, GPS tracking in the workplace is a hot potato. What better way to find out what employees think than asking them directly, right? We expected them to raise privacy concerns and even push back altogether on the technology. But to make data-driven decisions means being objective, even when the data doesn’t agree with us. But to our surprise, more than half of the employees who have used GPS at work described the experience as positive, with just 4 percent giving the tech a thumbs-down. Respondents also told us how they generally don’t think twice about sharing location data as long as they trust the app or know exactly how the collected information will be used. So what did we walk away with? Transparency and clear messaging are key. 2. Surveys Can Help You Customize Your Service... --- ### Why You Should Do a Content Refresh Right Now > Refreshing your content is great for your SEO and can help you better engage your audience. Here's how to do a content refresh. - Published: 2023-02-23 - Modified: 2023-12-02 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/content-refresh/ - Categories: Content Marketing Looking for a way to dramatically “up” your content marketing game without adding a single item to your editorial calendar? The answer is a content refresh, and here are three reasons why you should do it: To get results without having to spend extra money. To show you keep up with news and changes in your industry. To keep your best content at the top of Google’s search results. What Is a “Content Refresh? ” A content refresh is a deep edit of your existing web content — from articles and web pages to FAQs and guidebooks. It may involve capturing new quotes from experts and weaving them into an old article, or it may be more comprehensive, like changing the angle of a piece or reworking it into an audio or video piece. A content refresh doesn’t mean completely gutting your old stuff to make way for the new. After all, this could be detrimental if search ranking is important to your strategy. Instead, think of a content refresh as a light home improvement project: when the paint is peeling, you don’t tear down the whole wall – you just repaint it. By maintaining and improving your digital content, you’re essentially building your site’s equity, and guaranteeing that everything a reader stumbles upon will be interesting, well-crafted, and relevant to what’s going on today. Prioritizing Content for a Refresh The web content you choose to update depends largely on your content marketing goals. If you generate a lot of... --- ### Everything You Need to Know about Internal Link Building > Building internal links is great for your SEO and it helps create a path between similar content you're publishing. - Published: 2023-02-23 - Modified: 2023-03-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/everything-you-need-to-know-about-internal-link-building/ - Categories: Content Marketing When it comes to linking and SEO, backlinks get a lot of attention (and for good reason), but you can’t ignore the importance of internal link building for rankings and optimization. Internal link building is a great way to move traffic around your site and increase the relevancy and utility of your various pages. It also helps search engines like Google find and assign value to your content, which is a key function of your SEO strategy. And unlike backlinks, which require action from other parties, you have all of the control over your internal linking efforts — meaning less work for a big payoff. So how does it all work? Let’s explore. What Are Internal Links? An internal link is a link within your content that goes to another page on your domain. Think linked features on your homepage and links embedded within your blog posts that lead to other pages on your site. Internal Links vs. External Links Both internal links and external links add context to your site and provide a nice SEO boost, but they operate in different ways. Whereas internal links guide users to another location on your site, external links guide users to other sites. It might not seem like good practice to send someone off of your page, but external links — along with backlinks — round out your linking strategy for better SEO. The external links you include within your content, like the internal links you include, help increase the authority of... --- ### 5 Ways a CRM Can Improve the Customer Experience > A CRM lets you keep track of your users and ensure you're providing them with the exact service they need for a great customer experience. - Published: 2023-02-23 - Modified: 2023-10-15 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/crm-improve-customer-experience/ - Categories: CRM Many people look at a CRM as merely a sales tool – a way to keep track of where customers are in the buying journey and a method for nurturing leads. And yes, it does do those things. Applied correctly, however, a CRM can actually drive better customer experience outcomes by strengthening the connections between your clients and your business. In other words, a CRM can be a relationship-builder that drives more revenue from the customers you already have. Here’s how. Keep in Touch You probably already know that it takes multiple touches to convert a lead into a paying customer, but what about after you’ve won them over? Staying in touch well after the sale is one of the keys to long-term retention, and a CRM can work wonders in this area. For instance, it can remind you to send birthday cards and other personal communications, creating that warm and fuzzy feeling and keeping you top-of-mind. Personalize Communications Studies have shown that people respond more positively to communications that are personalized. For instance, emails and physical pieces of mail that are addressed to someone by name are more likely to be read and responded to. A CRM helps fill in the blanks, enabling you to send mass campaigns to your customers while giving the appearance that each message is unique and individualized. Provide Consistency Consistency plays a significant role in a positive customer experience. Your clients expect to receive the same level of care regardless of whom they’re interacting... --- ### 5 Marketing Strategies to Help Grow Your Agency Retainer Business > Growing your agency retainer business means you can have more reliable income. Here are five marketing strategies to help achieve that. - Published: 2023-02-23 - Modified: 2025-05-21 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/grow-agency-retainer-business/ - Categories: Agency   Long-term clients are the bread and butter of a successful marketing agency. While it's certainly a good idea to always be working on ways to bring in new business, it's those long-term clients who are going to help you build a strong and sustainable portfolio - especially if you're running a small or mid-size firm. Not convinced that long-term clients are more valuable than shiny new ones? Consider that just a 5% increase in your firm's customer retention rate can increase your profits by 25-95%. Add to that the fact that it costs five times more to attract a new client than to keep an existing one on board and it's pretty clear where you should be focusing your efforts. Knowing that long-term clients are important is one thing though - actually retaining them is another. Here are five marketing strategies your firm should employ to attract clients with long-term potential and keep them coming back for more. 1. Know exactly who you're looking for. Your ideal clients - and the ones who are going to stick around - are the ones who are looking for the exact thing that you excel in. Maybe that's lead generation or conversion-boosting email marketing or social media or a whole other host of marketing-driven services that companies need if they're going to succeed. Likely, it's more than one of these things. Defining what you're best at will help you hone in on who the clients are that will benefit most from what... --- ### 5 Video Marketing Trends for 2023 and How Small Businesses Can Use Them > These five video marketing trends are taking the industry by storm. Make sure your small business is aware and using them. - Published: 2023-02-23 - Modified: 2024-01-18 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/5-video-marketing-trends-for-2023-and-how-small-businesses-can-use-them/ - Categories: Small Business Video has been one of the fastest-growing marketing trends in recent years. The number of people who watched digital videos increased by 3. 2% to 244. 4 million in 2020. Small business owners can use video as a marketing tool to effectively reach their target audience. With four in ten online users watching videos from brands they are thinking of buying from, now is the time to get in front of your buyers with video marketing. In this article, we’ll outline the top video marketing trends for 2023 and how small businesses can use them to reach their target audience. Benefits of Video Marketing According to marketers who participated in a Wyzowl survey, businesses who embrace video marketing: Increase their brand awareness Improve their lead generation game Improve sales Reduce support calls Generate more traffic Increase their users’ understanding of their products and services 86% of businesses recognize these benefits and incorporate video marketing into their marketing strategies. Is it time for your business to be one of them? Video Marketing Trends For 2023 Video marketing is a fun and creative way to get in front of your potential buyers. Here are the top trends for 2023 to incorporate video marketing into your overall marketing efforts. 1. Live Video Facebook users spend more time on live videos and have a higher engagement rate than pre-recorded videos. Major social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Tiktok now offer businesses the opportunity to engage with their target audience in real time with... --- ### 6 Tips for Generating and Converting More Leads This Year > These six tips will ensure you're not only generating more leads this year, but you're converting them into customers, too. - Published: 2023-02-23 - Modified: 2023-03-02 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/generating-and-converting-more-leads-this-year/ - Categories: Sales The end of a year — and the start of a new one — always puts sales top of mind. It’s your last chance to achieve any goals that you set for yourself, as well as to set the bar you’re aiming for in the future. It’s the best time to think about which tactics have been a big win for you and what sorts of things you might want to add to your repertoire moving forward. 2020 was rough, and many small businesses didn’t meet their sales and marketing goals. If you’re one of them, you know that in order to keep your business afloat, always looking for new and creative ways to evolve, expand, and keep the money coming in makes all the difference. Small businesses are near and dear to us, and we’re focusing some content on how to help them tackle their sales issues head-on. Part of doing so is building a new sales pipeline that focuses on different approaches that will yield as much return as possible. Another is ensuring you’re prospecting efforts are thorough and well-executed. But another large component to turning sales around is doing everything you can to generate and convert those on-site visitors. When you execute your external efforts the right way, you’ll generate tons of traffic back to your site, and you’ll want to capitalize on that traffic. So as we look ahead, here are some of our best ideas for generating and converting more of your leads in the... --- ### 8 Common Social Media Marketing Mistakes to Steer Clear of This 2022 > Any mistake in business isn't good. But these eight social media marketing mistakes are common, so make sure you avoid them. - Published: 2023-02-23 - Modified: 2023-03-02 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/social-media-marketing-mistakes/ - Categories: Social Media As we glide haphazardly, stomp hungrily, or walk kinda dopey-like into 2022 (your entrance depending largely on what you did the night before), you’ll want to start afresh, turning over a new leaf and leaving 2021 behind. “Twenty-twenty-who? ” You’ll ask casually. You’ll want to dig out a pen – nay, a quill – and paper – nay! A parchment – and begin with that centuries-old tradition of a New Year’s Resolutions list. And what pledges shall we make to both ourselves and to our comrades in business? We shall endeavor, of course, to leave the ghost of Christmas past behind (the ghost consisting largely of all of our old social media marketing mistakes). No longer shall these mistakes tarnish our sparkling reputation as pioneers of the digital realm! Instead, we shall sally forth with some of the best applications for business out there – social media apps! So, without further ado, here is our list of the eight most common social media marketing mistakes that we should steer our proverbial ship clear of this year. In 2022, we will not: 1. Spread Ourselves Too Thin While it might indeed feel very tempting to cast our nets over all the waters of the digital realm, it is a false hope that we shall catch more fish, or followers, with that method. Nay, instead, it is a much smarter endeavor to conserve what little energy and motivation we have and focus on a couple of areas, such as profitable b2b marketing... --- ### The 6 Most Common Things That Kill an Agency > Not every agency survives. But if you avoid these six common things that kill an agency, your agency is sure to. - Published: 2023-02-23 - Modified: 2023-03-02 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/things-that-kill-an-agency/ - Categories: Agency When it comes to running your own company, mistakes are inevitable. However, one mistake too many at the wrong time could threaten to put your agency out of business. You can better prepare your agency for challenges and set up ways to overcome them if you are aware of common pitfalls that agencies like yours face. Read on to learn about six things you should avoid at all costs. 1. Absence of Retainers/Productized Packages Revenue is important to your agency’s success, but not all revenue is created equal: some dollars are a lot harder to bring in than others. One-off projects will have you constantly pitching for new work and new clients to keep generating revenue, which can lead to burnout. If this becomes a norm, it leaves you vulnerable to financial problems that could eventually kill your business. Retainers and productized packages, on the other hand, will provide your agency with more predictable earnings. It also makes it much easier to allocate time to different tasks when you already know the jobs ahead of you. 2. Absence of Structured Business Operations and Tools Running a business involves annual and quarterly planning, assigning roles and responsibilities, maintaining good internal communication, and many more aspects. Whether you are a veteran agency or just starting, you need to manage operations efficiently with appropriate tools for business success. Failing to do so could mean that important things slip through the net. A CRM tool can help with managing clients and client relationships and... --- ### B2B Company? Here’s 3 Reasons You Need Marketing Automation > If you're running a B2B company, here are some ways you could use marketing automation to take your company to the next level. - Published: 2023-02-23 - Modified: 2023-03-02 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/b2b-marketing-automation/ - Categories: Marketing Automation Are you getting enough attention to keep you sailing strong, or are you fighting against the currents without the right tools? Other businesses won’t know about your company or trust you if they don’t know you exist. You need to prove your value, show your company can be trusted and captivate interest. Companies are able to do this by marketing their products and brand to the companies they want to work with. You can improve your reach by implementing marketing automation. Here’s three reasons why: 1. A Stronger Approach Towards the Key Decision Makers Business to business marketing automation is often overlooked as a marketing tactic only for B2C companies. However, B2B companies are struggling to reach their key decision makers. Forrester Research reported that 2 out of 3 marketers say identifying key decision makers is their top challenge. Automated B2B marketing helps companies to keep content working the pipelines. Think of automated marketing like the sails on your ship. While you could manually row your boat with sales reps working round the clock, you could take a great load off with sails. Your sails, or automated marketing, offers a flow of content that snags the wind and moves the ship without as much time and effort wasted. Businesses who initially board your boat are able to move through your sales funnel smoothly, with little or no interaction from a direct sales team. When your sales team is reserved for the harder jobs and more difficult questions, your company is... --- ### 9 Ways to Prepare for Hosting a Webinar > There's a lot to plan for when hosting a webinar. Here are nine ways to ensure you're fully prepared and that it goes off without a hitch. - Published: 2023-02-23 - Modified: 2024-05-31 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/hosting-a-webinar/ - Categories: Marketing Oh, webinars. We’ve talked about them frequently on our blog. How to put together the perfect webinar. How to convert webinar leads to customers. How to grow your email list with webinars. I could go on, but I’ll spare you. As I’m sure you already know, webinars are an effective way to showcase your knowledge of a subject, gain new followers and leads, and cement your reputation as a thought leader in your industry. Those wonderful perks, however, cannot be achieved if you don’t adequately prepare and plan for your webinar. There are a number of things you should do in preparation to ensure that everything runs smoothly. Let’s dive right into what those nine things are. 1. Assign Roles There’s a lot to do when it comes to hosting a webinar. It’s in your best interest to allocate roles so everyone involved understands what they should be doing. Here are some questions to answer: Who is the host of the webinar? Who will be presenting? Who’s going to be putting together the deck? Who’s going to be supplying the outline for the deck? Who’s creating any social images for promotion? Who’s creating the email and other promo materials? Also, consider whether you’ll need assistance in setup and during the big event, too. A properly promoted webinar could generate enormous interest, meaning hundreds of people trying to access it at the same time. That's why it's important to make sure your event is supported by a solid cloud VPS hosting... --- ### How to Drive Engagement and Conversions Through Content Marketing > Your content marketing should do more than share tips. It should engage your audience and assist in converting them into leads and customers. - Published: 2023-02-23 - Modified: 2025-05-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-drive-engagement-and-conversions-through-content-marketing/ - Categories: Content Marketing More than 80% of people have purchased a product or service as a result of consuming business content, according to a study by Clutch. People in different parts of the sales funnel consume different types of content. So, how can your business format its website and content to both engage and sell? This article shares tips for moving prospects through the sales funnel using content marketing. Use this information to structure your website and content in a way that guides visitors along a path to conversion. Begin With the End in Mind Defining your content marketing goals is the first step toward guiding website visitors along the customer journey. Depending on the type of products or services you sell, you might identify with any of the following objectives: Encourage purchasing Drive subscriptions Increase enrollment Schedule sales calls Before you begin producing content, define your end goal to establish clarity for your team. Align Content With the Customer Journey Visitors' purchasing journeys online typically follow the path mapped out in a sales funnel, which tracks four stages of purchasing intent from initial interest through purchasing action. At the top of your sales funnel - in the "awareness" and "interest" stages, the focus of your content is to attract people to your website. Source People at the top of the funnel want to learn about your industry, company, and products you sell. Your goal for top-of-the-funnel audiences is to drive engagement: be the resource that people turn to for knowledge about a... --- ### The Basics of Setting Up an Effective Facebook Business Page > Your small business should be utitlizing Facebook as much as possible. Here's how to put together a Facebook Business Page. - Published: 2023-02-23 - Modified: 2023-03-02 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/facebook-business-page/ - Categories: Social Media A Facebook business page can be an integral way to keep in touch with your existing customers—and can help you plug into a massive audience of new prospects. The social media giant had 1. 13 billion daily active users as of June 2016. You may already have a personal Facebook page, but if you haven’t already created a business page, doing so may seem daunting. The good news is that’s easy to create one. As of 2015, more than 40 million small businesses had active Facebook business pages. There’s a reason that so many small business owners are spending the time and effort on Facebook: it’s free and holds a lot of potential to reach your target audience when executed correctly. Here’s a crib sheet to get you started quickly: Nail the basics. Facebook offers an excellent tutorial on how to set up your business page. Once you’ve logged in to your personal account, click the drop arrow in the top right corner and choose “Create Page. ” From there it’s a matter of choosing a business category, such as “local business or place” or “company, organization or institution,” choosing an industry-specific category such as “American restaurant,” or “Antiques and vintage,” and filling out your profile as extensively as possible. It’s important to accurately classify your business so that your company will appear in related searches on Facebook. Fill out your profile. Facebook allows you to include a lot of information about your business that can pull customers to you,... --- ### How to Ask for Customer Referrals (and Actually Get Them) > Customer referrals are like word of mouth marketing on steriods. Here's how to ask for more of them and actually get them. - Published: 2023-02-23 - Modified: 2023-03-02 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-get-customer-referrals/ - Categories: Marketing In a world of digital marketing, it can be easy to forget the old tried-and-true way of getting new customers: word-of-mouth. The fact is, referrals remain one of, if not the most effective customer acquisition tactic. And new business that comes via your existing clientele is also more valuable. In fact, referred customers have a 25% higher lifetime value than those found using other means. Asking for referrals, however, doesn’t always come natural. If you struggle in this area, here are a few tips that might make it easier. Focus first on service. Nobody is going to willingly offer up the names and contact information of other people in their network if the service you offer is subpar. If you want to increase the number of recommendations you get, make wowing your existing clientele an ongoing priority. The happier your customers are, the more likely they’ll be to sing your praises. Cash in on compliments. It’s easier to ask for referrals from customers you know are already happy with your product or service, so keep an eye and ear out for compliments. When a client leaves a positive review or tells you directly that he or she is pleased, tell them you’re glad they’re happy and ask if they know anyone else who might benefit from what you have to offer. Be specific. If your target audience is B2B, a referral for an individual won’t be worth much. Likewise, if you’re targeting people with a high net worth, someone who... --- ### 11 Tips and Examples for Bringing New Life to Your Newsletter Emails > Bored with your newsletter emails? Here are 11 tips that will help you breathe new life into your newsletters. - Published: 2023-02-23 - Modified: 2023-03-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/better-newsletter-emails/ - Categories: Email Marketing You didn’t want your newsletter to become a snoozefest, but you’ve been noticing your open rates and click-through rates dropping at nearly the same rate as your enthusiasm. You started your email newsletter with the best of intentions, but now it’s tired and not packing the same punch it used to. What can you do to breathe life back into your newsletter after months or years of the same old thing? There’s plenty. Here are 11 tips and examples to help you spice up your newsletter and keep your prospects moving happily down your sales funnel. Make an offer. A newsletter may primarily be a top-funnel tool, but sometimes switching it up and making a compelling offer can be just what you needed to reignite your subscribers’ spark with your brand. Brainstorm some offers that even your most skeptical prospects can’t resist: a freebie, a massive giveaway contest, an Amazon gift card, or a refer-a-friend program are some examples. Or, segment your subscribers by phase in the customer journey and send tailored offers to each group instead of blasting them with the same offer. Also, consider providing a reward in exchange for feedback. This is a good tactic if you’re concerned that people just aren’t interested in your content. Add a “Play Video” image Though not all email programs will properly display rich media like video, that doesn’t mean you should shy away from using it. Rather than embed a video in your email newsletter and risk getting blocked by... --- ### The School Communicator’s Guide to an Email Marketing Strategy > School communicators are busy, they don't have time to learn email marketing. But our simple guide will get them up to speed. - Published: 2023-02-23 - Modified: 2023-09-26 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/school-communicators-guide-to-email-marketing/ - Categories: K12 Email marketing may seem like just one more thing on your to-do list if you’re an educator (and we know that to-do list is a long one). But it’s essential that you have a firm understanding of how it’s beneficial in order to effectively keep parents and community members involved and in the know. Email is one of the best tools at your disposal for connecting with your network. To make it work for you, though, you have to follow a few best practices. Here are some tips to help you put together an email marketing strategy that gets the job done. 1. Create a Documented Content Plan The way you approach marketing in the education space isn’t really all that different from how marketing is approached in retail, hospitality, or any other seemingly unrelated sector. In all cases, it’s important to know who the audience is for your outreach and what you’re trying to achieve — plus how you intend to achieve it. A content plan will help you take a high-level view of your email marketing efforts and narrow in on what needs to get done and when. There are a few different sections you’ll need to tackle in order to complete it, but trust us, it’s worth taking the time if it means your emails make more of an impact. Establish Who Your Audience Is The first step is done by creating personas for each type of person you may be reaching out to — for example,... --- ### 5 Ways To Generate B2B Leads With LinkedIn > Are you using LinkedIn to its fullest potential? Check out our tips for using LinkedIn to generate B2B leads. - Published: 2023-02-23 - Modified: 2023-09-21 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/5-ways-to-generate-b2b-leads-with-linkedin/ - Categories: Social Media It’s been said that... . Facebook is for friends; Instagram is for celebrities and brands; Twitter is for politicians; Snapchat is for teenagers. And LinkedIn? LinkedIn is for professionals. More than any other social platform, LinkedIn is confined to the realm of networking—and B2B networking ranks among the most effective. Users can connect with similar professionals, exchange ideas, discover new leads, look for new jobs and find unique ways to create new partnerships. Several case studies have proven that LinkedIn drives the highest percentage of customers to your business. The underlying reason is self-evident: the only people on LinkedIn are by nature interested in connecting with like-minded professionals. Rarely has anyone joined LinkedIn “just for fun. ” The minds at LinkedIn know this, of course, and charge a hefty several hundred dollars in annual fees for LinkedIn Premium, the service that allows you to message anyone, regardless of whether you’re actually connected to them. For our purposes, we’re going to assume you don’t have LinkedIn Premium, and stick to old-fashioned techniques that will work regardless of your investment. Craft a Profile that Sells Yourself If you want any success on LinkedIn, you need to dress to impress. Get a good photographer (or at least a good camera and a tripod), find a clean background, wear your finest work clothes and look confidently into the camera. Put on the same face you’d make if you were actually meeting your lead for the first time—after all, the second they first see your... --- ### How Marketing Automation Can Improve Marketing Productivity > Marketing automation tools can do wonders for your productivity. Here's how to use marketing automation to get more done. - Published: 2023-02-23 - Modified: 2023-03-02 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/marketing-automation-improve-marketing-productivity/ - Categories: Marketing Automation When you think of “marketing automation,” does it immediately send you into doomsday mode where robots entirely take over all jobs usually done by humans, or are you normal? What it really means is that you won’t have to do banal operational tasks like scheduling and publishing posts and emails. An autobot could do it while your team is free to do what you really hired them for. Let’s discuss more about the ways you can leverage marketing automation to boost team productivity, increase sales efficiency, and accomplish goals faster. 8 Ways Marketing Automation will Boost Your Productivity 1. Create Fully Automated Welcome Programs A time-tested way to improve the efficient execution of your email marketing strategy is to set up fully automated workflows. Are you aiming to kick off your loyalty-based rewards program? Set up autoresponder welcome emails that are triggered as soon as a customer signs up to become a member. Welcome autoresponder emails serve as a vehicle for new customers to get to know your brand. You can introduce them to your brand values, the team behind it and offer a discount on their next purchase to encourage them to choose your brand again. Automated email flows also allow you to track the customer journey across different product categories in your eCommerce store. On-site actions like browsing products listed in the emails, clicking on offers trigger data collection, which further trigger customized web content and product recommendations–helping drive purchases across the board. Take an example of Eddie... --- ### Top Customer Experience Software for Small Business > Improving the customer experience is crucial for retention and your bottom line. Here are the top customer experience software. - Published: 2023-02-23 - Modified: 2024-06-12 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/customer-experience-software-for-small-business/ - Categories: Small Business Haven’t you heard? UX is out, and CX is in. Okay, maybe I’m being a bit dramatic. In all realness, CX is more like the evolution of UX. Are you scratching your head over these terms I’m so loosely throwing around? CX is “customer experience,” and UX is “user experience. ” In general, user experience tends to focus on how a customer interacts with your actual website or app. Customer experience, on the other hand, is their whole experience with your company. So, user experience is part of customer experience, but so is your customer service staff, sales staff, marketing outreach, and everything in between. The concept of UX has been a hot topic for quite some time. So much so that there is a plethora of software to manage it. Customer experience, since it has so many channels of involvement, has been slow to catch up, especially in the small business price point. So, let’s improve your customer experience—and user experience—with some excellent CX software for your small business. Four Customer Experience Softwares to Check Out HotJar HotJar is billed as analytics software, and on the surface level, sure, that’s what they do. However, Hotjar allows you to understand your web users in ways you’ve never dreamed of. They feature analytics visualization favorites like heatmaps, conversion funnels, and form analysis—but that’s not what makes them perfect for managing customer experience. HotJar’s shining features are their easy to deploy feedback polls, instant visual feedback from your users about aspects of... --- ### 6 Underutilized Instagram Features for Small Businesses > Instagram can do a lot for small businesses, if you use it right. Here are six underutilized Instagram features for small business. - Published: 2023-02-23 - Modified: 2025-05-12 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/underutilized-instagram-features/ - Categories: Social Media With 1. 38 billion users that spend an average of 53 minutes daily on the platform, Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms out there. What makes it so engaging and entertaining is not just the way content is presented to users but that the platform has evolved over time to fit the needs its users have. Instagram offers tons of opportunities for your small business to not only build brand awareness but also to drive sales. However, to expand visibility and reach your audience with Instagram, you must leverage every feature available to you. It's highly likely that you're making the most of the common Instagram features. You're creating stories, reels, and posts, but are you truly getting the most out of this powerful marketing tool? In this guide, we'll discuss six Instagram features that are underutilized. We'll tell you what these features are and the benefits of using them. Let's dive straight in! 1. Link in Stories Previously, the option to link to a specific webpage was only available for verified accounts or those with more than 10,000 followers. In October 2021, Instagram abolished those requirements and expanded the ability to add links to stories to all accounts. The Meta-owned social media giant made the new feature even better. The link sticker is now more conspicuous, and you can add it anywhere on your story. In addition, the sticker shows story viewers the domain of the destination link, allowing for more transparency. This is a... --- ### How are Chatbots Impacting the Customer Experience? > Chatbots may seem like an impersonal way to connect with your customers. But using them can actually improve the customer experience. - Published: 2023-02-23 - Modified: 2024-02-19 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/chatbots-impacting-customer-experience/ - Categories: Small Business The way consumers interact with brands is evolving at a rapid pace. This is due in large part to the incredible advances we’ve seen in technology over the past decade or so. In particular, artificial intelligence (AI) is fundamentally changing the face of customer engagement, and it’s catching on like wildfire. In fact, one study predicts that 62 percent of organizations will have adopted AI in some form by as early as next year. What does all of this mean for businesses? Specifically, how will intelligent automation impact the customer experience? Let’s take a closer look at the rise of chatbots and what the future looks like from a consumer relations standpoint. A new comfort level When the use of chatbots for support was initially introduced, it was not surprisingly met with mixed feelings. For businesses, the ability to shift a large percentage of support activities from human to machine was an attractive option, both in terms of cost and efficiency. For consumers, on the other hand, the idea of having a robot handle their needs seemed much less appealing. As a result, adoption was slow at best. Over time, however, that has changed, mainly because customers are simply becoming more and more accustomed to AI. People have come to recognize that while they may lose the human touch, they’ll gain convenience, speed and ease of use. Millions of people now turn to AI every day for assistance with any number of their routine activities. This is evidenced by the... --- ### How Instagram is Changing and What it Means for Your Small Business > Instagram is changing and it's changing quickly. Here are the things you need to know so you can use Instagram to your advantage. - Published: 2023-02-23 - Modified: 2023-03-06 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-instagram-is-changing/ - Categories: Social Media Instagram has been growing rapidly over the past year, and now it seems every business wants to jump on board. With more than 130 million users engaging with shopping posts on Instagram every month, the platform is a great social media marketing tool for small business owners. And with an array of eCommerce-friendly features that make promoting your products easy and convenient, it’s an excellent place to set up shop. Here’s what to know about the platform’s new features and how they can help your small business. Authentic You With Instagram Candid Candid Challenge is a new Instagram feature inspired by BeReal, a fast-growing social platform that encourages users to share unique, real-time moments with friends by sending random notifications at different times every day and giving them two minutes to post a picture of what they’re doing. Like BeReal, Instagram’s Candid Challenge will send users random notifications encouraging them to post a photo of what they’re doing. Users will only be able to view another user’s Candid photo after they make their first Candid. Candid photos use Instagram’s dual camera tool, and you can differentiate them from other stories with the presence of a blue ring. While everyone doesn’t have this feature yet, you should brace yourself for this tool as a small business owner. Authenticity is currency in the social media space, and Candid Challenge allows you to connect with your audience while showing them a human and personable side to your operations. Another authentic feature Instagram offers... --- ### The Company Culture Guide for Your Remote Business > Your remote business may feel like it's losing its company culture. But remote work is the future, so here are some tips for getting it back. - Published: 2023-02-23 - Modified: 2024-03-13 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/remote-business-company-culture-guide/ - Categories: Small Business According to a Glassdoor study, 77% of prospective employees consider company culture before applying for open positions. Furthermore, 74% of your top talent would look for a job elsewhere if your current work culture deteriorates. The pandemic thrust a lot of us into a work-from-home situation, which has shifted the workplace structure as we know it. As some companies decide to keep this model for good, others are going to a more hybrid approach, and the rest are transitioning back into the office. Regardless, one thing seems to be true across the board: people are quitting their jobs in rapid numbers. The Great Resignation is forcing employers to take a cold hard look at their company culture, and many are realizing that whatever they’re doing may not be enough. Besides establishing a great company culture, you have to keep improving it to attract and retain top talent. And we’re noticing, pretty quickly, that doing so can be challenging, especially if your employees work remotely. What Is Remote Work Culture? Traditional company culture encapsulates the practices, behaviors, and beliefs that form your company’s identity. It outlines what’s accepted, rejected, tolerated, and condemned, and as such, shapes the conduct and attitudes of people at your company. A remote company culture borrows these principles, but it’s a tad different. It entails the priorities, attitudes, experiences, and interests that keep remote employees connected and striving towards a common goal. The idea is that just because everyone isn’t physically in the same place, there’s still... --- ### Get More Hours In Your Day: How Marketing Automation Turns Back Time > Ever wish you could turn back time and get more hours in your day? Marketing automation can help you save tons of time. - Published: 2023-02-23 - Modified: 2024-07-10 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-marketing-automation-saves-time/ - Categories: Marketing Automation A day in the life of a marketer is akin to a juggling act. You have to plan out the day, check emails and respond to anything relevant, conduct a morning huddle with the team, monitor campaign performance, schedule social media posts, and more. While these tasks are critical, they can also be overwhelming and consume a huge share of your time. Fortunately, marketing automation helps you eliminate repetitive tasks and focus more of your time on high-value items on your to-do list and big-picture marketing plan. In this article, we’ll dissect how marketing automation helps reduce the amount of “things” you need to do in a day, turning back the clock and creating time so you can get more high-priority items accomplished. Daily Tasks that Marketing Automation Makes Simpler 1. Lead Scoring Lead scoring entails assigning leads a score in a bid to set apart more qualified leads from low-fit prospects. It’s an intricate and time-consuming process when done manually, but setting up workflows and triggers within your marketing automation software updates the lead lifecycle and saves you hours. You set up automated rules and use the tagging feature to score leads based on how they interact with your channels. For example, you can tell BenchmarkONE to add a “CRM” tag to contacts that frequently visit the product page on your CRM website. You can then configure automated rules such that when a lead with a “CRM” tag attains a score threshold, they are automatically added to the leads... --- ### Why Should You Be Using a Marketing Automation Tool? BenchmarkONE Users Weigh In. > Need some reasons for why you should be using a marketing automation tool? Just take a note from our BenchmarkONE users. - Published: 2023-02-23 - Modified: 2023-03-06 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/why-should-you-be-using-a-marketing-automation-tool/ - Categories: Marketing Automation If there was a way to work more efficiently, wouldn’t you do it? Marketing automation comes with an array of competitive advantages, all of them geared toward helping you accomplish more while putting in less work. That can pay off in big ways. According to recent research, 91 percent of marketers who use automation report that it’s crucial to the overall success of their digital marketing endeavors. In fact, 80 percent see an increase in generated leads, and 77 percent see an increase in conversions. Yeah, I’d say it’s crucial, too. While we often talk about automation as the way of the future, in the marketing world, automation is going to task right here and right now. And along the way, it’s offering many tangible benefits when it comes to digital marketing success. Since all marketing automation tools aren’t created equally, we decided to talk to our users directly about the benefits they get from BenchmarkONE. Here’s what they had to say. 1. It Improves Customer and Prospect Follow-Ups When you’re running your own small business, you typically have your hands in everything from marketing and sales to HR and event planning. Juggling all of these balls at one time is notoriously difficult, and it’s understandable that you might end up missing a few opportunities here and there. With BenchmarkONE, our users find that they’re able to better manage those errant balls in the air. Our platform helps you schedule your emails and assign yourself tasks so that no follow-up... --- ### Deliver Your Message To Your Target Audience On Multiple Platforms Using Marketing Automation > Using marketing automation can ensure your brand message stays consistent on multiple platforms. Here's how. - Published: 2023-02-23 - Modified: 2023-03-06 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/deliver-your-message-to-your-target-audience-on-multiple-platforms-using-marketing-automation/ - Categories: Marketing Automation People receive messaging from brands and companies through a number of channels every day. For a cross channel marketing campaign to be truly effective and increase user engagement, it needs to reflect each of these channels. However, it’s also a major challenge for most cross channel marketers to deliver the right message on the right channel at the same time. This is where marketing automation can help you. Marketing automation is beneficial because it spares cross channel marketers from having to complete remedial tasks, makes it easier to target customers in the first place, and streamlines the execution of your cross channel marketing plan. In this article, we will touch on how automated applications allow the creation and management of cross-channel campaigns across email, social, web, and mobile in a central platform. Then, we’ll discuss how your campaigns can be designed and planned with the aim of getting closer to the customer. What is Marketing Automation in 2020? Marketing automation is exactly what the name suggests: the ability to automate marketing tasks to make it easier to reach out to and engage with your target audience. This includes automating everything from segmenting your contacts to converting leads to sending messages and other manual tasks. Originally, marketing automation was focused primarily on email marketing, but since the term has grown to include a wide range of automation tools across virtually all aspects of business marketing. Marketing automation makes it easy for you to craft content and messages as far ahead as... --- ### The Basics of Small Business Branding > Branding is one of the most important components of starting a small business. Here are the basics of branding. - Published: 2023-02-23 - Modified: 2024-07-23 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/small-business-branding/ - Categories: Small Business As a small business owner trying to gain more visibility, adopting a strategy for your branding is essential in scaling up your productivity and profitability. If you’re concerned that you need a huge budget to get your branding on point, don’t worry: we have you covered. Head to our previous post discussing branding your small business on a budget. This piece will cover the basic but important aspects that you need to focus on when branding your small business. 5 Tips to Launch Your Small Business Brand Establish a look and feel As you start to build a brand identity, it is crucial to consider how your brand will look to your customers, and the feelings that you want your brand to evoke. Try starting here... Describe your business in three words State your unique value proposition or what you are known for Explain your business’s values and core mission Define your business goals and the difference you hope to make in the industry Providing clear answers to the above will help you establish your brand’s look and feel, and decide on the emotions that you want to evoke. Once you’re clear on these messages, they can be infused into your branding for uniqueness and authenticity. Develop your brand identity – Colors, Logo, Fonts, Brand Guidelines Once you’ve established your brand’s identity and the feelings that you want to be associated with it, it is time to put a visual stamp on that identity. To do this, you’ll need to... --- ### 6 Tips to Get Your Small Business Through a Recession > A recession can be extremely scary for a small business. Here are some top tips for ensuring your small business gets through it. - Published: 2023-02-23 - Modified: 2023-07-05 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/tips-to-get-your-small-business-through-a-recession/ - Categories: Small Business Did you know that the nearly 100,000 small businesses that shut down temporarily during 2020’s economic slump caused by the pandemic are now out of business? It’s a scary statistic to hear, but the reality is there are things your small business can do to avoid being another statistic. We’re here to help with tips about how you can be proactive to keep your small business afloat. While Bloomberg predicts that there is a 72% probability of a recession, there won’t be a sudden halt to the global economy. However, we may experience an economic downturn or slowdown, and it’s worth thinking about how you could be impacted. How can your small business thrive during it and beyond? Below are actionable tips you can implement to keep your small business together and even see some great wins in 2024. 1. Conduct a Cash-Flow Analysis Knowing how money comes in and goes out of your business allows you to identify needless expenses that can be eliminated and focus instead on revenue-generating activities. You can: Scan your budget for unnecessary spending. Are there products and services your small business will do fine without? If you use software or services that require subscription packages, review to see the ones you can consolidate to serve the same purpose or alternatives that don’t cost as much. Look for opportunities to renegotiate prices and terms of some of the services you use as part of business operations. 2. Focus on Building and Nurturing Customer Relationships A... --- ### Why a Collaborative Worker is Your Most Valuable Agency Asset > An agency is only as good as its employees. Here's why a collaborative worker is the most valuable agency asset. - Published: 2023-02-23 - Modified: 2025-06-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/collaborative-worker-agency-asset/ - Categories: Agency Organizations, especially agencies, thrive on strong collaboration between employees. It creates team morale, strong chemistry between individuals, and the synergy teams need to work towards a common goal. Remember: your agency is a creative business, and it takes diverse skill sets and knowledge to deliver projects that exceed clients’ expectations. Beyond the specialty skills that each team member brings to the table, they should each be effective collaborators. If not, it could cause a rift in your internal flow and lead to bigger problems within your organization. Do you have collaborative workers in your team? This guide will define collaborative workers and describe their subtle characteristics and reveal why agencies with collaborative workers continue to thrive. What Defines a Collaborative Worker? To better explain who a collaborative worker is, we’ll first explain more about how we define workplace collaboration. In a nutshell, collaboration is the act of two or more people working together to achieve a common goal, such as the completion of a task or project. This could be a process lasting many days or weeks, with components like setting team goals, delegating tasks based on the skill set of team members, and monitoring progress to complete the job or project in time. Collaboration is one of the most valuable technical skills your agency can ingrain in its culture. Creating a team of specialists around your agency is great, but if they all work independently in siloes, you won’t get the full benefit. Collaboration lets you harness the diverse... --- ### 5 Email Marketing Strategies You Can Use For Your Agency’s Clients Right Now > These email marketing strategies are smart and effective. Take note and make sure and use them with your agency clients. - Published: 2023-02-23 - Modified: 2023-04-24 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/agency-email-marketing/ - Categories: Agency An email list is a marketer’s godsend. Not only is this a direct line to your target audience, but you’re talking to a group of people who clearly love your brand so much they have invited you into their inboxes. They’re interested in your brand, able and willing to act, and you’ve already got at least 1,000 names to get started. So when your agency’s clients come to you with 10% open rates and even lower click-through numbers, you’ve got to know how to turn that around. There are some obvious tricks you most likely understand at this point—list segmentation and email personalization are assumed. But email marketing campaigns, much like the rest of technology, are constantly changing, and strategies that worked in 2013 are minimally effective today. Knowing the latest tricks can help you surprise your clients by unearthing new levels of engagement in a list they’ve been sitting on for years. 1. Do Personalization the Right Way—Not the Creepy Way Personalization is a foregone necessity with email marketing campaigns, but many agencies and marketers still rely on the shortcode to do the trick. It doesn’t. It’s transparent and lazy. Instead of relying on using their first name (and is it even their first name? Who knows? ), you should be segmenting email lists by geographic location, purchase history or visit frequency, and using those signs to personalize your emails, instead. It’s more approachable to say, “Hey there, thanks for buying something from us yesterday! ” than it is... --- ### How Marketing Automation Can Increase and Benefits Sales > Could your sales use a little help? With marketing automation, your marketing and sales efforts will be taken to the next level. - Published: 2023-02-23 - Modified: 2023-03-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/5-ways-marketing-automation-increase-sales/ - Categories: Sales You are probably already familiar with the basics of marketing automation. It automates tasks. It streamlines processes. Overall, it makes our lives a whole lot easier. But a quality marketing automation software is capable of doing much more than just enabling your marketing team. When used to its full advantages, it’s a tool that can ultimately help your sales team close more deals. By streamlining and optimizing the process of gathering, scoring, and prioritizing leads, your business will be able to drive higher conversions and generate more revenue consistently. But, wonderfully enough, that’s just grazing the surface. Here are a few more ways marketing automation benefits your sales and improves your bottom line: Provides a Full View of Your Leads Effectively qualifying leads can be a complicated process, especially if you’re targeting high-profile businesses or elusive prospects. You may spend hours conducting research — from scouring websites to contacting employees and gathering data from phone calls. Marketing automation tools make understanding your leads a sinch and don’t require tons and tons of manual digging. More specifically, they can: Track lead behavior: By leveraging marketing automation software within your CRM, salespeople have insights at their fingertips. They can see what pages of their website their leads have visited, what emails they have clicked on, and what online forms they have filled out. Not only does this help salespeople build relationships faster, but ultimately allows them to respond to leads more quickly. Track lead information: Why not automate your qualification process so... --- ### How to Recession-Proof Your Agency > There's continuous talks of a recession being right around the corner. Is your agency prepared? Here's how to recession-proof. - Published: 2023-02-23 - Modified: 2024-02-05 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/recession-proof-agency/ - Categories: Agency The global financial crisis and the burst of the U. S. housing bubble signaled the beginning of the Great Recession, which spanned from 2007 to 2009 and heralded the end for many small businesses. And while it is still just speculation that another recession may be looming around the corner, as an agency, you should always be prepared for its possibility. That means mapping out ways to ensure your business survives an economic downturn and staying a step ahead just in case a recession happens sooner rather than later. Strategies for Recession-Proofing Your Agency The better you plan, the better protected your agency will be, regardless of the economic outlook. With that in mind, here are some strategies to help you make sure your agency is as recession-proof as possible. Keep On Marketing Marketing is the lifeblood of any business. And for you and your clients, it’s important to keep up with all of your marketing activities and channels, so you’re in a good position to weather a financial storm. Most businesses pay less attention to marketing during an economic downturn. Gain a competitive edge ahead of (and during) a recession by doing the opposite, keeping your marketing efforts going strong and maintaining those ties with your audience. Similarly, advertising costs get lower as economic insecurity rises since businesses cut back on ad spending. Leave room in the budget to take advantage of low advertising competition and snag some high-value ads at a lower price than you’d get them otherwise.... --- ### How to Create Team Goals that are Measurable > Creating goals for your small business to achieve is just part of a growing business. But here's how to make sure they're measureable. - Published: 2023-02-23 - Modified: 2023-03-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-create-team-goals-that-are-measurable/ - Categories: Small Business It’s the New Year, and while many of us would like to start anew, the reality is that we’re still dealing with some 2022 baggage. Talks of a recession have not quieted down, so how you start this year off can have a lasting impact on your business’s sustainability. In order to drive top performance and keep your business looking to the long term, it’s important for you and your team to be goal driven. This is why, as a business owner or manager, you should define goals to help your team understand what you want to accomplish this year. Team goals require the collective participation of every team member. Setting them can be challenging, but it is necessary for you and your team to do your best work and to ensure that you thrive this year, despite all the economic ups and downs being thrown your way. By planning and executing measurable goals, you can better assess your team’s progress, accountability, and performance. This will benefit you, the team, and the business at large. In this article, we’ll go over some tips for setting measurable goals, simplifying goal setting, and giving your team a head start on increasing marketing and sales in 2023. 1. Specify What You Want to Achieve As the owner of your small business, you need to identify the purpose of setting a goal and what you hope to achieve by doing so. You can begin by identifying areas where the business is falling behind and... --- ### The Why, How, and What Behind Social Media Marketing > In this blog post we dissect social media marketing and break down social channels and the type of content you should be publishing on each. - Published: 2023-02-23 - Modified: 2023-05-18 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/social-media-marketing/ - Categories: Social Media A lot of brands think that as long as they’re posting on social media, they’ve got everything covered. The truth is, that just isn’t enough these days. Social media is quickly becoming the go-to for consumers and brand advocates. While websites will always have their importance, social media is a popular channel for people to learn more about brands, follow along, and find out more information quickly. Brands need to be taking advantage of social media popularity to not only get their brands out there but to tap into their audience demographics to actively advertise their products and services. Let’s break down social media marketing so you can get a better grasp on what it is, how to implement it, and why pairing it with email marketing is a fail-proof way to create more revenue. What is Social Media Marketing? Social media marketing involves utilizing social media platforms—where users can build networks to share information—as part of a marketing strategy. Businesses can use social media platforms to help build their brand, increase sales, and drive website traffic. Social media marketing provides a way to engage with existing customers and reach new ones. Using purpose-built data analytics, marketers and businesses can track the success of their efforts and identify more ways to engage. With social media marketing, companies can promote content that drives engagement to extract geographic, demographic, and personal information that helps messaging resonate with users. Why Your Business Should Practice Social Media Marketing The use of social media has... --- ### Email Marketing Software Comparison: A 2022 Recap > 2022 was a great year for email marketing. Let's do a comparison of the top email marketing software from last year. - Published: 2023-02-21 - Modified: 2024-05-07 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-software-comparison/ - Categories: Email Marketing 2022 was another great year for email marketing. Last year, 40 billion people used email daily. What’s more, over 80% of companies utilize email marketing to gain and keep customers. With email marketing software being the second most used tool, it’s needless to say that email marketing has not only proven to be effective but it’s played a huge role in getting brands closer to their prospective clients and customers last year. However, with so many tools available to choose from, how can marketers be sure they’re picking a solution that is right for their needs? Let’s do an email marketing software comparison and look at some of the most popular email marketing software used last year. We’ll compare each platform by looking at costs, features, and ease of use. Let’s dive in! 7 Most Popular Email Marketing Software in 2022 1. Benchmark Email Naturally, we have to include our own email marketing platform: Benchmark Email! It’s a comprehensive email marketing tool designed to provide users with what they need to create and manage successful email marketing campaigns. Is there a free plan? Yes! Benchmark Email offers a Free plan that allows users to store 500 contacts and send up to 3,500 emails a month. What are the other package options and prices? Lite: Starts at $9. 99/month Pro: Starts at $15/month Enterprise: Custom pricing What about email templates? With Benchmark Email, you can easily create beautiful emails using templates and send them out to your contact lists. The wide... --- ### The 5 Biggest Challenges of Turning a Lead Into a Customer and How to Overcome Them > There are a lot of challenges that come with turning a lead into a customer. But we've addressed them and how to overcome them. - Published: 2023-02-16 - Modified: 2023-02-09 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/turning-a-lead-into-a-customer-challenges/ - Categories: Sales Marketers and business owners understand the importance of generating leads, and that's why 50% of marketers consider it a top priority. However, generating leads is just the first step in getting paying customers for your business. The journey of nurturing leads into customers is fraught with big challenges. In this blog post, we've highlighted the top five biggest challenges you may come across in your funnel and lead generation activities—and how you can avoid them. Let's jump in. The Biggest Obstacles to Winning New Customers When it comes down to it, there are several obstacles that could prevent you from converting a lead to a customer. Below are the most challenging ones we have come across. Knowing The Needs of Your Leads Understanding the needs of your leads informs how you nurture them through your sales funnel. Without this knowledge, selling to your leads becomes a herculean task. Without enough information and customer insights, it's easy to lose sight of what you should be feeding your leads. Start by setting up a good lead capture system to gather the essential information about your leads. Website forms allow you to track what you need, like name, email address, industry, budget, etc. , so you can understand who you’re selling to. Avoid getting third-party information and verify details to rule out inconsistencies, as conflicting information makes your selling ineffective. Spend time learning about your target market, its pain points, and needs. With these, you will be able to create a targeted sales... --- ### How to Do A/B Testing and Why You Should > Let's discuss why a/b testing is so important for your email marketing, and various ways you can use it in your strategy. - Published: 2023-02-15 - Modified: 2024-01-23 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/a-b-testing/ - Categories: Email Marketing, Benchmark Recommends If you’re in marketing, chances are you’ve heard about A/B testing. As for whether you’ve actually had time to put it into practice, that’s a whole other story. For small business owners or marketers who are trying to do everything themselves, it can be tough to add yet another task to the ever-revolving list of marketing must-dos. But A/B testing has a ton of utility in terms of helping your email marketing efforts succeed — and it’s often the easiest path to determining what is and what isn’t going to work for you. If you’re new to A/B testing — or if you’re just not confident you have the time to put it into practice — we’re here to help. Keep reading to learn about the basics of A/B testing, including why it’s important and how to implement it in your email marketing strategy. What is A/B Testing? A/B testing, also known as split testing, is a randomized marketing experiment that compares the outcomes of two methods: the A method and the B method. This type of two-sample hypothesis testing is used widely by marketers, especially when it comes to email marketing. It allows you to test various features and formats and see which performs better with your audience. It can be used to compare results on everything from subject lines and body copy to image and CTA placement. A/B Test Vs. Split Test We often get asked the question: is there a difference between an A/B test and a... --- ### What Is a Good Email Marketing Open Rate? > What is a good email open rate and what isn't? We dive into this with examples from our industry benchmarks report. - Published: 2023-02-14 - Modified: 2023-05-18 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-open-rate/ - Categories: Email Marketing Email marketing is just like other digital marketing tactics: even though you start each campaign with a clear goal and strategy, you have to constantly make adjustments to remain on course. However, you can’t improve what you can’t measure. That’s why email marketers monitor the key metrics to know what to adjust and how and when to do it. One of the most important email metrics is the open rate, and in this article, we’ll cover everything you need to know about this key performance indicator (including what’s going to change with recent iOS privacy updates). Email Open Rate: The Biggest Email Metric What’s the email open rate? An email open rate is the number of unique opens divided by the number of delivered emails multiplied by a hundred. For example, if you send 20 emails and five of them bounce (don’t reach the subscriber inbox), it means the number of delivered emails is 15. If out of the delivered emails, ten are opened, then the open rate is: (10/15)*100 = 66. 67%. The open rate is one of the key email marketing metrics. High open rates mean your subject lines are compelling readers to open the email. On the other hand, if rates are low, it could be a sign that you need to segment your subscribers better or strengthen your subject lines. What’s the Average Open Rate? According to our recent Email Marketing Benchmarks report, the average open rate is 19. 96%. However, open rates vary across industries... --- ### What is an Acquisition Email and Why You're Under-Utilizing It > Have you ever heard of an acquisition email? It's all about using email marketing to gather new customers, and here's why it works. - Published: 2023-02-09 - Modified: 2023-02-02 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/acquisition-email/ - Categories: Email Marketing There’s no denying that if you don’t continually acquire new customers, your profit margins will plateau or decline. Remember: more customers mean more income — and more income means more profit. There are many ways to win new customers, and acquisition email sits right up there with the most effective methods. In this guide, we’ll delve into the intricacies of the acquisition email. We'll define acquisition email and shed light on why it’s a beneficial tactic for getting you new business consistently. By the end of this article, you’ll be able to determine how to get the best out of using acquisition emails and how to use email automation to enhance your acquisition strategy. What is an Acquisition Email? Acquisition email marketing is the process of using email to acquire new customers. Unlike the usual email marketing approach where you target customers on your email list, acquisition email entails sending emails to prospects with whom you don’t have an existing relationship. In other words, acquisition email helps you tap into a section of your audience that other marketing channels haven’t reached yet. This isn’t as simple as sending product information to prospective customers. Instead, it’s a meticulous process where each email nudges prospects down the sales funnel, bringing them closer to conversion. And that only happens when you create personalized content that appeals to the target audience. However, good content alone is not enough. Timing is also crucial: you must send out an action-invoking email that lands in the subscriber... --- ### How to Build an eCommerce Marketing Strategy > Every eCommerce business needs a marketing strategy to ensure their goals are being met and they're staying competitive. - Published: 2023-02-08 - Modified: 2023-03-27 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ecommerce-marketing-strategy/ - Categories: Ecommerce Data show that 58. 4% of today’s working-age internet users buy something online every week. If you've started an eCommerce business, that should be music to your ears. It means there’s a ready market for your products. However, to make the most out of this opportunity, you must first come up with an eCommerce marketing strategy. A marketing strategy helps you enhance brand awareness, drive steady traffic to your eCommerce site, and stimulate more regular and lucrative orders. In this guide, we’ll share a step-by-step guide on how to build an effective eCommerce marketing strategy. We did comprehensive research and compiled an actionable guide that will give your online retail business the impetus to thrive. Let’s get straight into it. 1. Outline your Goals Doing eCommerce marketing without SMART goals is akin to taking a shot in the dark. You’ll waste your resources barking up the wrong tree, and your business won’t thrive. So, before anything else, stipulate your eCommerce marketing goals. Here are some of the marketing goals that you might choose to focus on: Increase website traffic Boost referral traffic Improve brand awareness Increase the number of repeat buyers Increase overall revenue You should also decide on the key performance indicator (KPI) for each goal. What will success look like once you implement your eCommerce marketing strategy? You’ll need the KPIs so you can measure performance and determine if your tactics are working. 2. Research Your Target Audience Next, identify your target market and create buyer personas. Conduct... --- ### 7 Components of an Effective Email Header > Your email header is the first thing your email recipients see when they open your emails. Here are 7 components of an effective email header. - Published: 2023-02-07 - Modified: 2023-02-02 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-header/ - Categories: Email Marketing The return on investment (ROI) of email is incredibly enticing — Litmus puts it at 3600%. However, to get that ROI, or anything close to that, you must get the email header, body, and footer right. This guide will examine the all-important first part: the email header. Email headers play a vital role in the overall success of your email campaigns. An effective email header — one that reveals the purpose of the email — sets the tone for your message. It hooks the reader and makes them want to read the entire email. Read on to learn why a great email header is crucial. We’ll discuss seven components of an email header and suggest best practices to ensure every header is highly effective at driving your email marketing goals. But first, let’s go over the basics: What is an Email Header? An email header in HTML email templates refers to chunks of code that contain data critical to email deliverability. It includes sender-recipient details, MIME version, message ID, return path, X-Spam status, and more. However, that’s not the type of email headers we’ll discuss here. Instead, we’ll focus on the design elements of headers that appear at the top of your emails. Why is the Email Header So Important? As mentioned above, an effective email header describes the purpose of your emails in a way that hooks the target audience. It encourages the audience to read your email, and in doing so, it boosts: Email open rates: A great... --- ### AI- Generated Content: A Marketer's Dream > Unless you live under a rock, you've probably heard of AI-generated content. But are you using it to your full advantage? - Published: 2023-02-02 - Modified: 2023-01-24 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ai-generated-content/ - Categories: Content Marketing According to the 2022 McKinsey AI adoption study, the adoption of AI has more than doubled since 2017. Businesses are finding more and more use cases for AI, with Deloitte claiming 79% of companies have had a full-scale deployment of AI for three or more types of AI applications. Business leaders are always looking for novel ways to leverage AI capabilities, and marketing teams should be no exception. In this guide, we’ll delve into the nuances of AI-generated content. We’ll reveal how brands use AI to drive their content marketing efforts and discuss the benefits and drawbacks of using AI-generated content. Do search engines such as Google frown upon AI content? Keep reading to find all the answers. What is AI-Generated Content? We asked ChatGPT this question, and the answer was impressive. “AI-generated content is any media produced by artificial intelligence algorithms, including articles, blogs, podcasts, social posts, ads, and more. ” The answer is AI-generated content, which exemplifies what you can achieve with AI systems as far as creating content goes. AI content tools leverage machine learning techniques to create content, but the quality can vary. Some tools are capable of producing content that’s almost indistinguishable from the content human writers create. On the other hand, some AI tools churn out simplistic and flawed content. We’ll discuss more about this in the sections below. There are numerous AI content tools in the market, including: CopyAI Jasper AI Frase WriterSonic Peppertype Copysmith Article Forge However, besides creating content, AI systems... --- ### Top-of-the-Funnel Content Breakdown > Content at the top-of-the-funnel is geared towards brand awareness and should let your audience know what you're all about. - Published: 2023-02-01 - Modified: 2023-02-06 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/top-of-the-funnel-content-breakdown/ - Categories: Inbound Marketing Guiding your leads through the buyer’s journey necessitates high-quality content that’s driven to take them to the next step. It’s why having a marketing automation tool (and using it correctly) is so crucial. The more you understand about your leads and where they’re at in their journey, the better you’re able to create personalized content that’s tailored to their needs. But even before that, you need to have a full understanding of the buyer’s journey itself and the type of content that applies to each stage. So much rides on producing the right content for the right leads at the right time. So, we’re creating a series of posts driven toward examining the role of content in various stages of the funnel. Today, let’s start from the top. Marketing From the Top Down Top-of-the-funnel marketing refers to efforts taken to build brand awareness and engage with prospects who might not yet know much about your brand or what you have to offer. Leads at this stage have established a problem that needs to be solved. Most likely, they’ve already begun searching for solutions. They may have come across your company as one that is somewhat related to their needs, though they’re not quite sure yet that you’ve got the answer they’re looking for. Converting leads isn’t something that just happens on its own, though. Ninety-six percent of visitors that come to your site aren’t ready to buy. But what they find when they get there could be the defining factor... --- ### 5 Ethical Ways to Get More Backlinks > When it comes to acquiring more backlinks for your website, it can seem like most of the practices are shady. But that's not true. - Published: 2023-02-01 - Modified: 2023-03-23 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/5-ethical-ways-to-get-more-backlinks/ - Categories: Marketing Getting high-quality backlinks is very challenging. That’s because a link from another website is like an endorsement, and the higher quality the website, the more difficult it becomes to get that type of recommendation. Yet, backlinks are listed among Google’s eight most important ranking factors, so it’s not something you can afford to ignore. But how do you go about implementing an effective backlink strategy that is legit? The LAST thing you want to do is pay money to have your links included on websites or attempt other not-so-ethical practices. You’ll want to earn your links, which can only happen if you’re willing to roll up your sleeves, get your hands dirty and be a little creative with your approach. The good news is, you don’t have to have a Ph. D. in search engine optimization to win at this piece of the puzzle. You just have to focus on building thought leadership and pair that approach with some specific strategies. Here are a few above-the-board tactics to get you started and earn high-quality backlinks in no time. How to Get More Backlinks Claim Unlinked Mentions This one’s probably the easiest and fastest way to start ramping up your backlinks. All you have to do is find out who’s mentioning your company online. The simplest way to do this is by setting up a Google Alert or using tools like BuzzSumo, Mention or Ahrefs Content Explorer so that you’ll get a notification any time your business is mentioned. When you... --- ### How to Make Sure Your Content Is Optimized For Voice Search > Voice search is becoming a more and more popular way to find what you need. But is your business prepared to take advantage? - Published: 2023-02-01 - Modified: 2023-03-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-optimize-your-content-for-search/ - Categories: Content Marketing Wonder what the weather will be like today? Ask Alexa. Need to add an item to your grocery list? Tell Google. Want to call your spouse? Have Siri dial for you. It used to be that we could accomplish almost anything at the click of a button. Now, we don’t even have to lift a finger. All we have to do is speak, and the simplest tasks, like ordering takeout or changing the channel on the TV, are accomplished. Voice command has been a modern comfort for quite a while now. Not only has it made getting off the couch unnecessary, but it’s also shifted the way we conduct searches and how search engines generate results. Instead of typing a few disjointed words in Google and hitting search, we’re speaking our search phrases, and when doing so, it’s in a more conversational flow. This simple shift in our search approach, while convenient for most of us, is forcing marketers and brands working on their SEO strategies to go back to the drawing board. Getting your content to rank in voice search means adjusting your content so that it aligns more with the conversational flow in which voice searches are being conducted. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. So, how can you be sure you’re doing all you can to optimize your content for voice search? We’ve got five tips that you can implement immediately: 1. Claim Your Business Listings Searches performed on smartphones, and other hand-held or wearable... --- ### What is Technical SEO and Why Your Site Needs It > You've heard of SEO, but have you heard of technical SEO and what it means for your company's site? Read on to learn more. - Published: 2023-02-01 - Modified: 2023-08-02 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/what-is-technical-seo/ - Categories: Marketing SEO. Is it the bane of your marketing team’s existence or the guiding force behind your SEO strategy? If we had to guess, we’d say it’s probably both. We spend a lot of time talking about SEO, be it how valuable an SEO strategy is, or the dangers of skipping SEO altogether. And for a good reason. Your content-driven SEO efforts majorly impact how well your site performs and can make all the difference in attracting new customers to your website instead of your competitors’ pages. But with so much focus on keywords and shareable graphics, too many organizations are letting another key piece of the puzzle fall by the wayside: technical SEO. Whether you’re new to the SEO game or just need a refresher on what technical SEO is and why it’s so crucial for your site’s success, keep reading for the basics that will help you ace your efforts and better optimize your site’s performance. What Is Technical SEO? Technical SEO is a strategy designed to assist search engines in interpreting and qualifying the various pages of your site, which in turn helps those pages increase their rankings. Search engines rely on a lot of clues to figure out what your pages are about and where they fall in terms of relevancy and authority. These clues and indicators have a significant role in determining how well your pages rank and if they will ultimately rank higher than your competitors’ pages. SEO is a concerted effort to provide the... --- ### How to Put Together an Editorial Calendar: A Step-by-Step Guide > An editorial calendar ensures you're consistently publishing high-quality content that your audience craves. Here's how to create one. - Published: 2023-02-01 - Modified: 2024-09-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-put-together-an-editorial-calendar/ - Categories: Content Marketing If you’re a marketer, it goes without saying that your content marketing is a huge part of your strategy. Putting together an editorial calendar to help you track, manage, and coordinate your efforts with your team is an absolute must. Honestly, I don’t think you can be serious about content marketing if you don’t have one. Aside from keeping everyone aligned, your editorial calendar ensures you meet deadlines, think proactively about how to make your content more compelling, and provides a bird’s eye view of what piece of content is in which stage. But how do you actually go about putting one together? Where do you even start? There are quite a few steps to creating an effective and helpful editorial calendar, and some of them start long before you begin planning your content. Here’s how to get started: 1. Identify Your Target Audience Before you plan out the content, you need to know who you’re planning your content for. For this reason, you must start the editorial calendar process by first fully defining your audience — their interests, their needs, their biggest pain points, etc. Begin this process by creating customer personas for the various people you’re going to be targeting with your content. Be specific, honing in on the people who are most likely to purchase and utilize your product or service and the characteristics and behaviors that they share in common, as well as the characteristics and behaviors that set each type of customer apart. If you... --- ### Don’t Let the Sun Set On Your Emails: Create A Sunset Policy. > A sunset policy ensures you're not actively emailing unenagaged email addresses, which can negatively affect your deliverability. - Published: 2023-02-01 - Modified: 2023-02-02 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/create-a-sunset-policy/ - Categories: Email Marketing Rejection comes in many forms. Being stood up on a date; When your boss hard passes on one of your ideas; Or, when leads stop responding to your emails, just to name a few. Rejection is no fun. It can make you feel like you don’t matter, or that all the effort you put in getting ready for that date or impressing your boss was pointless. But, how you choose to handle that rejection can make all the difference. You can either wallow in your rejection and never try at something again, or you can learn from it. In marketing, when leads stop opening your emails, the message they’re trying to send you is clear: I’m no longer interested. While the rejection may sting a little bit, it’s more important to focus on how you’ll choose to move forward. Do you continue to waste your time and send more emails to these disengaged contacts? Or, do you find a way to manage them that is more beneficial? What is A Sunset Policy, and Why Is Having One Important? A sunset policy is a plan for managing leads who are no longer engaging with or opening your email messaging. So, there are people who aren’t opening your emails, no harm, no foul, right? Wrong. Whether or not your emails make it to the inbox depends on a lot of factors, including your past track record. Every person who doesn’t engage with your email is a strike against you, and can negatively... --- ### How to Build an Effective Sales Team > Your sales team helps keep your business running. And building an effective one is of the upmost of importance. - Published: 2023-02-01 - Modified: 2024-09-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-build-an-effective-sales-team/ - Categories: Sales Modern salespeople wear many hats. Selling isn’t their only job, and they are just as responsible for educating the consumer as they are selling to them. It can add a lot to their plates and make their jobs a lot more challenging. In fact, 61percent of salespeople stated it was much harder to sell than it was five years ago. It’s not an easy business, which is why building a productive and resilient sales team is critical to the success of a company. In this article, we’ll explore some essential practices business leaders should implement to assemble a team of top-performing salespeople. Consider An Internal Hire First Bad hires are costly, so it’s important to take your time and do it right. The best place to start when building a sales team is to consider the resources you already have. The most successful sales hires are typically internal. Why? Well, these people already know the brand, company policies, expectations, and ROI of what your company offers. They’re well-versed with your service and product, which makes the learning curve much lower than if you were to hire externally. Before you look outside the company, open the job up internally. If you need to, ask around for referrals. Perhaps there is someone in operations that would love to try sales. Don’t eliminate someone if they don’t have direct experience. Sometimes, the best salespeople are the ones you can train from the bottom up. Know Who You Want Before you can hire someone,... --- ### 10 Blog Metrics You Should be Using to Track Success > How do you know if your blog is doing your company any good? You need metrics to keep it on track. Here are 10 blog metrics to track success. - Published: 2023-02-01 - Modified: 2023-02-02 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/blog-metrics-to-track-success/ - Categories: Content Marketing Your company blog is one of your most valuable marketing assets. Since it’s owned media, you can essentially write content on whatever topics your heart desires. This gives you a lot of liberties, unlike publishing content on outside publications, as those outlets have specific guidelines to follow and their own agendas. So when you have a very important product to push, service to highlight, or want to speak more specifically on an experience or feature pertaining to your business, your blog is an undeniable resource to utilize. You create the rules because you’re the one putting it together, editing it, refining it, and sharing it out to the world. But mistakes can be made. The blog you build is no good if it’s not performing, and if it’s also your main form of consistently published content (which it often is), it needs to deliver. If no one is reading it, it’s not converting new site visitors to prospects, or you can hear crickets in the comment section, then you know you must be doing something wrong. And it’s no fun putting all that work into something that yields very little return. But how do you know you’re getting the most out of every blog post you create? How do you effectively measure the success of your blog? Here are the metrics you should look at that ultimately determine whether or not your blog content is resonating with your audience. 10 Blog Metrics That Determine Success We’ve compiled a list of... --- ### 4 Deadly Small Business Mistakes You Must Avoid > Your small business is your livelihood. Ensuring it is successful means staying away from these four deadly mistakes. - Published: 2023-02-01 - Modified: 2025-05-13 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/small-business-mistakes/ - Categories: Small Business There are about 28. 8 million small businesses in the United States, each of them with their own unique challenges and objectives. And while with most things in life a mistake here or there isn't a major travesty, a mistake in running your small business - even a tiny one - can mean the end. Only 20 percent of businesses fail within their first year, and by the end of their fifth year, 50 percent of all businesses fail. If you want to beat the odds, you need to be incredibly careful with how you run your operations, especially when it comes to avoiding common small business mistakes. Don't let limited resources stand in the way of long-term success. Here are four of the deadliest small business mistakes and why it's crucial to stay clear of them. 1. Not Having a Marketing Team A marketing team can seem like a luxury for a small business, but in reality, it's a necessity. One of the biggest marketing challenges is getting new clients, which directly relates to generating new revenue for your company. Marketing teams - even if they're just one or two people - help establish your company brand and ensure that you're both solidifying your message and reaching as many people as possible with it. All businesses, large or small, need to attract new prospects and turn those prospects into customers. It doesn't matter what you're selling, who you're trying to attract, or how big your budget is - if... --- ### 8 Ways to Reuse Old Blog Posts > Your old blog posts may have been published already, but there are other ways you can use them to get the most out of them. - Published: 2023-02-01 - Modified: 2023-02-10 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/8-ways-to-reuse-old-blog-posts/ - Categories: Content Marketing When you browse your blog posts, I’m sure you see a lot of amazing topics. Perhaps you’re even thinking to yourself that it would be great if you could reuse those same topics to create new, original content to engage your readers further. Well, the truth is that you can. The trick is to figure out how to reuse old blog posts without simply self-plagiarizing and republishing the same content. Doing so not only has distrust ramifications for you and your audience, but you’re also not being that educational resource your audience needs. Not to mention, Google dislikes duplicate information immensely. If it seems that you are in the habit of just repeating the same information over and over again, your blog’s search rankings will be negatively affected. But don’t let all that worthwhile information go to waste. Start repurposing and reusing your valuable blog content in a way that further serves your audience and doesn’t get your content flagged for self-plagiarism. Here’s how. 1. Turn One Blog Post Into Multiple Posts I know, I know. This sounds tedious. But I promise it’s not. Take one of your valuable blog posts and read through it, searching for points that could easily be their own article. Use the base information you have and fill it out, so your content is still of a similar vein, yet maintains its uniqueness and originality. Take, for example, our blog post on “10 Blog Metrics You Should be Using to Track Success. ” One of... --- ### 4 Common Small Business Problems and How to Solve Them > When your small business hits a snag, it can feel like the end is near. Here are some common small business problems, and solutions. - Published: 2023-02-01 - Modified: 2023-02-02 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/common-small-business-problems/ - Categories: Small Business As a small business owner, there are a number of common issues that you’ll inevitably find yourself having to deal with, regardless of whether you’re a brand new startup, or on your way to rapid growth. To succeed, it’s crucial that you avoid the big mistakes and have a plan of action for the smaller, more common ones. We all know that knowledge is power. Having an idea of what these common problems are can help prevent them from stressing you out and negatively impacting your success. Below, I’ve rounded up four of the most frequently experienced challenges that come with owning a small business, along with some expert advice on how to get through them unscathed. Motivating Employees You may eat, sleep, and breathe your business, but that doesn’t necessarily mean your employees will share that same deep-seated passion. People are driven by different things, which can further complicate matters. What might ignite a spark within one individual may not work for another, and vice versa. The secret to keeping your team plugged in and chugging toward your goals is to figure out what motivates each of them and then customize your approach accordingly. Perhaps an incentive program is all you need to boost motivation. Don’t be afraid to ask them how they’re doing and if they’re feeling fulfilled and driven by their work. This can give you a good read of how to further engage and motivate them, or determine if they just may not be a fit... --- ### Inbound Marketing 101: Part One – What Is It? > Looking for an introduction to inbound marketing? Look no further! We cover the basics, results, and even some examples. - Published: 2023-02-01 - Modified: 2023-02-06 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/inbound-marketing-what-is-it/ - Categories: Inbound Marketing For hundreds of years, businesses practiced only one form of promotions: outbound marketing or advertising. The idea was to hunt down customers and show them what you had to offer in the hopes that they’d buy what you sold. Early in the 21st century, marketers began a new method for finding and connecting with customers: inbound marketing. Inbound marketing turns traditional marketing efforts on its head. While outbound marketing included buying ad space, buying mail and email lists, and hoping for the best, inbound marketing changed the focus to concentrate on quality content. By delivering relevant content, you can guide people toward your company where they’ll discover your products and services. By creating content your customers are interested in, you attract more qualified prospects than the scattershot ad approach does. And these benefits are just the tip of the iceberg. Inbound Marketing Benefits Inbound marketing has a wide variety of benefits, all of which are proven to work well in the digital age. Inbound marketing can: Attract more qualified leads, giving you a higher percentage of sales per click. Keep customers coming back to your site again and again. Have staying power. Evergreen content can live on your site forever and continuously deliver results. Provide great educational resources for your audience. Help position your brand as a leader in your industry. While most of its tactics are free, facilitating an effective inbound marketing strategy requires many labor-hours. Also, results don’t come quickly. Unlike sales ads or discount specials, inbound marketing... --- ### Inbound Marketing 101: Part Two – How to Implement It > Part two of our inbound marketing series covers specific ways to put an inbound strategy in place. No steps are skipped here. - Published: 2023-02-01 - Modified: 2024-09-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/inbound-marketing-how-to-implement-it/ - Categories: Inbound Marketing Inbound marketing may be the most effective way to promote your business, but setting up a campaign can be a daunting task. The sheer mass of content that needs to be created can look like a formidable wall to climb, but it’s actually more like a set of stairs. One reason inbound marketing can seem so overwhelming is that it’s never really finished. It’s an ongoing strategy that keeps going and going. The best way to avoid feeling discouraged is by looking at your marketing in a completely different way. It’s no longer a process with a distinct beginning and end. Instead, think of it as a journey with a succession of milestones along the way. Every time you reach another significant point, you’ll begin to see better results. There will always be more steps in the journey, but that means you can continue increasing your bottom line through inbound marketing. Once you change your perception of inbound marketing and how you plan to identify results, you’re ready to start implementing an inbound marketing strategy for your business. The following are some steps to take to ensure you do so effectively. 1. Know Your Audience Every marketing campaign begins with establishing your ideal customer. In the past, there were general audience outlines that helped steer the direction of campaigns. For example, an ideal customer may have been a mother in her mid-30’s living in a suburb, or a 20-something male just out of college with a sudden influx of disposable... --- ### Inbound Marketing 101: Part Three – The Tools You Need > For part three of our inbound marketing series, we cover the tools you need to pull everything off, including social media and email. - Published: 2023-02-01 - Modified: 2023-04-26 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/inbound-marketing-the-tools-you-need/ - Categories: Inbound Marketing In part one of this series, we covered what inbound marketing is, but let’s reiterate it for the listeners in the back. In a nutshell, inbound marketing allows you to create a pathway that attracts visitors to your website, converts them to prospects, and nurture them with personalized content until they eventually are ready to buy. In part two of our series, we outlined specific ways you can implement inbound marketing tactics for optimal success. But what’s crucial to understand is that your implementation tactics will no doubt require some essential tools. Your inbound marketing strategy will demand a social media calendar, digital advertising, a keyword plan of attack and an SEO strategy, and consistent content creation, just to name a few. You can only be successful, though, if you can measure and manage your results to see where you’re hitting your goals and where you need to make adjustments. By using the right combination of technology and tools, you can provide your marketing team with everything they need to be effective at inbound marketing. Let’s dig into the various areas within your strategy where you’ll need some additional help and call out some of the tools that you can try. Website Building If you don’t want to (or simply can’t afford to) pay a professional top dollar, you have the option to create your own website using one of many different site builder programs available. If you’re a complete amateur and have no experience, go for one of the... --- ### 5 Tips For Successful Sales Forecasting > Every business would flounder without a steady stream of sales. Use our tips for successful sales forecasting to keep sales coming in. - Published: 2023-02-01 - Modified: 2023-02-02 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/tips-for-successful-sales-forecasting/ - Categories: Sales Every business would flounder without a steady stream of sales. And what sets top, high-performing businesses apart from all the rest is their ability to master their sales tactics. Not only are their strategies successful, but they’re consistent. As the famous saying goes, ‘long-term consistency trumps short-term intensity. ’ But delivering consistently isn’t that easy. With things like the changing economy, lack of demands, and budgetary restrictions, consistent sales pipelines can seem like a fairy tale. What makes sales a little more predictable, however, is accurate sales forecasting. If you know what’s coming in the next month, you can set B2B goals that are both ambitious and achievable. You’ll also know how to beat those goals, as the process of forecasting itself reveals a team’s strengths and weaknesses. Before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s dive deeper into what sales forecasting is. What is Sales Forecasting? In short, sales forecasting is predicting sales to help you boost your business efficiency and better allocate resources for the months to come. Sales forecasting is quite important for small businesses in particular. They’re the most vulnerable to seasonality, change of the market trends, and new competitors in the area. Likewise, a big company gets the luxury of many variables canceling each other out. A small business, however, can be dramatically impacted by a single big deal that fails to go through. Having a perfectly built sales pipeline gives you an edge over the competition and helps your company to adapt to any shifts... --- ### 8 Ways to Provide Your Clients With More Value > Become the go-to resource for your clients. Here are eight essential ways to provide clients with more value. - Published: 2023-02-01 - Modified: 2024-07-03 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ways-to-provide-your-clients-with-more-value/ - Categories: Small Business No one likes client turnover. You want to keep your clients happy because happy clients mean a steady income. And to keep them happy, you need to ensure that you’re providing them with plenty of value in both the short and the long-term. Customer loyalty and retention are often at the heart of a successful business. A mere five percent increase in customer retention can lead to a 25 percent increase in profit. A retention strategy adds value a lot faster and more efficiently than one focused on bringing in new clients. And as we all know, very happy customers and very unhappy customers are the ones who are most likely to share their experience with others. So it’s definitely to your advantage to ensure there are more of the former than the latter. You know that providing more value is essential, but do you know how to ensure you’re doing it? Here are eight tips to follow that will help you keep your clients happy and keep your client retention strong. 1. Don’t Make a Promise You Can’t Keep This rule is pretty standard for providing stellar client service. To provide value, you need to meet your clients’ expectations, and then some. It’s important to always deliver on what you say you will since this helps strengthen the bonds of client-business relationships and ensures your clients know they’re important to you. Plus, it shows them that you’re not a liar, which is always good. If you’re worried about setting... --- ### 5 Key Stages of Market Research > Market research helps ensure your business stays competitive and desireable in the market. Here are the key stages of market research. - Published: 2023-02-01 - Modified: 2023-02-06 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/key-stages-of-market-research/ - Categories: Marketing We all remember doing research projects in school. They mostly entailed staring at your screen or notebook until you could muster up the motivation to start writing and organizing ideas. I’m sure a lot of us promised ourselves we wouldn’t put ourselves through that kind of ordeal again, but we weren’t banking on required work-related research. It would be simple if market research wasn’t needed. But the truth is, a business cannot be successful if it doesn’t adequately reach and cater to its ideal customer. And in order to do this, you must take the time to get to know who those customers (or segments of customers) are. This information will help you develop products or services that will satisfy the needs of the people in your target market. In addition, thorough market research will help you identify new opportunities to further improve and grow your business. Here are the five fundamental ways to systematically analyze all angles relating to your product, service, and business as a whole. Market Analysis The first stage involves determining which market you will be targeting. Take all the available information into consideration, including geographical data and demographic details. Pinpoint the typical behavior of your target market and attempt to understand what their values are. It’s also important to remain aware of any possible market variations that may occur, such as a change in the number of clients due to evolving population trends. Part of your market analysis involves examining the various customer segments within... --- ### Tips for an Effective Brainstorming Session > Brainstorms have to be productive, otherwise they're a waste of time. Here are some tips for an effective brainstorming session. - Published: 2023-02-01 - Modified: 2023-02-06 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/tips-for-an-effective-brainstorming-session/ - Categories: Small Business The quality of the ideas that come out of a brainstorming session is largely dependent on the quality of the brainstorming session itself. And that takes some planning. A lot of people hate meetings. Heck, maybe most of us hate meetings. But they are necessary sometimes, and that includes when you need to put your best minds together to come up with new ideas. Here are six tips to make sure that your brainstorms are productive and worth your time. 1. Have An Agenda Ready to Go Beforehand Trying to wing it is never a good strategy for a brainstorming session — or any meeting for that matter. If your only outlined plan is that you want to come out of the meeting with some good ideas, you’re doing it wrong. If you have no real structure in place for achieving those good ideas, you’re not going to be nearly as successful as you would be if you went in with an agenda. Consider structuring your brainstorming session around a common technique, like mind mapping or word banking, and be clear in your instructions to your attendees. With an agenda in place, you can turn the session into something fun instead of rote and monotonous, and you’ll support more creativity along the way. 2. Set Expectations for the Group Ask each attendee to come up with a few ideas during the meeting. By asking everyone to participate, you open the door to ideas that people might have otherwise kept quiet... --- ### Middle-of-the-Funnel Content Breakdown > For those middle-of-the-funnel leads, here is the type of content you should be creating, sharing, and using. - Published: 2023-02-01 - Modified: 2023-02-06 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/middle-of-the-funnel-content-breakdown/ - Categories: Inbound Marketing Like middle children and middle seats on an airplane, it’s easy to gloss over middle-of-the-funnel marketing. We get it. Top-of-the-funnel content is all about bringing in leads, and the bottom is about closing the deal. But the middle is just as crucial. For part two of our three-part series, we’re diving into middle-funnel content with a look at why it’s so important and how to make sure it successfully moves your leads along to the next stage. Sure it might not be quite so immediately satisfying as lead generation or sales, but the work you put into the middle has the potential to pay off in big ways and is necessary for a successful buyer’s journey. So let’s get to it. Marketing in the Middle The middle of the funnel is where you bridge the gap between the top-of-the-funnel (awareness) and the bottom (decision). Leads at this stage are in the consideration phase of their customer journey, contemplating solutions to their problem and viewing your product or service as a potential fit. And while the bottom of the funnel might be where you finally make your sale, the middle is where much of the magic happens. Your middle-funnel audience is of two varieties: new leads picked up from top-of-the-funnel marketing and current customers you’re trying to urge toward a repeat or additional purchase. With both groups, the content you create and serve at this stage can be the deciding factor in whether or not a sale happens, which speaks to... --- ### Bottom-of-the-Funnel Content Breakdown > For those bottom-of-the-funnel leads, here's the type of content you should be creating, sharing and using in your campaigns. - Published: 2023-02-01 - Modified: 2023-02-06 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/bottom-of-the-funnel-content-breakdown/ - Categories: Inbound Marketing Your product or service can be the best in the industry, but it’s still not going to sell itself. For that, you need an effective sales team — and plenty of high-quality targeted bottom-of-the-funnel content. Marketing automation software provides your brand with a more effective way to understand your leads and provide them with conversion-worthy content, but to get the full utility out of it, you have to put in some of the work yourself. As part of our series on what content marketing looks like at each stage of the buyer’s journey, we’re breaking down what you need to know about making your bottom-of-the-funnel content as productive as possible, including the types of content that you should be focusing on. That’s right. We’ve talked about top-of-the-funnel content and middle-of-the-funnel content. But now it’s time to address content that can make or break a sale. Understanding the Bottom-of-the-Funnel The bottom-of-the-funnel is a good place for your leads to be. At this point, they’ve gained sufficient awareness of your brand’s solution and how it relates to their problem, and they’ve compared it to other options to ensure it’s a good choice. However, they haven’t quite sealed the deal yet. For leads at the bottom-of-the-funnel to pull the trigger on their purchase, they’re going to need a bit more information about what you can offer — which is where your content comes in. Keep in mind that bottom-funnel leads aren’t all the same. Some are new leads, while others are previous customers... --- ### How to Become a Guest-Contributor > Writing guest content boosts your thought leadership and is a big part of your content marketing. Here's how to become a guest-contributor. - Published: 2023-02-01 - Modified: 2025-05-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-become-a-guest-contributor/ - Categories: Content Marketing The beauty of thought leadership is that credibility and trust are at its core. You cannot just deem yourself a thought leader and expect others to consider you one as well. You have to create high-quality content that's reliable and filled with helpful tips. What's more, you have to do so consistently. Writing for your company blog is great, but for your ideas to reach the masses and build credibility, you have to be incorporating a guest-contributor strategy into your overall content marketing strategy. This means contributing guest articles to other sites so you can put your brand in front of a new audience and establish yourself as an expert in your field. In research by LinkedIn and Edelman, 55% of survey respondents said they use thought leadership to vet organizations that they may hire, and 60% said thought leadership has led to them buying a product or service they weren't previously considering. But obtaining that third-party credibility that comes from publishing on trusted online publications requires effort and a tried-and-true process. Here are some steps you can take that will you get one step closer towards becoming a guest-contributor. 1. Create and Publish Your Own Content Since you and your team manage it, your blog is the easiest way to publish your great thoughts and ideas, so start there. To make sure you have a consistent amount of published content, create an editorial calendar that lists the various topics, dates, and stage each article is in. This will also... --- ### Product Life Cycle Stages > If you're working on a product rollout, it's important to identify and understand the entire product life cycle. - Published: 2023-02-01 - Modified: 2023-02-06 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/product-life-cycle-stages/ - Categories: Marketing We talk a lot about the customer life cycle, but let’s not forget another critical cycle that’s key for strategizing your marketing plan: the product life cycle. When preparing for a new product launch and devising how you’re going to build and maintain momentum, it’s crucial that you understand the full product life cycle. Doing so ensures that you set yourself up for success. It’s also a helpful exercise in better grasping the developmental stages that dictate how you should be phrasing your marketing copy. Below, we’ll cover the basics of a standard product life cycle, including the six stages that every marketer should know about. What Is The Product Life Cycle? The product life cycle features unique steps with unique opportunities for storytelling and brand growth. All products follow a life cycle, and all steps within this life cycle offer you a chance to optimize your message and facilitate more interest. An excellent way to understand the importance of the product life cycle for marketing purposes is to look at times when it wasn’t capitalized on. For example, look at Blockbuster. Netflix, Redbox, and the rise of streaming content were the death knell for this ubiquitous brand; despite the fact that before the introduction of these other companies, it was a total market mainstay. Instead of adapting their marketing — and their inventory — to align with their product life cycle, Blockbuster stayed steadfast in their message and purpose — and lost their foothold in the process. We’re not... --- ### How to Run Your Blog Like an Industry Publication > Having a blog is essential. But having a blog that's an industry go-to is even more important for your thought leadership and branding. - Published: 2023-02-01 - Modified: 2025-05-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-run-your-blog-like-an-industry-publication/ - Categories: Content Marketing There are a lot of advantages to having a company blog. You can use it to fuel your backlink strategy, direct traffic to key posts, practice effective SEO, and guide your audience along the buyer's journey. But to get to a point where your audience relies on and looks forward to reading your blog content requires taking specific steps and a bullet-proof strategy. You can't just publish an article here and there and expect to see success. You need to be publishing high-quality content that is tactical and consistent. We're talking about getting your blog to a place where it's considered a trusted and reliable industry resource. There's no reason you can't create a space for experts to go for the most up-to-date and insightful content. Let's go over the steps needed to turn your blog into an industry publication. 1. Create a Documented Content Strategy A documented content strategy is crucial. You need this to ensure the content you're creating is aligned with your goals, addresses your audience's pain points, and keeps your team on the same page. Having it documented somewhere allows you to reference it whenever you need to, so make sure it's stored somewhere everyone has access to. Some things to include in your strategy include: Key audience personas The goals you want to achieve with your content The types of content you want to create A keyword list and SEO strategy A distribution plan to ensure your content gets to the right people 2. Establish... --- ### Why Your Sales Team Should Invest in Building a Personal Brand > When sales reps work toward building a personal brand, they're able to create a network and following that can help them do their job better. - Published: 2023-02-01 - Modified: 2023-07-19 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/building-a-personal-brand/ - Categories: Sales Your brand identity might be at the forefront of building brand awareness and drawing in new leads, but it’s your sales team that’s ultimately responsible for sealing the deal. Sales is the face of your company during a number of essential touchpoints, often providing the first human-to-human contact that a potential customer has with you. And when that team has a personal brand, it can help make your company appear more likable, more trustworthy, and more desirable to partner with. The sales brand is another example of marketing and sales working together toward a common goal. Your sales team’s personal brand is both an extension of and a complement to the message you’ve been sharing in your marketing campaigns. And in some ways, it even helps fill in the gaps that marketing leaves behind. The more competitive advantages you have, the better. Here’s why your sales team should have a personal brand and how to make it happen. What is a Personal Brand in Sales? It’s hard to estimate just how important your sales team is to your overall success as a company. The most critical time to gain a customer’s continued loyalty is during their first purchase or right when service begins, so a lot is riding on the experience they have with sales. A “personal brand” refers to the distinguishing traits that your individual sales team members have. In the sales department, these traits are related to everything from the experience they bring to the table to their... --- ### Are You Using the Right Content for Lead Generation? > Generating leads keeps every business's inbound funnel flowing smoothly. But are you using the right content for lead generation? - Published: 2023-02-01 - Modified: 2023-04-12 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-right-content-for-lead-generation/ - Categories: Content Marketing No matter who you are or what you’re selling, your business always has a need for lead generation. Aside from bringing awareness to your brand, your lead generation efforts help you nurture your prospects and provide your sales team with qualified contacts — and ultimately, it’s one of the most important tactics for consistently achieving your revenue goals. But time is money, and if you’re spending time creating content, it better be bringing in the desired results. So often we go about a strategy thinking we know exactly what we’re doing, only to find out that the methods we’re utilizing aren’t actually correct for driving the results we need. That’s why it’s important that you use the right content to generate leads, and that prospects at all stages of the buyer’s journey have access to content that answers their questions and nudges them closer to a sale. Below, we’ll share three types of content that are specifically driven to help you improve your lead generation efforts, plus the essential tools for maximizing their performance. 3 Types of Lead Generation Content Not all content is geared toward the same purpose. And while any piece of content that you create has the potential to draw in more leads, some formats serve that purpose better than others. Here are three types of content that work wonders when it comes to lead generation, and which should definitely be incorporated into your lead strategy. 1. Gated Content Gated content refers to any content that requires... --- ### What Matters More, Inbound or Outbound Sales? > When it comes to selling, there's an inbound and an outbound approach. For an effective sales strategy, which matters more? - Published: 2023-02-01 - Modified: 2023-02-06 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/what-matters-more-inbound-or-outbound-sales/ - Categories: Sales When it comes to sales, there are two distinctive approaches: inbound and outbound. But which is the strategy you should be focusing more on? Spoiler alert: The answer is neither. If you’ve followed our blogs for a while (thank you! ), you’re probably not surprised that we strongly believe in the power of balance when it comes to your sales and marketing efforts. In sales, as in life, there is rarely an easy way to achieve success. More often, it requires a coordinated strategy that picks and chooses the best practices from various types of initiatives, blending a little bit of this and a little bit of that until you hit the sweet spot. So instead of focusing on inbound sales or outbound sales, you should be focusing on both. And here’s how that works. What Is Outbound Sales? Outbound sales refer to sales conversations that are initiated by the sales rep, not the potential buyer. Instigating buyer engagement can happen in a few ways, including through broad and/or targeted marketing and cold outreach. Instead of just casting a net and sitting back to see if you catch anything, outbound sales involves baiting the hook and pulling on every bite. There are plenty of leads in the sea, after all, and many who, either knowingly or unknowingly, are looking for what you have to sell. What Is Inbound Sales? Inbound sales, which is often interchangeable with inbound marketing, are sales conversations that are initiated by the potential buyer. By expressing... --- ### The Ultimate Guide to Outlining Your Small Business Marketing Budget > Outlining your small business marketing budget isn't always fun, but it's a must. Check out our guide for outling your budget. - Published: 2023-02-01 - Modified: 2023-04-26 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/small-business-marketing-budget-2/ - Categories: Small Business Setting a marketing budget sounds intimidating, but it doesn’t need to be. In fact, you’ll be surprised by how empowering it is. Small business owners know marketing is important, but they also spend a lot of time trying to justify their marketing costs. However, having a marketing budget that’s part of a marketing plan gives small business owners a roadmap for understanding how they’re spending their money and why. Here’s your guide for how to get started. Get To Know Your Sales Funnel Your sales funnel represents the stages someone moves through to go from a stranger to one of your customers. Generally, a sales funnel consists of five main stages: Awareness Phase Interest Phase Evaluation Phase Decision Phase Purchase Phase If you know how much it costs, on average, for someone to move through these phases, you have a rough understanding of how much money it takes to convince someone your product is worth buying. Where are your site views coming from? Identify whether the majority of your site’s hits come from blog posts, videos, infographics, social media posts, Facebook ads, Google ads, etc. If your views are coming from blogs shared on Facebook, you can increase the content you post there and reduce the money spent on less lucrative methods. How many of these views turn into leads? If you have tracking links on call-to-action buttons at the bottom of your blog posts, videos, or landing pages, you can gauge which site views are turning into leads. So... --- ### 3 Types of Content People Want to Consume > It's never smart to just create content for the sake of it. Instead, focus on creating the types of content people actually want to consume. - Published: 2023-02-01 - Modified: 2023-02-06 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/types-of-content-people-want-to-consume/ - Categories: Content Marketing Everyone loves a good blog post. Or do they? When it comes to creating content that connects with your audience, the type of content you produce is just as important as what it has to say. That’s a good reason to diversify your content formats — and to pay special attention to the types of content that people most want to consume. According to NetLine’s 2020 State of B2B Content Consumption Report, there are three kinds of content that people like to engage with most, and no, none of them require a pivot to video. Below, we’ve broken down what you need to know about each type so that you can start putting them to work in your marketing strategy. 1. eBooks eBooks, which vary widely in terms of both scope and length, are excellent tools for engaging with (and expanding) your audience. And download per download, they’re far and away the most impactful type of content you can create. In NetLine’s report, the success of the eBook format is traced to its versatility. Within their pages, they can contain anything from in-depth case studies to industry-guiding thought leadership, leaving your business a lot of room to adapt the message to what benefits you. For the reader, effective eBooks provide an in-depth look at whatever they’re trying to learn about. More so than with articles on your blog, there’s an expectation with an eBook that it’s going to be a true deep dive — so much so that readers are... --- ### How to Write Instagram Captions That Shine > When it comes to Instagram, you may think it's all about the images you share. But your captions matter. Here are some caption tips. - Published: 2023-02-01 - Modified: 2023-02-06 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-write-instagram-captions/ - Categories: Social Media Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms out there. With more than one billion unique users visiting the platform every month, and 63 percent of those users visiting the platform every single day, there’s a lot of opportunity for connecting with both new and potential customers — and a lot of incentive for acing your Instagram game. Social media can impact your entire company. But, about 75 percent of brands use Instagram specifically for marketing, which means that there are many accounts, profiles, and stories to compete with for engagement and likes. And while Instagram is overwhelmingly about the visuals, if you really want your content to stand out, then you’re going to have to put equal amounts of effort into your captions. Yes, that’s right. You can’t just post a picture and keep your captions simple and call it a day. The more thought you put into your Instagram captions, the more likely you will hit that engagement soft spot with your audience. But just because you’re a marketer doesn’t mean you’re the cleverest when it comes to crafting captions (and that’s okay! ). That’s why we’ve provided eight smart and simple tips that can help you make your Instagram captions shine. 1. Know Your Core Components Good Instagram captions do more than just explain what’s going on in your photo. So although a celebrity with millions of followers might be able to get away with just including an inspirational quote or a couple of emojis... --- ### What Dynamic Content Can Do for Your Email Marketing Strategy > Let's take a deep dive into dynamic content, how it creates a personalized user experience, and how to use it in your marketing. - Published: 2023-02-01 - Modified: 2023-02-06 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/dynamic-content-email-marketing-strategy/ - Categories: Content Marketing It may not be obvious, but as marketers, it’s our job to be creative. We have to constantly think of new ways to generate leads, convert those leads, and keep prospects engaged so that we’re the first company they think of when they’re ready for a solution. We try various different methods, like social media campaigns or pop-ups. But one thing that has proven to have the highest ROI is email marketing. When looking for new, creative email marketing tactics, our go-to is to examine what others are using. But what about the creative tactics they aren’t? Dynamic content is the least-used email marketing tactic, coming in behind automation, mobile-optimization, contact segmentation, and personalization as a must-do strategy. And yet, 65 percent of email marketers say that dynamic content is their most effective tool for personalization. What gives? In this blog post, we’re going to bat for dynamic content to help explain why this tactic is one you definitely shouldn’t be skipping over. We’ll cover what it is, how it works, and, most importantly, why implementing it in your email marketing strategy can give you a major edge. Let’s get to it. What Is Dynamic Content? Dynamic content refers to any type of digital content that changes based on the user. Factors that might affect a change include user data or preferences, user characteristics, or on-site user behaviors. So from there, it’s easy to see how intricately linked this type of content is with the notion of personalization and an... --- ### How to Create a Company Blog That’s A Go-To Resource > Your blog is a great resource for your customers, prospects, and internal team. Here's how to ensure it's a go-to resource for all. - Published: 2023-02-01 - Modified: 2025-05-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/company-blog-go-to-resource/ - Categories: Content Marketing Your company blog is great for pushing your own content marketing agenda and for providing endless resources to your leads and site visitors. But have you ever considered taking it a step further? There's a lot of value in building your brand's thought leadership by thinking beyond your customer. Turning your blog from just a piece within your content strategy to a full-fledged go-to industry resource can be extremely beneficial, particularly as it pertains to increasing your brand's authority among your peers. And while many marketers solely think of thought leadership in terms of guest content and what they can publish elsewhere, sometimes the best place to start is right on your own site. So, let's dive into the specifics needed to take your blog from an essential component of your small business marketing plan to a reliable, go-to resource for others within your industry. 1. Designate a Team You'll need reliable hands on deck to spearhead these efforts, and if you don't already have a marketing team, it's time to assemble one. A successful, consistent company blog takes work, coordination, and oversight, along with a regular stream of relevant, high-quality content. There are a few team members I recommend considering: Project Manager - This role serves as the point person for driving each blog post, ensuring that the company blog is consistent in terms of post quality and frequency and meeting the informational needs of your industry and audience. Writer and/or Editor - You'll want someone with strong writing... --- ### How Content Leads to Brand Awareness > You know you want more brand awareness, but how do you get it? We've outlined how content can lead to more brand awareness. - Published: 2023-02-01 - Modified: 2023-08-16 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/content-brand-awareness/ - Categories: Content Marketing Every successful small business has to start somewhere. Turning an idea for a product or service into something more requires that you get your brand recognized — which, for many small business owners, is one of the biggest hurdles to overcome. Whether you’re just trying to get off the ground or are on the path to becoming a household name, brand awareness is central to making it happen. And content creation is one of the most cost-effective and scalable ways to do it. It takes an average of five to seven impressions for someone to remember your brand, and the quality of those impressions matters just as much as the quantity. Among consumers, 70 percent say they would rather learn about a company through original content instead of an advertisement. Dollar per dollar, content marketing has been shown to generate three times as many leads as traditional marketing. It certainly doesn’t hurt either that content marketing costs companies 63 percent less than other forms of advertising. Content is a great way to show off your voice and foster likeability and trustworthiness — all of which lead to more customers. Below, we’ll discuss how to create content that leads to brand awareness so you can get off the ground running with your content efforts. The 4 Necessities of Successful Branded Content Effective content doesn’t happen by accident. Here are four essentials that will help guide you to content that converts. 1. Create a Documented Content Strategy Before you can begin to... --- ### 7 Writing Tips for Non-Writers > If you're a marketer, chances are you're doing 10 different jobs. One of them, is undoubtedly "writer." Here are writing tips you can use. - Published: 2023-02-01 - Modified: 2023-02-06 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/writing-tips-for-non-writers/ - Categories: Marketing For a lot of us, writing goes hand-in-hand with marketing. From blog content to social media and PPCs ads, writing is simply part and parcel of most marketing strategies — and that can be difficult for anyone who doesn’t consider themselves a skilled or natural writer. The good news is that writing doesn’t have to come naturally for you to produce impactful marketing materials. There are plenty of tricks of the trade that can help you put together compelling and engaging pieces of content, and they’re quite easy to adopt once you know what you’re trying to do. Below, we’ve gathered some of the top writing tips that you should consider as a marketer, all of which can help you become a more productive — and more confident — writer. 1. Put Together a Quick Outline The first step of the writing and content creation process is having something to say. The second step is figuring out how you’re going to say it. An outline can help you organize your thoughts before you start and while you write, and it doesn’t have to be overly long and detailed to be useful. Jot down some of the key points that you want to make as well as any keywords that you want to be sure to include. Taking just a few minutes to do this before you get to work can save you a ton of time during the writing process itself, and it serves as a great tool to check... --- ### How to Use Content In Your Recruitment Strategy > Content can be used in various efforts within your company, including your recruitment efforts. Here's how to create content for recruitment. - Published: 2023-02-01 - Modified: 2024-08-13 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/content-recruitment-strategy/ - Categories: Content Marketing It’s the end of the year, which means it’s time to evaluate how your company fared and what you’ll need to adjust to increase performance next year. It’s a necessary evil if you want to make 2021 more prosperous. The upside? You’re eliminating failed or less-than-impressive tactics to create room in your marketing budget for new approaches that may be more promising. The first underperformers to go are the ones that you’re paying out-of-pocket for. You take a gamble when you outsource strategies. You run the chance of not getting what you paid for, which isn’t something you realize until after you’ve committed. If you find yourself in this position, then you’re probably considering hiring someone so you can bring those efforts in-house. Finding a candidate who has the skills to focus on whatever strategy you need could be a better route to take and provide the results you’re after. Before you make any decisions, though, it’s important to understand that finding the right person to fill a job opening is harder than it sounds. On top of securing a candidate with the right amount of experience, you have to make sure they’re knowledgeable about your company, the problem it solves, and that they’re a solid fit culturally. But, how can you ensure your relationship with your new hire is more successful than the one with the outsourced agency they’re replacing? By incorporating content into your recruitment process! Why Content? Content, by nature, is meant to educate. Whether it’s your... --- ### How to Prioritize Email Newsletters and Send Them Consistently > You know you should be sending an email newsletter, but you're finding it hard to prioritize it. Then this blog post is for you. - Published: 2023-02-01 - Modified: 2023-02-06 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/prioritize-email-newsletters/ - Categories: Email Marketing With so many things to do in a day, it can be easy to lose sight of the value of creating and sending email newsletters. But newsletters have a ton of utility, especially for small businesses looking to make a big impact without the advantages of a big budget. Among B2B marketers, 40 percent say that email newsletters are critical to their success, and a whopping 79 percent find newsletters to be the most successful channel for distributing content. When used consistently, newsletters can serve as an essential tool for lead nurturing, moving prospects through the inbound funnel and closer to a sale. They can also help you stay top of mind with your audience so that when they’re ready to make a decision, your company is the first one they think of. There are so many reasons to make email newsletters a priority. So while they might seem like just one more thing on an ever-growing task list, they’re an essential tool that can lead to business growth and an increase in revenue. Here’s how to get the ball rolling — and keep momentum going — with your company’s newsletters. Establish How Often You Want to Send Newsletters There’s no secret formula for deciding how often you should send your newsletters. Instead, the trick is to find the cadence that works best for your unique audience — and what garners the best results. Maybe that’s once a month or once a week. A good place to start is to... --- ### Client Retention vs. Customer Acquisition: Which Should You Focus On More? > What matters more? Getting new customers or keeping the ones you already have? customer acquisition is important, but so is client retention. - Published: 2023-02-01 - Modified: 2023-02-07 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/client-retention-vs-customer-acquisition/ - Categories: Small Business When it comes to yearly revenue, two sources are the big focus: client retention and customer acquisition. But which matters more for your bottom line and the overall success of your company? We all know that it’s important to diversify your marketing efforts, and that includes not just your deliverables but your desired outcomes. But the how and why behind each focus matters a lot — and it’s important to understand the differences between the two. In this article, we’ll do a deep dive into the differences between client retention and customer acquisition, including why you need to set your sights on both if you want to meet (and maybe even exceed) your marketing and sales expectations. What is Customer Acquisition? Customer acquisition should definitely be one of your 2021 marketing goals. It’s the active process of gaining new customers for your brand, or more specifically, converting leads and prospects into paying customers. Of course, the goal with customer acquisition isn’t just to find new customers but to find new brand loyalists. A customer who makes one decent sized purchase and then disappears isn’t nearly as valuable as a customer who makes continuous purchases, even if those purchases themselves are smaller. As such, effective customer acquisition methods have to be multi-faceted to pull in the most qualified leads and bolster brand integrity from the get-go. What is Client Retention? Client retention refers to marketing practices that are optimized to engage with existing customers and drive them toward additional conversions. It’s... --- ### The Qualitative and Quantitative Metrics You Should Measure for Your Inbound Marketing Strategy > You can't measure success from every strategy with just numbers. For your inbound marketing, there are qualitative and quantitative metrics. - Published: 2023-02-01 - Modified: 2023-08-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/qualitative-quantitative-metrics-inbound-marketing-strategy/ - Categories: Inbound Marketing Just as important as having a great inbound marketing strategy is knowing what metrics you need to be tracking to tell if it’s effective. Inbound marketing (i. e. , emails, blog content, social media, ads, and everything else you do to attract customers to your brand) is critical to success. However, it’s not enough to just put these tactics in place and hope for the best. You need to use qualitative and quantitative metrics to attach value to each of your efforts and determine whether they’re pulling their weight. From there, you can decide what’s making the most significant impact with your audience and what might be eating up more resources than it’s producing. Below, we’re looking at the benefits of using qualitative and quantitative metrics for your inbound marketing strategy, including some examples of what you might want to start tracking if you’re not already. Why Measuring More Than Just ROI is Important for Your Inbound Marketing Strategy Around the globe, 41 percent of marketers report that inbound marketing produces measurable ROI for their brand. But is ROI really the only metric that matters? Well, yes — and no. Your return on investment is a top concern with any marketing endeavor, but it’s not as easy as just calculating money in versus money out. ROI can be calculated in both qualitative and quantitative ways. So while you’ll want to know how much a certain tactic upped your profits, you’ll also want to know how it impacted things like web... --- ### How to Shorten the Lead Cycle with Marketing Automation > A shorter lead cycle means more clients more quickly. But, if you want to shorten the lead cycle you need marketing automation. - Published: 2023-02-01 - Modified: 2024-09-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/shorten-the-lead-cycle-marketing-automation/ - Categories: Marketing Automation For small and lean businesses, marketing automation is a game-changer. Companies use it to automate repetitive tasks, create and schedule lead nurture campaigns, and facilitate sales follow-up, so nothing slips through the cracks. However, each marketing automation tool is not created equally. The more reliable and efficient your automation tool is, the more redundancies it eliminates, creating a well-oiled process that generates leads and converts them to customers. Let’s talk about some of the features to look for in a marketing automation tool, as well as some of the ways marketing automation shortens your lead cycle. Efficient Marketing Automation Features When you’re looking to make your routine marketing and sales tasks more structured, you need a tool that offers you features that make sense (without all the bells and whistles that don’t). Here are some marketing automation features you’ll want that will bring order to your process: The ability to tag prospects based on various lead qualifiers, like the type of industry or business they’re affiliated with. Triggers that deploy emails based on certain actions prospects take, like downloading a whitepaper or signing up for your newsletter. Automated sequences that alleviate the repetitive administrative side of lead generation and cultivation. These features save you time and cut back on the amount of basic inbound marketing activities you need to perform. The result is a shorter lead cycle, an increase in generated leads, and more prospects converting to customers. The devil is in the details. Here are some specific functions within... --- ### The Small Business Guide to Understanding Instagram Insights > Instagram is great for reaching a larger audience and showing your network your brand identity. Here's how to understand Instagram insights. - Published: 2023-02-01 - Modified: 2023-02-07 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/instagram-insights/ - Categories: Social Media Many small businesses prefer to use Instagram marketing over other social media platforms一the visual medium enables brands to highlight their products with creative immediacy, while the caption length offers more opportunity to inform and educate than, say, Twitter. Hashtags make posts easily searchable, increasing brand awareness and garnering new followers, and Instagram posts average four times the engagement of Facebook posts. But savvy marketers know that, like any business strategy, your Instagram marketing plan is only as effective as the data used to assess your progress and make adjustments. Enter: Instagram Insights. If you have an Instagram business account, you have access to Instagram Insights: a free marketing tool that provides data analytics about your posts, followers, and profile. (If you don’t have a business account but want one, you can switch any public profile to a business account by going to settings > account > switch account type. ) Understanding Insights for Your Instagram Account To access your Insights, head to your profile, open the hamburger menu (the three horizontal lines at the top right corner of the app), and click Insights. You’ll see some recent Instagram analytics, including how many people you’ve reached over the past week and how many of those accounts engaged with your content. To drill down into your audience data, click on Accounts Reached. Impressions will show you how many people saw your posts. Content Interactions tells you how many people liked or shared them一or saved a post, which is commonly considered by marketers... --- ### How to Build a Thriving Support Team and Department From Scratch > Find out what it takes to build a thriving support team and learn how to implement the processes, tools, and resources to succeed. - Published: 2023-02-01 - Modified: 2024-05-01 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-build-a-thriving-support-team/ - Categories: Small Business What makes a good customer support team? Positive customer experience, quick response time, teamwork, a shared vision for the future, achieving the organization's goals and targets, and the right mix of consistency and agility. Simply put, the foundation of great customer service is building relationships and being comfortable using customer support tools. A good customer support team dedicates itself to addressing clients' problems and helping them achieve their goals. To do this, you need team members with soft skills: communication, listening skills, and emotional intelligence. And to make sure you build a support team that delivers on all these fronts, you need to build it from the ground up with a concrete strategy in place. This guide will share six simple steps to help you build a strong customer support team from scratch. Are you ready to learn more? Let's dive in. 1. Understand Your Company Culture The definition of excellent customer support differs for each business. For a SaaS business offering a productivity tool, it could be 24/7 chat support and quick resolutions to improve the customer experience. For an eCommerce business selling skincare products, quick delivery, regular updates, and a flexible return policy take priority. These variations indicate why you must define the "what" behind your customer support. In other words, your support team should align with and reflect your company values in their interactions with customers. For example, if your company values transparency and honesty, your support team should be open and honest with customers when resolving... --- ### 9 Influencer Marketing Pitfalls That Cost Time And Money > Influencer marketing can be a solid strategy that gets your brand in front of more people. But there are pitfalls to avoid. - Published: 2023-01-31 - Modified: 2023-02-07 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/influencer-marketing-pitfalls/ - Categories: Marketing With the rise of influencer culture in the digital era, social media has become a staple of mobile marketing. As a result, user-generated content has never been more relevant. Nowadays, any influencer with a large enough following can successfully launch a brand to superstardom with a well-planned influencer marketing strategy. Even though influencer marketing is a very useful tool, this strategy can cost time and money when it is poorly implemented, dragging any company’s advertising to the ground. Luckily, we have compiled the most common mistakes companies make regarding influencer marketing just so that you can avoid making them in the future. Thinking it Doesn’t Work Although it may be difficult to believe, some companies simply refuse to think of this strategy as a viable option. Fashion, video games, and the fitness industry are the markets commonly associated with influencer marketing. However, it can be implemented in any sector and by any company. Take a page out of Apple’s marketing strategy and let others market for you. Companies like Apple have used social media and influencer marketing to build a strong culture around their brand image. Consumer reviews by technology pundits usually work as their main advertising strategy when they launch a new product. This approach to marketing offers many advantages. For starters, it significantly reduces the costs of hiring marketers and advertisers, and it helps brands get in touch with their customers directly, establishing an interactive marketing touchpoint. Not Choosing the Correct Platform Nowadays, influencers are everywhere. In a... --- ### Which Should Your Small Business Prioritize? Blogging or Podcasting? > Adding a podcast to your business strategy is great, but not if it comes at the expense of your blog. What's better, blogging or podcasting? - Published: 2023-01-31 - Modified: 2023-02-07 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/blogging-or-podcasting/ - Categories: Marketing Effectively marketing a business requires quite a bit of content. That being said, you don’t always have time to create the various kinds of content you should be creating. While diversifying your content strategy with as many different types of formats as you can handle is usually the way to go (more on that later), there are times when you might find yourself trying to decide which direction to pool your resources towards. Both blogs and podcasts are conversion-driven content methods that are worth your time and effort. On the blogging front, companies who produce blogs see an average of 67% more leads than companies who don’t. Meanwhile, the amount of monthly podcast listeners has grown 54% in just the past three years, suggesting a ton of potential for grabbing the ear of potential prospects. There are clearly big benefits to these content strategies, but how do you decide which is better to consider for your business? We’re breaking down the benefits and potential pitfalls of both, as well as why you probably want to consider tackling both for content marketing success. Blogging Blogging is a mainstay strategy. Most brands have been prioritizing blogging for years, while some have found it difficult to stick to an editorial calendar. If you find yourself wondering if blogging really is all it’s cracked up to be, it’s time to dive into the benefits as well as things to keep in mind. Benefits of Blogging 1. It can improve SEO Done right, blogging is... --- ### How to Make Your Agency Indispensable > Every agency dreads getting fired. But what if you could ensure your agency was indispensable? Here are some tips. - Published: 2023-01-31 - Modified: 2023-02-07 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/agency-indispensable/ - Categories: Agency What makes a great marketing agency? The success of any agency is dependent on a lot of different factors, but there is one thing that rings true regardless of your unique objectives or best practices: in order to thrive, you need to make yourself indispensable to your clients. It’s never a good thing to lose a client. And if you lose multiple clients, you may find that your entire operation is in peril. Your best bet is to do everything in your power to ensure that your clients are satisfied, including — but not limited to — providing them with stellar results. The more indispensable you are to your clients, the more long-term success you’ll have. With that in mind, here are some tips for making it happen. 1. Hire the Best Talent Possible Marketing is a people-first type of business. While agencies may spend a lot of time wrapped up in numbers and analytics, human-to-human interactions are at the core of what you do, and it’s important that every single person who represents your agency is putting their best foot forward. When onboarding new talent, pay attention not just to their experience but to how they fit in with your agency’s culture, values, and overall mission. The stronger team you can build, the better your employees will work together — and the better work they’ll provide to your clients. 2. Put a lot of Effort into Your Branding It’s important that you don’t neglect your own branding efforts while... --- ### When to Gate Your Content > Gated content allows you to gather information on your leads so you can add them to your email marketing and nurture them. - Published: 2023-01-31 - Modified: 2023-02-07 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/when-to-gate-your-content/ - Categories: Content Marketing To gate or not to gate, that is the question. There are big benefits to gating your content, but that doesn’t mean you should be doing it for every piece of content you create. If you did, you’d lose out on lots of traffic from people who are looking for quick access to the resources that they need. You’d also miss out on an opportunity to display your company’s thought leadership capabilities to a wide audience. The best approach is to strike a balance between your gated and non-gated content, utilizing both methods of content sharing to expand your audience, boost your brand’s authority, and drive more traffic and conversions. So how do you do it? Keep reading to learn how to identify when your content should be gated and when it shouldn’t — plus why gating content is important in the first place. What is Gated Content? Gated content refers to any piece of content that requires site visitors to fill out a website form before they can access it. Generally, these forms request contact information such as a name and email address. Once the information is provided, the content is available for download or is emailed. Benefits of Gated Content Any piece of content that you create for your brand is driven toward your larger marketing goals. Unlike blog posts and on-demand assets, though, gated content is designed to offer very rapid, very tangible returns. We’ve talked about the benefits of creating gated content before, but here’s a... --- ### 5 Keys to Success Prior to CRM Implementation > Obtaining a CRM that solves all your problems requires legwork on your end. And if you rush the process, your CRM implementation can go awry. - Published: 2023-01-31 - Modified: 2023-02-07 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/crm-implementation/ - Categories: CRM It’s true. A customer relationship management (CRM) system empowers you to have a single source for managing client relationships. However, it does more than that. Your CRM solution can inform the strategies and communication among each department, leading to more effective solutions and company growth. But obtaining a CRM system that solves all your problems requires a bit of legwork on your end. And if you rush the process or don’t appropriately prepare, your CRM implementation can go awry. What do we mean exactly? Here are some situations that won’t set your small business up for CRM success: Having unclear goals Not having executive buy-in and support Choosing a vendor that’s not right for your needs Expecting too much from your CRM system Trying to implement too many features all at once That said, the right CRM under the right circumstances can make a measurable positive difference in your company’s efficiency and effectiveness, particularly with important tasks like lead cultivating. Here are five things to keep in mind before implementing a CRM system. 1. Your Marketing and Sales Strategy CRMs are not interchangeable, so you’ll have to learn what each can do (and what they can’t do) before you make a selection. One of the best ways to do this is to know what your marketing goals and objectives are before you begin researching systems. When narrowing your options, go for CRM solutions that directly address the areas your goals are centered on. For example, if one of your goals... --- ### When to Tackle a Marketing Project In-House and When to Outsource > Making the decision to outsource isn't as straightforward as you'd think. Here are some tips for outsourcing that next marketing project. - Published: 2023-01-31 - Modified: 2023-02-07 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/marketing-in-house-outsource/ - Categories: Marketing As a small business owner, there is so much to do (and be). You need to be an expert general manager, customer service manager, marketer, copywriter, sales leader, and so much more, which is why outsourcing can be so useful. Outsourcing can save you time and money and allow you to spend your hours focusing on areas to grow your business. But how do you know which marketing projects to tackle yourself and which to outsource? Marketing can be an all-encompassing undertaking, and there are no set parameters around which strategies to outsource and which not to. Deciding where you could use some external help ultimately depends on your circumstances, needs, and area of expertise. And when you do decide to outsource, your primary focus must always be on the quality of the work that’s being outsourced. Here are some questions to ask yourself while you consider whether or not you should be outsourcing that particular marketing project. 1. Do You Have a Strategy? There’s a lot that goes into a documented marketing strategy. If you haven’t had a chance to assess your audience base and put together your buyer personas, along with your overall goals and methods for reaching them, then hiring someone to outsource might be a serious waste of money. You need to have at least some kind of basic marketing strategy in place before you begin; otherwise, how will you know whether or not your plan is adequate? For example, if you are posting to your... --- ### Which Organizational Structure is Better for Your Business? > Figuring out the internal structure of your business? Pinpointing the organizational structure that's right for you and your team is crucial. - Published: 2023-01-31 - Modified: 2023-12-18 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/which-organizational-structure-is-better-for-your-business/ - Categories: Small Business The key to effective business collaboration isn’t contingent on the type of personality that your team exhibits. It doesn’t depend on what your company does or what it’s selling. While all those areas may contribute in some way, they aren’t solely responsible for achieving effective collaboration. It may surprise you to learn that organization is a crucial factor in determining whether or not your business will be able to collaborate effectively. The truth is, the more products and people added to the equation, the harder it is to keep everything together. Therefore, a company looking to grow must develop a configured system early on. Enter: The Organization Chart. What is an Organization Chart? Consider this the roadmap of your company culture. An org chart lays the groundwork for the way a business functions and how roles are maintained. It helps to define three key elements: Chain of command Span of control Centralization These types of systems determine which tasks are delegated and where work is approved. It establishes how proposals, requests, and issues are communicated and the line of authority to manage them. An org chart will arrange the decision-making process and answer the how, who, and where of daily operations. It guides everyone on accountability and creates the foundation for corporate growth. Not only that, but it also provides your team with a clear outline of who supports whom. Types of Org Charts Companies can either be flexible and organic, or structured in a more mechanical and departmentalized manner.... --- ### How to Measure the Success of Your SEO Strategy > Implementing an SEO strategy takes a lot of time, effort, and evaluation. Here's what to measure to ensure you're experiencing success. - Published: 2023-01-31 - Modified: 2024-03-05 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/measure-success-seo-strategy/ - Categories: Marketing There’s not a single professional athlete who’ll tell you that they don’t measure their progress. Athletes track minute details every day as they practice because they know that success doesn’t happen overnight; it can take months and even years to perfect their routines. And SEO success, which hopefully comes faster, calls for a similar amount of tracking. To rank higher in search engine results, brands have to create consistent, high-quality SEO content that keeps customers coming back, and that means measuring their progress and adjusting their strategy if necessary. The stakes with SEO might be different — there’s no gold medal — but you’re competing against other businesses for leads, so the stakes are still very high. Instead of outsourcing your SEO, suppose you’ve taken the DIY approach and created and implemented the perfect SEO strategy — great! Now make sure you measure the success with trackable results. Here are seven metrics you can use to track your SEO strategy’s progress. 1. Keyword Rankings When you designed your SEO strategy, you did keyword research and chose the best keywords to focus on for your target audience. Now, measure how your site ranks by doing a Google search of those keywords. The search engine results will determine how your site ranks among your competitors. The goal is to appear on the first page, where you will have the most opportunity to earn more organic traffic to your site. And, if you’re using SEO tools, like SEMRush, for example, you should take... --- ### Social Media Ads: Specs You Need to Know > Here's a roundup of social media ad specs so you can make sure you have everything in order when planning your next ad campaign. - Published: 2023-01-31 - Modified: 2023-02-07 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/social-media-ads-specs/ - Categories: Social Media Have you come up with a great idea for your company’s next paid ad? Before you hit the publish button on your campaign, make sure your ad meets all the right criteria. If you don’t follow the correct specs, your photo or video ad may not reach your intended audience. Imagine you have a deadline for a big campaign and then when you’re about to submit your ad, Facebook or Linkedin denies your post because it’s not the right image size. Read on below for basic ad guidelines for Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Linkedin. Instagram You might think Instagram is only for posting food photos and selfies, but it’s one of the most popular platforms for online advertising. After all, the social media site has 800 million active users. Here’s a breakdown of the different kinds of Instagram ads and specs for each. Image Ads: These single image ads appear in your feed as you are scrolling. 1080 x 1080px resolution 1:1 aspect ratio 30MB max for image file PNG or JPG file type 125 characters recommended for caption length Video Ads: These are single video ads that appear in your feed as you are scrolling. 1080 x 1080px resolution 4:5 aspect ratio 30GB max for video files 2 minutes max length MP4 or MOV file type 125 characters recommended for caption length Carousel Image Ads: These ads appear in your feed as you are scrolling and contain more than one image. 1080 x 1080px resolution 1:1 aspect ratio 30MB... --- ### How to Get High-Quality Insights to Enhance Your Blog Content > Gathering insights from industry influencers can enhance your blog content and make it more engaging for your audience. - Published: 2023-01-31 - Modified: 2023-02-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/high-quality-insights-blog-content/ - Categories: Content Marketing Want to make your blog content richer, build more internal links, expand your reach, and attract more views? You can achieve all of this and more by gathering key insights from industry experts and thought leaders to include in your blog posts. No matter what you’re writing about, gathering information, statistics, and opinions from experts can make your blog posts much more engaging for readers. Influential experts can also promote your posts and help expand your audience, so you get the most out of every blog post you create. Fortunately, it’s also simple to start gathering insights. Here’s a guide on how to get high-quality insights to enhance your blog content. Why Your Blog Posts Need Expert Insights Imagine that you’re writing a blog post about the best equipment to use in the kitchen. While it might make a list of excellent points and list some attractive products, readers are less likely to be impressed if it’s seen as merely the opinion of a single blogger. Now imagine that you write a similar post that includes opinions from top chefs from around the world. All of a sudden, the information provided would appear more valuable and legitimate since it’s coming from experienced experts. In addition to that, the experts that contributed to the blog post are also likely to promote it via social media. That means that the blog would gain a significant boost in viewership, resulting in an uptick in customer conversions and sales for your business. While you... --- ### Your Guide to Writing an Effective Creative Brief > When agencies get a new project, forming a precise and well-crafted creative brief will ensure they deliver what the client wants. - Published: 2023-01-31 - Modified: 2023-02-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/creative-brief-guide/ - Categories: Agency For most agencies, nailing a client project is a team effort. For every department involved, delivering on goal and on budget requires fully understanding the project assignment from all angles before getting started. This is why having a creative brief is essential. Creative briefs are a tool that agencies use to guide projects from the initial kickoff. They outline the fundamentals of what’s driving the project, what will measure success, and so much more. They are the project’s compass, so if they aren’t put together well, then the entire project will suffer, and you could have a client retention problem on your hands. If you’re having trouble putting together your creative briefs, or if you’re an agency that currently uses a different method and are interested in switching to creative briefs, then you’ve come to the right place. Let’s dive into everything regarding writing effective creative briefs. Ready? What is a Creative Brief? A creative brief is a short yet comprehensive document that outlines the goals, purpose, messaging, requirements, and other key details for an advertising, marketing, or design project. Think of it as a roadmap that tells the creative team what they need to do to arrive at the desired destination. It seeks to answer questions about a creative project such as: What will the project look like when it’s done? Who is the target audience? What “argument” is the project going to address? What are the supporting points? Why is the project needed? When is the project due?... --- ### Why Agencies Need to Prioritize Their Marketing > Agency marketing is often overlooked in favor of client needs. However, when agencies put their marketing on the backburner, they suffer. - Published: 2023-01-31 - Modified: 2023-02-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/agencies-prioritize-marketing/ - Categories: Agency Is your marketing agency prioritizing client campaigns at the expense of your own? We get it — when you’re running a business, especially a small business, you want to do everything that you can to keep clients happy and coming back. It’s your client-focused efforts that keep the lights on and directly impact your bottom line, after all, and it’s tough to retain customers if you’re not putting out exceptional work. If this sounds like your agency, you’re not alone. Many marketing agencies find it difficult to prioritize their own marketing, especially if it means taking time or resources away from paying work. However, doing so is a mistake that could come back to haunt you if you’re looking to scale your business into something bigger. Here’s what to know about prioritizing your own marketing, including why it’s a smart strategy and how to start doing more of it. Why Agencies Should Prioritize their Own Marketing When you’re running a marketing agency, it can seem like there are never enough hours in the day to accomplish all that you need to do for your client’s campaigns, let alone your own. That doesn’t mean that you should put your agency’s marketing on the back burner, though. Prioritizing your marketing has a few big advantages, all of which are worth a bit of extra time and effort: It Shows Off Your Skills Would you trust a copywriter who couldn’t put together their own “About” page? Or a graphic designer who didn’t have... --- ### Should Your Small Business Be on TikTok? > TikTok is now the most popular social media platform. But does that mean that your small business should be on it? - Published: 2023-01-31 - Modified: 2024-05-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/small-business-tiktok/ - Categories: Social Media TikTok is shaping up to be the next big platform in brand marketing. But just because it’s popular doesn’t mean that it’s a great fit for all businesses. If you’re running a small business, you know how important it is to allocate your marketing dollars as wisely as possible. Sometimes that means focusing your budget on a new trend or platform that’s ideal for reaching your core audience — other times; it means opting out of things that aren’t a good fit for your brand. So, where does that leave TikTok? Here’s what to know about marketing on the platform, including how to tell if it’s somewhere you need to be (or somewhere to skip altogether). What is TikTok? TikTok is a video-sharing app that allows users to post content ranging from 15 seconds to three minutes. Videos are shown at random on a user’s “For You Page” (FYP), with views, likes, comments, and shares all working to fine-tune the algorithm and show users more of the content they’re interested in. For brands, TikTok offers both paid and organic opportunities to get in front of the right audience. And because the algorithm is so good at picking up on an individual user’s interests, it’s less difficult than it might be on other platforms to end up on the right feed. Moreover, the platform provides content creators with the opportunity to make money on TikTok through various monetization options, including brand partnerships, sponsored content, and the TikTok Creator Fund, allowing creators... --- ### What is Brand Awareness? Everything You Need to Know. > What exactly is brand awareness? Let's demystify it and address all the various methods you can use to build brand awareness. - Published: 2023-01-31 - Modified: 2023-05-01 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/brand-awareness/ - Categories: Marketing Brand awareness. You’ve heard it, you’ve talked about it, you’ve strived for it. You may have even waxed poetic about it in an all-hands-on-deck meeting discussing new marketing initiatives. But while brand awareness is certainly one of those terms we’ve all heard and talked about, pinning down exactly what it means — and thus, how to achieve it — is often easier said than done. Here’s the thing: in order to succeed, you need people to know your brand. Among consumers, 59 percent prefer to buy new products from brands they already know. Just as important, however, is being a small business brand that people know and trust. Your brand awareness success is inherently tied to brand perception, integrity, and trustworthiness; all of these things play a key role in appealing to new customers and keeping existing ones. Brand awareness is a simple concept but a challenging task that requires more than just effective content distribution. So, we’ve put together this quick refresher on what brand awareness looks like and why it’s so beneficial — plus various ways of making it happen. What is Brand Awareness? Brand awareness refers to your brand’s familiarity among consumers and industry peers. It encompasses everything from your logo and products to your reputation and history. There are a lot of benefits to strong brand awareness. When you get a cut on your finger, for example, do you go to the store looking for adhesive bandages, or do you go to the store looking for... --- ### It’s Time to Get Familiar With Lead Attribution > Lead attribution is the process of giving a score or credit to each touchpoint for a customer’s interaction that results in conversion. - Published: 2023-01-31 - Modified: 2023-02-09 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/lead-attribution/ - Categories: Inbound Marketing When it comes to lead generation, you need to avoid targeting the wrong channels and instead double down your effort (and marketing budget) on channels that are driving sales for your business. But how do you know which lead generation channels are driving great results? Enter lead attribution — a way to know which channels provide the best lead generation rates. In this guide, we’ll discuss the fundamentals of lead attribution, from what it is to how to measure it. What is Lead Attribution? Lead attribution is the process of giving a score or credit to each touchpoint for a customer’s interaction that results in conversion. This helps determine each touchpoint’s return on investment (ROI) or contribution to the overall lead generation strategy. Knowing the attribution score for each touchpoint helps you to make informed marketing investment decisions. You can also determine the channels that bring in the most qualified leads and optimize your marketing efforts to get the most out of that channel. In addition, lead attribution provides insights into the customer journey, enabling you to create effective lead nurturing campaigns. Types of Lead Attribution Lead attribution is broken down into two primary models: single-touch and multi-touch attribution. There are two single-touch attributions: First-touch attribution where the lead is attributed to the first recorded interaction with the brand. For example, if a prospect subscribes to your email newsletter, clicks a link in the email, and ends up buying, then credit for the lead is attributed to the email newsletter... --- ### The Art of Using Instagram Stories for Brand Awareness > Instagram Stories is great for showing your brand personality and giving a behind-the-scenes look at your company. - Published: 2023-01-31 - Modified: 2023-08-16 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-art-of-using-instagram-stories-for-brand-awareness/ - Categories: Social Media Instagram Stories started as the company’s way of competing with Snapchat by introducing a similar feature on their platform. Now, with over 500 million active Stories users daily, brands are starting to explore the feature as a means for building brand awareness. Instagram Stories are bite-sized content pieces that do not appear on the feed and usually disappear after 24 hours, except when they are saved and featured using highlights. Thanks to many users, Stories give brands of all sizes increased visibility and a new way to engage with their audience and followers. If you’re looking to up your brand’s social media engagement, it’s time to implement an Instagram content strategy that includes an active approach to Instagram Stories. Here are five tips for using Instagram Stories to increase brand awareness. Five Ways to Take Advantage of Instagram Stories for Brand Awareness 1. Show, Don’t Tell Instagram Stories is like your business’s mini television channel, and that’s what you should use it for – to show what your products, services, and brand is all about. After all, people love visual content, and Instagram makes engaging with visual content super easy, making this channel perfect for reaching your audience with your offerings. Some of the content you can use to showcase your brand or business is to post: Sneak peeks- tease a product, service, or rollout. Behind the scenes- pull back the curtain and show your customers how your team operates. Product launches- when a new product is being released, the... --- ### 5 Ways a CRM Brings Sales and Marketing Together > It's easy for departments to get siloed and lose sight of what the other is doing. But for sales and marketing, a CRM can keep them aligned. - Published: 2023-01-31 - Modified: 2023-02-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/crm-brings-sales-and-marketing-together/ - Categories: CRM Sales and marketing alignment is the third biggest priority for marketers today, after lead generation and conversion. It’s easy to understand why businesses are prioritizing alignment. Companies with highly aligned sales and marketing processes grow 19% faster and are 15% more profitable. If you’re struggling to align sales and marketing, you’re probably already aware you’re leaving a lot on the table. In this article, we’ll show you how client relationship management (CRM) software can be just what you need to bring these two departments together. How Does CRM Help Sales and Marketing? Sales teams often spend their days talking to prospects over the phone, in person, via email marketing, or other digital communication tools, steering them towards making a purchase. The process can be short or long (depending on your industry, product, and customer journey), and it entails learning about the customer’s pain points to better understand how your product or service can solve them. Here are some ways a CRM tool helps the sales process: Maintains personalized interactions with prospects and customers. Allows sales teams to score leads, assisting with targeted lead nurturing. Tags leads with certain indicators and classifications, so sales teams can send better, more personalized offers and messages. Streamlines the sales process to save time and money. Marketing, on the other hand, is a more holistic process that involves creating brand and product awareness to generate demand. Using a CRM tool can help marketing teams: Track and organize prospects and customer details to send targeted campaigns... --- ### 16 Must-Follow Marketing Thought Leaders > These 16 marketing thought leaders are making waves and helping to shape the industry. Make sure you follow them to stay ahead. - Published: 2023-01-31 - Modified: 2025-05-09 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/marketing-thought-leaders/ - Categories: Marketing In a time when everyone is a self-proclaimed influencer, it can be hard to spot the real deal. And when it comes to the marketing industry, thought leaders are a dime a dozen, each claiming they know what the next marketing trends and tools are. Knowing who's actually got the goods to share and is worth following isn't always easy. And with the time constraints of running a business and all of the content out there, it can be tough to read every blog and social channel to find the best guidance. That's why we've assembled 16 real-deal thought leaders that are great resources. Check them out and make sure you follow them on social media for the latest tips. 16 Marketing Thought Leaders to Follow To put you on the path to success, we've created a list of the nine marketing thought leaders you must follow: 1. Bryan Kramer Bryan Kramer believes that "social media is so popular because it allows us to control our personal brand: aligning the perceptions others have of us with our perception of ourselves. " He is the CEO of one of Silicon Valley's fastest-growing companies, PureMatter, a TedTalk, and keynote speaker, and a bestselling author. He focuses on the value of human-to-human interaction through sharing stories on social media and is shedding new light on innovative ways to connect with your audience. As you build your small business social media strategy, Bryan Kramer is one to watch. 2. Adam Grant Adam Grant is... --- ### 6 Must-Have Features for Your Agency’s Website > Your agency website is where you showcase your work and entice potential new clients. Make sure your website has these must-have features. - Published: 2023-01-31 - Modified: 2025-05-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/must-have-features-for-your-agencys-website/ - Categories: Agency We live in an age when having a website for your company is an absolute must. A website helps assure people and website visitors that your business is legit, and it's where potential customers turn to learn more about you and what it is you offer. As someone who works at an agency, you're probably very used to putting your clients' needs first. While that's not a terrible thing, it can definitely end up setting you back. If your agency is to build its business and get more clients, it needs to prioritize its marketing, including fleshing out and updating its website. An agency website with the right features will help you attract the right prospects, increase your credibility, provide your business with organic traffic, generate leads, and ultimately create more customers. Read on for some features your agency website should have. 1. Examples of Your Work Your website is a great place to show off some of the impressive work you've done for other clients. Make sure you have a designated and easy-to-find spot to showcase this work; that way, when potential clients come to your site, they'll know exactly where to find it. It's also a good idea to explain each project, stating what the context was, the problem to solve, and any other parameters your team was working within. This shows other potential clients exactly what your team is capable of and entices them to work with you. 2. Easy Navigation Your site's navigation is maybe the... --- ### 20 Unexpected Ways to Get More Agency Clients This Year > Agencies are nothing if they don't have clients. Here are some home-run tactics that will ensure you get more agency clients this year. - Published: 2023-01-31 - Modified: 2024-06-19 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/get-more-agency-clients/ - Categories: Agency Every marketing agency wants to be successful. Signing a ton of clients means more billings and more revenue, but it isn’t easy. There are a lot of digital advertising agencies out there to compete with, and with a looming recession, businesses are scaling back instead of hiring additional help and expertise. However, with some creativity and proactive tactics, your agency can expand its business successfully, even in hard times. Here are some tips for getting your agency seen and finding clients that will want to partner with your marketing agency. 1. Business Review: Know What’s Working Before introducing something new, it is important to review current strategies to identify what’s working, what isn’t, and what needs improvement. Do you need to focus on creating more content? Do you need to spend more time on lead generation activities? Do you need to improve your onboarding process? Asking these questions will put you on track to identify the things that most urgently need your attention. Then, you can either focus on fixing the things that aren’t working or strike them and put your attention elsewhere. 2. Set Business Goals and Milestones Without concrete business goals, your agency is directionless. With business goals, you create a sense of purpose for your agency and a definite direction of where you want your agency to be within a specific time frame. Beyond providing direction for your business, spelling out your agency’s business goals impacts how you, your team, and others perceive your business. Start by... --- ### Is HubSpot’s CRM Really Free? > HubSpot promises a free CRM with tons of features. But when you really look at it, is it actually free? Here are some better alternatives. - Published: 2023-01-31 - Modified: 2023-02-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/is-hubspots-crm-really-free/ - Categories: CRM When it comes to HubSpot CRM, is the promise of free really too good to be true? Big or small, all companies want to save money where they can. And so it makes sense to opt for a seemingly free CRM, like HubSpot, which appears to offer a variety of helpful tools at no cost. But like many things in life, “free” isn’t necessarily the good deal you think it’s going to be – especially if you need to scale your CRM beyond the bare basics. Here’s what to know about the hidden cost of HubSpot’s free CRM option, plus a better alternative for a truly free CRM. Can You Use HubSpot for Free? Technically yes, but most businesses will quickly hit a wall with the utility of the free plan and will either need to switch CRMs or greatly increase their budget for the platform. If you’re on the hunt for a free CRM tool, then you’ve probably come across HubSpot’s free plan, which promises access to a wide range of no-cost features with no limit to how long you can use them. However, while you can use HubSpot for free, this offer isn’t quite as it seems. By offering a free CRM, HubSpot increases its user base and appeals to significantly more individuals and businesses than they would with their costlier paid plans. And yet, free users often hit a roadblock in use, realizing that as their business and contact list grow, so too do their feature requirements... --- ### The 6 Types of Marketing Funnels You Need to Know > You may think there is only one marketing funnel in inbound marketing. The truth is there are at least 6 types of marketing funnels. - Published: 2023-01-31 - Modified: 2025-03-26 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/marketing-funnels/ - Categories: Inbound Marketing A marketing funnel is a visual representation of your customer’s journey from the moment they come in contact with your brand till they become a paying customer. Other marketers also refer to marketing funnels as purchase, conversion, and lead funnels, among others. We’ve already discussed marketing and sales funnels, the differences, and the various marketing funnel types. However, in this article, we’re taking a closer look at the marketing funnels so you can get a better idea of how to start using them in your marketing and sales strategies. Why Do You Need A Marketing Funnel? Having a marketing funnel is essential for every business, especially now since so much shopping and research is done online. Your marketing funnel is essentially the act of generating leads on your website, identifying the needs of those leads at each stage of their journey, and mapping out the best ways to engage them and encourage them to take action, be it downloading your content or making a purchase. A marketing funnel allows you to optimize your marketing efforts to influence your customers and get them to take actions beneficial to your business. However, it’s crucial to note that your marketing funnel is powered by marketing automation software. By using an all-in-one marketing automation tool, like BenchmarkONE, you’re able to generate leads and keep track of them in your CRM. You can tag your leads based on certain qualifiers, which make it easy for you to determine where they are in their buyer’s journey,... --- ### The Forgotten Content Distribution Tactic: Content Syndication > Content syndication is often forgotten, but it's a great distrubution channel for your content. Here's how to get your content syndicated. - Published: 2023-01-31 - Modified: 2024-06-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/content-syndication/ - Categories: Content Marketing Ross Simmonds, CEO at Foundation Inc, narrated how a well-thought distribution strategy led to 26,282 pageviews in the first seven days after publishing. The results sound unbelievable, but brands that espouse proper content distribution are hitting tremendous numbers in terms of organic traffic. Simmonds advises brands to create content once but distribute it forever. He advocates for the most common distribution channels like the ones discussed in our content distribution checklist. However, while some strategies are pretty common, some of these distribution tactics may have fallen through the cracks. One such strategy is content syndication. In this guide, we’ll get in the weeds about content syndication and discuss what it is, its pros and drawbacks, and how you can use it to benefit your brand. What is Content Syndication? Content syndication is the process of republishing the same piece of content on a different website, preferably a more popular one. In content syndication, you don’t create new content. Instead, you take existing content and publish it word-for-word on a different website. If you’ve ever opened an article and found a note like “This article originally appeared in ” or “This article appeared in and has been published here with permission,” that’s syndicated content. Check out these examples of syndicated content: Pay attention to me: how marketers can avoid losing the younger generation by Katy Keim Liquid expectations by Baiju Shah Web Monetization with Angular by Radoslaw Fabisiak Why Not(e)? By Slite How Does Content Syndication Strategy Work? Content syndication has... --- ### 14 Ways Your Small Business Can Attract B2B Clients > Looking for more B2B clients for your small business? We've got tips and tricks you can use that will help you out. - Published: 2023-01-31 - Modified: 2024-10-30 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/attract-more-b2b-clients/ - Categories: Small Business Do you ever feel like you’re fighting an uphill battle to make a sale? You’re not alone. A top marketing goal for small business owners is to gain and keep customers, which is a constant challenge due to time and budget constraints. Even if your client list is in good shape, you must keep your sales pipeline full for the coming months, or risk running into serious cash flow issues. Make 2023 the year of increased sales! Here are 14 small business marketing ideas that will have customers lining up to do business with you. 1. Launch A New Product or Service If your current offerings satisfy your clients but you want to expand, it may be time to try something new. Pay close attention to your customers’ feedback and look for new ways to help them. People are willing to pay more to solve bigger problems, so think about what complex client problems you might be able to solve by launching a new solution. The reason you need a new product is that many B2B businesses are constantly looking for new ways to be creative and innovative in response to changing market demands, which leads to the launch of new products and services. But first, determine what you are solving for, and spend some time to make sure that you understand every flaw, benefit, and nuance of the new product before marketing it. 2. Promote Your Expertise It is important to sell yourself and what you do. People should... --- ### How to Use Tagging to Better Segment Your Contacts > Segmenting your contacts for personalized outreach comes down to your tagging system. Here's how to use tagging for better segmentation. - Published: 2023-01-31 - Modified: 2023-03-30 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-use-tagging-to-better-segment-your-contacts/ - Categories: Marketing Automation The beauty of personalization is that it shows your leads that you know who they are. It shows them that you understand their issues, needs, and how your product or service fits within that equation. What’s even better is that it doesn’t require a ton of work on your end. You don’t need to individually research each prospect in your database to determine what their knowledge level is and what they need to make their lives easier. All you need to do is employ the right marketing automation tool. You need a tool that will provide you with the right capabilities without all the unnecessary bells and whistles that you won’t end up using. You need a small business CRM that allows you to track your prospects’ behavior so you can determine various factors, like: Where they are in the buyer’s journey What content they engage with the most What actions they’re taking on your website Which of your emails they’re opening and clicking on What CTAs are driving them to action It also doesn’t hurt to have a tool with tagging capabilities, so you can take that information, label, and segment your leads based on whatever organizational approach works for you. Tagging is a simple way to filter your leads and customers into lists so you can target them with content that will be most relevant to them. Luckily, with BenchmarkONE, you can create tags for your contacts using various different approaches. Let’s dive into how you can use... --- ### What is a Value Proposition and How Your Small Business Can Put One Together > A value proposition is a statement that articulates what you do and how it benefits your customer. Here's how to put one together. - Published: 2023-01-31 - Modified: 2023-08-02 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/small-business-value-proposition/ - Categories: Small Business Skip the fluff and get straight to the point. Put your marketing tactics in order by clarifying your offer and why you differ from your competition. Think of your value proposition as the foundation of your small business marketing efforts. By clearly stating what you do and what value you provide, you can easily connect with your target market and position your small business for success. While your business may not have a defined value proposition from the start, at some point, you’ll need to create one to differentiate yourself from others in your industry. In this piece, we will expand on what a value proposition is and provide tips that will help you develop your value proposition. Let’s get started! What Is a Value Proposition? A value proposition is a promise of value to be delivered. It’s a concise statement that articulates what you do and how it benefits your customer, and it is necessary to market your business’s attitude, intention, and position. In simple language, a value proposition is a statement that outlines the specific benefits that your business can provide to its customers. A strong value proposition clearly states the unique benefits of your products or services, how it fulfills the needs of customers, and why it’s better than others in your industry. What Is The Purpose Of a Value Proposition? A solid value proposition is an essential part of any small business’s marketing strategy, as it helps you identify and communicate the value of your products... --- ### The Small Business Guide to Advertising on Instagram > Advertising on Instagram is a great way to get new leads and zero in on your target demographic. Here's a guide to advertising on Instagram. - Published: 2023-01-31 - Modified: 2023-11-15 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/guide-to-advertising-on-instagram/ - Categories: Social Media Instagram leads the show when it comes to driving sales and engagement. It has the most successful influencers and some of the top campaigns. It’s a stunning platform that appeals to our visual perceptions and an effective tool for small businesses to compete. But if you’re on Instagram, you already know this. What you may not know is that the Instagram platform allows a brand of any size the opportunity to compete in a massive digital arena. They can get in front of larger audiences and see engagement off the charts. In this article, we’ll explore using Instagram ads for small business growth. What Is Instagram Advertising? Instagram is one of the most populous social media platforms, growing to 2. 3 billion active users in 2023, with more than 200 million brands making up that number. Instagram leverages the exciting fact that humans process and retain images 60,000 times faster than texts. Instagram advertising refers to paying the giant social media platform to post sponsored content on your behalf to increase brand awareness, engagement, sales, and even followership. The goal is to get your content to a targeted and extensive audience than you would typically have with your profile or page. Why Should Small Businesses Advertise on Instagram? As a small business owner, one of your goals is to be on top of your audience’s minds as much as possible, making Instagram a perfect place to showcase your brand. Instagram revealed that 81% of Instagram users use the platform to... --- ### How to Grow Your Small Business and Make it Successful > Every small business wants the secret recipe for growth. Here are some tips that will help your small business grow this year. - Published: 2023-01-31 - Modified: 2024-10-02 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/proven-ways-to-grow-your-business/ - Categories: Small Business Whether it is for the flexibility of work hours, to be your own boss, to pursue your passion, or for a better work-life balance, no one starts a small business to see it fail. Every business owner aims to succeed by growing their small businesses into profitable organizations. While aiming for success is excellent, not every business owner will be successful at running a business. What does it mean for small businesses to fail, and how do you safeguard your business from that? In this blog post, we’re going to dive into what it takes to grow your small business and make it successful, including how to grow your social media presence, how to get more customers, and how to take your small business to the next level. Small Businesses vs. Big Businesses – What’s the Difference? Before we get started, let’s differentiate between big and small businesses. It may seem like the difference between the two is simply the size. However, there are other indicators that will tell you where your business falls. Management Structure and Hierarchy Unlike small businesses, big businesses have a set management structure and hierarchy between employees due to the number of people that work in the organization. The CEO or board of directors are the highest decision makers and have the most control. In a small business, the business owner runs the business solely in some cases and sometimes with a few other people. However, that isn’t always the case. There are plenty of... --- ### Customer Churn: What is it and How Can You Avoid It? > Customer churn can take a lucrative business and run it into the ground. Here's how to reduce customer churn so you can stay profitable. - Published: 2023-01-31 - Modified: 2023-02-14 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/customer-churn/ - Categories: Sales There’s an easy way to explain customer churn: it’s when your customers stop buying from you. Depending on the nature of your company, when a customer stops doing business with you, this can mean canceling their account or subscription, failing to renew a contract, or choosing a competitor for their new needs. With a recession looming, customer churn can be an even bigger nightmare than normal. Customer churn is not good for your company. No matter how you look at it, if you want to grow your business, the number of new customers you bring on each month needs to exceed your churn rate. So, if you bring on new customers every month that grow your client list at a rate of 20%, but your churn rate is higher than 20%, then you’re likely burning money on expensive marketing acquisition channels that aren’t growing your business. Right now, as our economy seems very uncertain, beating customer churn is an absolue must. We’ll dive into everything you need to know about customer churn and how you can prevent it. What is Customer Churn Rate? Customer churn rate is the percentage of customers lost during a certain period. The lower your customer churn rate, the better. A low churn rate means customers are sticking with your brand. This means that you won’t need to spend as much time and energy trying to acquire and maintain new customers. Your churn rate can also give you valuable business insights. It can help indicate if... --- ### The Top 10 Best CRMs For Agencies > We've rounded up the nine best CRMs for agencies. Check them out, along with their features, to see which one is right for you. - Published: 2023-01-31 - Modified: 2025-05-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/best-crm-for-agencies/ - Categories: Agency When it comes to a CRM, every agency has its own unique needs. Whether you're shopping for a new software solution or getting set up for the first time, the purchase of a CRM is not a decision to be taken lightly. Before we dive into some questions, you should ask before shopping around for a CRM and the top CRMs for agencies, let's lay some groundwork. What is CRM Software? Customer relationship management (CRM) is a combination of processes and practices aimed at managing customer interactions throughout the buyer's journey. The goal is to engage customers at all touchpoints to build better relationships that drive retention, loyalty, and sales growth. It can be difficult to handle all of this manually, particularly when your business scales. This is the reason why 65% of businesses invest in CRM technology within the first five years of launch. CRM software automates repetitive CRM tasks and streamlines processes, giving sales and marketing teams more time to handle critical tasks. It centralizes customer contacts, gathers customer data from a variety of sources, and offers actionable insights to boost relationships between the customer and your agency. Some of the key CRM features include: Contact management Lead management Interaction tracking Email integrations Workflow automation Pipeline management Sales forecasting Reporting and analytics Here are a few questions to answer before you start test-driving different CRMs: What's the most important functionality you need? For example, are you looking for something to help you streamline your sales process or a... --- ### How to Measure Customer Lifetime Value to Identify Your Best Relationships > What is customer lifetime value? Why is it important, and how do you measure it? We address all this and more in this blog post. - Published: 2023-01-31 - Modified: 2024-09-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/calculating-customer-lifetime-value/ - Categories: Marketing If you’re running a small business, then you don’t have time (or money) to waste on tactics that aren’t effective. So how do you make sure that every effort is one that’s worth taking? There’s a lot of trial and error, but there are also certain metrics that can help you determine whether it’s worth putting your precious resources in one direction versus another. One of the big ones: customer lifetime value (CLV), which allows you to determine the ROI of every customer relationship — and in turn, determine which relationships are most beneficial to building your business and which aren’t. If you’re new to the idea of CLV, we’re here to help. We’ve put together this quick guide to customer lifetime value, including what it is, why it matters, and how to measure it, plus some quick tips on how to improve it. What is Customer Lifetime Value — and Why is it Important? Customer lifetime value is a metric that businesses use to figure out just how valuable a certain customer is to their company. Not all customers bring in equal value. Focusing on those who offer the most profitable and sustainable relationships is a great way to ensure that you put your marketing and sales resources where they’ll go the furthest. It also helps your business invest more in customer retention versus customer acquisition — with the former typically being a lot less costly and a lot more lucrative than the latter. CLV may be the single... --- ### The Small Business Guide to Paid Advertising > Navigating the vast world that is paid advertising can be scary and overwhelming. Here's your small business guide to help you through. - Published: 2023-01-31 - Modified: 2024-09-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/small-business-guide-paid-advertising/ - Categories: Small Business As a small business owner, you’re managing operations, customer service, account management, and not to mention everything regarding sales and marketing. Are you sure you’re not a superhero? Small business owners are doing it all. Even with the assistance of an in-house advisor or an outsourced marketing team, it’s still ultimately your responsibility to know what’s going on and why, especially when it comes to your marketing strategies and paid advertising. A strategy like paid advertising can be overwhelming, confusing, and challenging to manage — particularly if it’s not your area of expertise. This quick guide to paid advertising includes the essentials you need to know to ensure you’re not wasting your time or money. Why You Should Consider Paid Ads At face value, it might seem like you can opt-out of paid ads entirely. After all, you can obtain massive reach with organic content marketing and SEO. With all the free SEO tools out there and cost-efficient content creation, these efforts aren’t going to empty your pockets. But paid ads have a lot to offer, too, and most marketers are already on board. In fact, 80 percent of marketers are making room in their budgets for various paid advertisements. There’s good reason for this. For starters, paid ads are great for brand awareness, and the traffic that they bring your way is more likely to lead to conversions than those from organic advertising. Then there’s the fact that while content and SEO marketing have huge potential, it’s also hugely... --- ### How To Perform Website Maintenance: A Small Business Guide > How often are you doing your website maintenance? If you have to think about it, then you aren't doing it enough. - Published: 2023-01-31 - Modified: 2024-05-31 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/website-maintenance-small-business-guide/ - Categories: Small Business As a business owner, maintaining your website is just as important as maintaining your books. That’s because a well-functioning website is essential to the customer experience — and to securing new leads and customers. Website maintenance serves a number of key purposes. For starters, it helps ensure that your site is safe and secure and that you’re not accidentally leaving the door open for data breaches or hackers. It’s also critical to how your site operates, with regular updates and audits necessary for making sure that you’re running at full speed and with optimal protocols. Slow, buggy, and non-secure websites are hugely detrimental to your SEO and your ability to grow as a business. Your website is an extension of your small business brand. It can take years for a small business to build adequate brand awareness, and the last thing you want is a slow loading or poorly constructed website setting you back. It is better to opt for such hosting or a cloud VPS hosting that is suited to your business. Performing regular maintenance will allow you to identify any problems in their earliest stages, as well as avoid some of the common website pitfalls that can hold back your brand’s success. So how do you do it? Here are the five steps to follow when you want to perform routine website maintenance. 1. Backup Your Site Before you start tweaking your site, make a backup of it in its current condition so that if you inadvertently make... --- ### The Best Untapped Marketing Tactics for Small Businesses > We guarantee you aren't using these marketing tactics (and you should be). Here are some untapped strategies for your small business. - Published: 2023-01-31 - Modified: 2023-08-03 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/untapped-marketing-tactics-small-businesses/ - Categories: Small Business A limited marketing budget doesn’t have to mean limited marketing potential. When it comes to product research, 60 percent of all consumers start the process on a search engine rather than on a specific website. This means that you can’t opt out of digital marketing entirely, nor can you expect to get very far without a concerted effort that’s geared toward getting your name — and your website — in front of the right people. If you’re running a small business, however, then you probably don’t have an endless pool of money to throw at your marketing budget — and that’s totally okay! There are simple, cost-effective, and untapped marketing tactics that can help you build brand awareness and nurture more leads; no arm-and-a-leg payment required. Here are some ideas for funneling your marketing dollars into low-cost, high-performance marketing tactics. 10 Untapped Marketing Tactics Worth Pursuing Standing out is a good thing in marketing. Once you’ve got the basics down (including a website, social media, and emails), try out these ideas to get the most out of your marketing efforts: 1. Create Short-Form Blog Posts Short-form blogging helps you produce news-like snippets that you can then push out on a regular basis. They’re much quicker and easier to write than standard blog posts and can often be multi-purposed as social media posts. Keep ‘em short, sweet, and to the point, and use them as a way to establish thought leadership and stay top of mind with your audience. 2. Snag... --- ### 15 Small Business Marketing Strategies to Help With Growth > This is the year your small business sees some impressive growth. Here are 15 marketing strategies that will help you get there. - Published: 2023-01-31 - Modified: 2025-05-13 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/small-business-marketing-strategies-2/ - Categories: Small Business There's no getting around it: A killer marketing strategy is essential for business growth. Sure, you need a valuable product or service to offer your customers. That goes without saying. But, if you aren't able to attract your target audience - and keep them engaged for the long haul - the quality of your product won't mean much. Of course, "what works" in terms of attracting and engaging your audience is always changing. Technology continues to evolve, and consumer expectations continue to shift. It's your job, then, to stay ahead of the curve in order to deliver exactly what your audience is looking to get from your brand. That said, let's take a look at fifteen small business marketing strategies that businesses like yours are using to expand their reach today. 1. Focus on First- and Zero-Party Data Customer data should be the driving factor behind your marketing efforts. After all, the more you know about your customers, the more value you'll be able to deliver to them. While there's no shortage of customer data "out there" today, putting it to good use can be a bit challenging for many reasons. What's more, the death of third-party cookies means collecting customer data from outside sources will become even more difficult in the near future. So, your best bet is to look inward, focusing on the data your team collects on your audience members. Your first-party data - that is, information you've solicited and collected directly from your customer - can... --- ### Retargeting Ads: Why and How You Should Be Doing it (and Tools to Help) > Let's up your retargeting strategy so you can convert more leads. Here are some amazing tools for your retargeting ads. - Published: 2023-01-31 - Modified: 2023-02-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/tools-for-retargeting-ads/ - Categories: Marketing If you’ve ever cruised a retail site, without buying anything, then seen the items you were looking at everywhere over the following days, you’ve been on the customer side of a retargeting advertising strategy. Retargeting ads do exactly what they sound like: they target prospects a second time. It can feel like you’re having your mind read, but there’s actually a clear technological process to retargeting. How Does Retargeting Work? Using website cookies, companies are able to (anonymously) track visitors to their website, and then follow their movement around the internet, which enables them to target very specific ads to prospective customers, wherever they go. So if you were looking at a pair of Birkenstocks on a retail site, then decided you didn’t want to make the purchase, you might find ads for those exact shoes, from that exact retailer, in the margins of the online magazine you’re reading or on your social media platforms. Image credit: retargeter. com And if you’ve ever bought something based on what you now know was a retargeting ad — so many of us have — you’ll understand how effective this kind of advertising strategy is! With first-time website visitors generally maxing out at a 3% conversion rate, retargeting provides businesses with a way to increase brand awareness and recapture a potential customer’s lost attention. Retargeting vs. Remarketing Retargeting and remarketing are often confused, no doubt because they sound similar and mean similar things — but they don’t exactly mean the same thing. Retargeting... --- ### 8 of the Biggest Questions Regarding Email Marketing Answered > There's a lot of unknowns when it comes to email marketing. In this blog post, we've answered the biggest questions you may have. - Published: 2023-01-31 - Modified: 2023-02-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/biggest-email-marketing-questions-answered/ - Categories: Email Marketing Did you know that you can expect a return of $40 on every $1 spent on email marketing? Email marketing provides you with a direct line to your potential customers, making it a great way to reach your target audience, grow your sales, and provide tailor-made support and resources. However, you can only achieve these great results if you approach email marketing correctly and the biggest roadblock you could face is misinformation (or a lack thereof). Let’s demystify some of the most common questions regarding email marketing so you can become an email expert in no time. 1. What Is the Best Way To Build An Email List? Getting your email list from a third party might seem easy, but it will get you little to no results. A third-party email list is not your target audience. Apart from the fact that you will be hard-selling to an audience that is probably not interested in your products or services, your emails will most likely end up in their spam folder, which will harm your deliverability. Instead, focus on building your email list organically using the following. Create landing pages and lead magnets. These pages typically ask prospects to provide their contact information in exchange for something special. The offers commonly used are eBooks, tutorials, webinars, discounts, or guides. Create website forms. You can create pop-up forms and add them to your high-traffic website pages or embed forms on your homepage or blog. Similarly, these forms ask for contact information in... --- ### How to Put Together a Winning Sales Pitch > Here's your can't-lose recipe for putting together a winning sales pitch to use in your sales process. - Published: 2023-01-30 - Modified: 2023-06-28 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/tips-10-minute-sales-pitch/ - Categories: Sales A sales pitch is a huge part of the selling process. It’s a huge contributor towards sealing the deal, so if you want to impress your prospective new client, it’s important to nail it. Sometimes, you don’t have a lot of time, or the particular prospect you’re pitching to has specific needs they want to be met. It’s crucial for you to be able to get a lot across in a way that’s easy for them to understand. Oh, and you have to wow them. That’s a big one. In this blog post, we’ll dive into the fundamentals of putting together a winning sales pitch, as well as some examples for you to glean from. What is a Sales Pitch A sales pitch is the act of convincing a potential customer to buy into a product or service that the salesperson is selling. A pitch should be brief, informative, and direct. The term “sales pitch” can be a turn-off for people, but it doesn’t have to be. Think of it as a conversation—one where you’re trying to solve a problem for your potential customer. How can your product or service provide a solution for them? How to Create an Effective Sales Pitch The hardest part of starting a sales pitch is getting your customer to give you their valuable time to listen to your pitch. If you sold them on hearing your pitch, you’re already one step ahead. There are three important parts to starting a pitch: Present the problem.... --- ### How to Create a Winning Sales Process Using Marketing Automation > Have you nailed down your company's sales process yet? Knowing what works and what doesn't is essential for success. - Published: 2023-01-30 - Modified: 2025-06-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/sales-process/ - Categories: Sales I'll get straight to the point: a lot of businesses are still experiencing slower sales and revenue due to COVID. Businesses around the world are worried about how they'll fare and what they can do to make things pick back up this year. The reality is, we've still got a long road ahead of us. If you're going to last and see some positive changes, you have to tackle your sales efforts proactively. You may already have a sales process, but it's time to take a long, hard look at it and adjust. Your sales process isn't any good if you're continuing to see sales decline. And even if the reason, like a global pandemic, is out of your control, you have to look at the things you can control. Having a clear-cut set of steps for how things get done helps you navigate your various initiatives and keep your entire team on track. It can also help you streamline your day-to-day for better sales performance. This is key in sales, where even one misstep or inefficiency can mean missing out on a customer. It can take a lot of trial and error to nail down your sales process, especially when you're just starting out or trying to come back from some very slow months. To save you some time, we've put together a couple of recommendations for how to create a seamless sales process and get on the path to a more productive way of doing things so you... --- ### Five Marketing and Sales Pitfalls that Can Be Avoided with Marketing Automation > There are some sales and marketing pitfalls that can 100% be avoided if you use marketing automation. Here's how. - Published: 2023-01-30 - Modified: 2024-09-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/marketing-and-sales-pitfalls-avoided-with-marketing-automation/ - Categories: Marketing Automation We’ve all been there: you notice that typo after the email to your boss has sent; you’re halfway through your data report when you realize there’s a question you wish you’d asked in the survey; you can’t figure out how to change the filter in your Zoom settings to make you not a cat when you’re in front of the panel. Well, luckily, most of us haven’t been that last guy. Still, human errors happen, and they happen more often when we’re overloaded with busy work. This is exactly why automation is a hugely important part of our daily lives – sales and marketing work is no exception. While a typo in a professional email can be embarrassing, it’s unlikely to cause a major dip in customer engagement or preclude you from achieving your revenue goals. On the other hand, missing out on important data and neglecting opportunities can wreak havoc on your bottom line. Here are five marketing and sales pitfalls you can avoid by using marketing automation: 1. Not Tracking and Using Website Data Detailed website tracking is key to understanding your customer base. By mapping their journey, you can see your organization through the consumer’s eyes – which means you can assess what’s working and what’s not based on the level of engagement. Marketing automation can pull these details for you. It’s not just about understanding for its own sake – customer empathy is a key driver of increased revenue. For example, the data an automation software... --- ### How to Align Sales and Marketing Teams for Content Creation > It's crucial for your sales and marketing team to be aligned, especially during the content creation process. - Published: 2023-01-30 - Modified: 2023-01-30 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-align-sales-and-marketing-for-content-creation/ - Categories: Content Marketing One of the most critical aspects of a successful business is the alignment of sales and marketing. The less they communicate, the harder it becomes for both departments to reach their goals. How is your marketing team expected to deliver quality leads to the sales team if they don’t know leads’ pain points? And how are they supposed to know leads’ pain points without insight from the sales team? A lack of cohesion among these two teams can lead to missed revenue and a complete disconnect between your company and your ideal customer. And your business just can’t afford that. To produce top-quality content, and for that content to be useful, your sales and marketing teams must collaborate. Here are some ideas to get the two teams together in the name of content marketing. 1. Hold Monthly Meetings No department should ever be an island, yet sales and marketing teams tend to silo themselves. While marketing dedicates a lot of their time to content creation and implementing tactics that generate leads, it’s the sales team that has a good read on the strategy that should fuel those efforts. The two groups need to be working together to enable sales and nurture prospects. This starts with holding monthly meetings where everyone is involved. During these meetings, it’s important to discuss the needs and issues of each group. It’s a critical process that allows both teams to gather deeper insight that will inform the next steps. It’s also important, during monthly meetings,... --- ### Sales and Marketing Performance Metrics and Why You Should Track Them > A lot goes into your sales and marketing strategies. To ensure your tactics are successful, you need to keep track of performance metrics. - Published: 2023-01-30 - Modified: 2025-05-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/sales-and-marketing-performance-metrics/ - Categories: Sales Growing your small business is as much about math and numbers as it is about customer satisfaction and service delivery. Paying attention to the right metrics will let you design the best and most effective strategy for meeting your sales and revenue goals. So what are the metrics that you and your B2B team should be tracking? Here's a list of key indicators you can use to keep your momentum going. Sales and Marketing Performance Metrics Sales and marketing performance metrics help determine if your outcomes align with your small business goals. You track the metrics and select ranges (some sort of benchmark) that signify ideal performance. You can then weigh the tracked metrics against those ranges to evaluate performance. When a metric is within the range, you know you're on course to reach your targets. However, if the results are short of the range, it's time to investigate your processes and take remedial action to put performance back on track. If you want to improve your sales and marketing performance, here are the metrics you should track: Sales Performance Metrics Sales performance metrics help you determine whether your sales teams are hitting their set targets. They enable you to track progress towards set goals, tweak your sales process to accelerate sales growth, award performing reps, and replace underperforming reps to boost performance. Here are the most critical sales performance metrics you should be measuring: Average Deal Size The average deal size gives you the average revenue brought in from... --- ### Steps for a Collaborative and Seamless Sales and Marketing Process > Your sales and marketing team should work closely together, but it isn't easy. Here are some steps for a collaborative process. - Published: 2023-01-30 - Modified: 2024-05-21 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/collaborative-and-seamless-sales-and-marketing-process/ - Categories: Sales Think of your sales and marketing teams as midfielders and attackers in a soccer team. For the team to score goals, two things must happen. First, players have to perform to the best of their ability, and second, they have to work as a unit. Disjointed team play ruins team performance. The story is the same with your company. If your sales and marketing teams aren’t aligned, you will not hit sales and revenue targets. However, aligning sales and marketing is easier said than done. It’s the third-biggest challenge; after lead generation and conversion. In this article, we’ll show you how to establish a collaborative sales and marketing process. Why Sales and Marketing Should Work Closely Together Aligning sales and marketing teams should be a no-brainer for any forward-thinking company. Think of it this way: The marketing team generates demand for your product. The sales team converts that demand into business. By working closely together, both teams streamline the whole sales process, eliminating hurdles that lead to deal loss. According to statistics, companies with highly-aligned sales and marketing teams grow 19% faster and are 15% more profitable. How Sales and Marketing Teams Simplify Each Other’s Work The sales team is in direct contact with your customers and prospects. They have first-hand information about your archetypal customer’s needs, pain points, interests, and preferences. Moreover, your sales team knows the solutions that customers expect. Imagine if the marketing team had this information. Marketing could create content and targeted campaigns that better resonated... --- ### A Knowledge Base: The Sales Enablement Tool Your Business Needs > Having a knowledge base provides your customers a resource they can use time and time again. And it helps your sales team, too. - Published: 2023-01-30 - Modified: 2023-01-30 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/a-knowledge-base-the-sales-enablement-tool-your-business-needs/ - Categories: Sales A strong knowledge base tells your customers, your industry, and the search engines that you’re an authority in your field. It’s also especially useful in regards to sales enablement. While it might be time-intensive, putting together a knowledge base article on a topic related to the product or service you offer allows your sales team to do their jobs more efficiently. And when your sales team is enabled, you get more deals past the finish line — which in turn benefits your entire organization. Not convinced yet that it’s worth the effort? Keep reading to learn more about what constitutes an effective knowledge base, how it can help your prospects, and your sales team. 4 Factors of A Strong Knowledge Base The reason for building a conversion-driven knowledge base is time-intensive is because it has to be comprehensive if it’s going to be impactful. It also has to be easy for prospects to find. As a way to inform your knowledge base strategy, think of it as a place on your site where prospects can go to get answers to the questions that they would normally reach out to your sales team for. Similar to an FAQ page but broader, and with a bit more depth. The base should include enough information to guide prospects to the next stage of the funnel. It’s not a replacement for other marketing and sales materials, but a supplement. To ensure your knowledge base hits the right marks, make sure it: Is informative Covers... --- ### Achieve Work-Life Balance with a CRM and Sales Automation > Bringing a CRM together with sales automation makes your life so much easier. It even affords you that covetted work life balance. - Published: 2023-01-30 - Modified: 2024-09-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/work-life-balance-crm-sales-automation/ - Categories: CRM Is the idea of work-life balance as mythical sounding to you as Santa Claus and unicorns? It’s no secret that the pandemic and the realities that come with Covid-19 have left all of us feeling drained. If you’re working from home with children, you’re probably laughing at the idea of being able to “do it all” (or crying, which is equally understandable). Even if you don’t have little ones at home, the hurdle of mental exhaustion can still seem difficult to overcome. Pre-pandemic, at least two-thirds of Americans lacked work-life balance. Now that our personal lives are blending into our work lives, I’m sure that number has gone up, especially for small business owners. But hitting the elusive goal of achieving work-life balance is necessary now more than ever. So is finding creative ways to work less and live more, regardless of whether your home is also your office. So, as someone who manages your small business’s email campaigns, social media, sales efforts, and customer support, what do you do when the work still needs to get done, but you need more balance? You turn to an automation and CRM tool, along with all of the benefits they can afford you. Let’s break down those benefits so you can see what you may be missing out on. Five Benefits of a CRM and Sales Automation Tool Tracks and organizes customer data The work activities that cut so deeply into our “me” time aren’t necessarily the big projects and to-dos. More... --- ### Email and CRM: Where Marketing Automation Meets Personal Sales Follow-Ups > Bringing your email marketing together with a CRM provides your sales follow-up the personalization it needs to succeed. - Published: 2023-01-30 - Modified: 2024-09-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-crm-marketing-automation/ - Categories: Marketing Automation We share a lot of the same goals as our customers, but perhaps the most important one is that we, like you, want to work less and accomplish more. After all, isn’t that what automation is all about? Small business owners are busy people who wear many hats, including marketer, salesperson, product/service provider, HR and customer service rep, and creative director (just to name a few). Finding a balance — let alone finding the time to get everything done — is tricky, which is why most SMB owners seek out all the help they can get with generating more sales and keeping profits on track. Luckily, our CRM and marketing automation tools are designed for just this, helping you check more things off your list faster and without sacrificing the quality of service and care you provide to your clients. If you could use more time in your day to focus on sales (and all of that other stuff), then keep reading to learn about three of the biggest ways our email marketing and CRM platform can come together to help you out. Organize and Track Your Contacts So You Can Learn More About Them Our CRM helps you easily track all previous outreach and engagements with each of your contacts. Instead of digging through your inbox on a futile mission to find dated communications so you can see exactly where you left off with your leads, you get a one-stop-shop for storing contact messages and correspondences. This way, you’re... --- ### Small Business Guide to Marketing Automation > Utilizing marketing automation isn't always as straight forward as you think. Here's a quick guide for small businesses. - Published: 2023-01-30 - Modified: 2024-06-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/quick-guide-small-business-marketing-automation/ - Categories: Marketing Automation As a small business, you’re probably in direct contact with many of your existing customers. But as your business scales, it’s impossible to maintain personal relationships with everyone. Eventually, your sales, customer service, and marketing efforts will be sizable enough that you’ll no longer be able to manage it all using Gmail and spreadsheets. That’s where marketing automation comes in. What is Marketing Automation? Digital marketer and entrepreneur Neil Patel offers this simplified definition of marketing automation: “Marketing automation is the use of software to automate marketing processes such as customer segmentation, customer data integration, and campaign management, that would have otherwise been performed manually. ” It’s true that not every business is ready for marketing automation software. But how do you know if your business is ready or not? Is Marketing Automation Right for My Small Business? Here are some situations that might indicate you could benefit from marketing automation software. You don’t have a CRM, or you have a CRM that doesn’t allow you to track people through the sales process. A marketing automation software is not only going to house your contacts in an organized fashion but will also let you move them through the sales pipeline, from lead to customer. The process can be automated, meaning the contact can be moving from stage to stage based on their clicking and opening behavior. You only need to be alerted when they have become a “hot” lead or opportunity so that you can follow up with them. You... --- ### Marketing Automation and CRM: a Match Made in Heaven > As marketers, tools are our everything. Here's why marketing automation and a CRM are a match made in marketing heaven. - Published: 2023-01-30 - Modified: 2023-02-09 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/marketing-automation-and-crm-match-made-in-heaven/ - Categories: CRM When it comes to iconic couplings, we’ve got Beyonce and Jay-Z, peanut butter and chocolate, and... marketing automation and CRM. Yes, just like the perfect matches that have come before them, sparks fly when marketing automation software meets small business CRM. How do we know? Because this collaboration is the edge that gives our platform the ability to bring small businesses more and better marketing capabilities (as well as achieve a better work-life balance) — and we’ve seen firsthand what a difference that can make. Having CRM software integrated into your marketing automation platform is a best of both worlds scenario. Once you use it, you won’t know how you ever survived without it. Here’s why these two tools work so well together and why they really are each other’s better half. What do CRM and Marketing Automation Tools do? Before you can look at the reasons behind why CRM software and marketing automation software complement each other so well, you have to look at what each of these tools brings to the table on their own. CRM Customer relationship management software tracks and stores customer data. It provides your sales reps with important information about prospects, clients, and their history and relationship with your brand. Your business’s CRM platform comes in handy in a lot of different situations, but it’s primarily about providing each customer (potential and otherwise) with the smoothest possible journey through the funnel. Examples of the types of information that your CRM makes easily accessible for... --- ### How to Create a Sales Funnel and Fill it With High-Quality Content > Your sales funnel needs to flow continuously in order to work well. And content is the key to a healthy funnel. - Published: 2023-01-30 - Modified: 2024-05-29 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/content-marketing-sales-funnel/ - Categories: Sales These days, it’s relationships that define and sustain a brand. Countless research studies have proven that businesses that connect with their customers on a more personal level are much more successful than competitors that don’t. And one of the most effective ways to make those connections at scale is through content. But there’s more to it than just creating content and hoping your prospects see it and identify with it in some way. You have to tap into the customer journey and how content plays a part within it. The journey your customers take when interacting with your brand is synonymous with the sales funnel. Your sales funnel is essentially the way your inbound leads identify your brand, interact with it, and consider it to solve their problem (but more on that in a bit). However, most leads don’t enter your funnel with the same level of knowledge about your brand or at the same stage of their journey. Here are some ideas to help you meet your prospects and customers where they are at each stage of the funnel. What Is a Sales Funnel? A sales funnel, also known as a purchasing funnel, is a marketing model that describes the journey shoppers take from prospect to brand loyalist. It is composed of four separate stages — awareness, consideration, conversion, and loyalty — with each stage encompassing various behaviors, questions, and challenges that marketers can use to optimize their strategy and better move potential and current customers from one stage... --- ### What Should You Be Tracking for Content Marketing ROI? > Having a content marketing strategy is great, but it needs to be doing its job. However, tracking ROI from your content efforts isn't easy. - Published: 2023-01-30 - Modified: 2023-03-30 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/content-marketing-roi-2/ - Categories: Content Marketing As content has evolved, so has the way we measure the return on investment that we get from it. Back in the early days of content marketing, it wasn’t uncommon for companies to have a set-it-and-forget-it attitude about the pieces that they published. After all, so long as their content was serving in some vague way to increase brand awareness and credibility that was enough — right? Today, we have loftier goals — and higher expectations — for our content, and a lot more ways to track performance, too. There are so many areas that contribute to how successful your content marketing is, and knowing what they are is crucial to ensure you’re getting the most out of your efforts. To help you put everything into perspective, here are some of the most important indicators of just how much of a return you’re getting on your content. Brand Awareness Brand awareness remains a central concern of content marketing, and for good reason. Eighty-nine percent of B2B marketers cite brand awareness as a top content goal, and that’s remained consistent for years. Fortunately, if you’re producing quality content, you shouldn’t have any trouble getting it to boost awareness and steer more eyes in your direction. But measuring brand awareness isn’t as straightforward as one might think. In order to ensure you’re creating brand awareness from your content marketing efforts, make sure you’re asking your marketing team the right questions: Are more people becoming familiar with what it is that you do?... --- ### Content and Marketing Automation: How Both Strategies Fuel One Another > The average customer journey these days involves a lot of self-service: we do our own research, read reviews of products and try to decipher which ones - Published: 2023-01-30 - Modified: 2023-06-21 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/content-and-marketing-automation/ - Categories: Marketing Automation The average customer journey these days involves a lot of self-service: we do our own research, read reviews of products and try to decipher which ones are real vs. paid or bot-generated, and then make the decision alone. It’s a big shift from the days of hand-selling in department stores, where a human would not only greet you but also educate you on your options and help you decide which one best fits your needs and budget. This isn’t a call to return to the past, though. Rather, it’s a suggestion of how marketers can infuse the presale steps of the sales funnel with that same human touch, that gentle guidance, and reap the ROI benefits—including an average of 5-15% more revenue. While eCommerce doesn’t allow for in-person engagement the way brick and mortar stores do, there are opportunities to educate your customers and infuse their interactions with your brand with personality. One of the best ways to do this is with a tandem strategy involving content marketing and marketing automation. Content Marketing Builds Customer Relationships Content marketing is a great way to bring customer service into the early stages of the customer journey. Instead of addressing customer needs reactively, content marketing enables you to make prospects feel seen and catered to before they’ve ever made a purchase. Take the example of floor sales. If you wanted to buy a couch in 1975, you might go to Sears. You’d sit on a bunch of different sofas and loveseats, all while... --- ### How to Distribute Your Content Effectively > Oftentimes, content creation is such a complex process that marketers breathe a sigh of relief when they press publish, thinking the job is done. In - Published: 2023-01-30 - Modified: 2024-01-16 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-distribute-content/ - Categories: Content Marketing Oftentimes, content creation is such a complex process that marketers breathe a sigh of relief when they press publish, thinking the job is done. In reality, that’s when the real work just begins. For the content to take off, deliver results, and contribute to more brand awareness, you have to promote and amplify it. In this article, we’ll show you how to distribute your content so that it gets in front of as many people as possible. Why Distributing Your Content is Essential for Success Ross Simmonds, founder at Foundation Marketing, believes “Content distribution differentiates a piece of content that thrives and one that falls flat. ” If your SEO-optimized blog post is generating 1,000 visitors to your website, you could double (or even quadruple) that traffic with a proper distribution strategy. More traffic means more leads, which in turn translates to more customers and increased revenue. 11 Ways to Effectively Distribute Your Content 1. Use Newsletters There are two approaches to publicizing your content using email newsletters. The first is to launch your own and build a community of devoted readers around it. Then, publish valuable content to keep those readers engaged, aligning the newsletter issues with your overall content strategy. For example, use pop-ups on your website to notify visitors that they can sign up for your company’s email newsletter list. Whether you send your newsletters out weekly or monthly, choose your most recently published blog content, guides, and guest content to include within your newsletters, so your... --- ### Understanding the Basics of Digital Marketing > The digital marketing landscape moves at lightning speed. But understanding the basics ensures you're always ready for what's to come. - Published: 2023-01-26 - Modified: 2024-07-10 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/digital-marketing-basics/ - Categories: Marketing Traditionally, startups would rely on print media, outdoor advertising, coupon mailers, and direct mail to get the first customer through the door. But thanks to the internet, the world has changed. These days, 62% of customers’ primary use of the internet is to find information and discover brands. This means that if your business wants to tap into a vast pool of possibilities, it should be using digital marketing to generate leads and boost sales. Let’s discuss the basics of digital marketing. We’ll take a look at the different digital marketing tactics and show you how to use them to your advantage. And if you’re just getting started with your digital marketing strategy, no worries. We’ll cover the talents you need in your team to get the best results. Ready? What is Digital Marketing? Digital marketing, also known as online marketing or internet marketing, refers to the array of marketing tactics companies use to engage and interact with customers and prospects online. Digital marketing happens across multiple media channels and can take many forms, including: Email marketing: As the name suggests, this is a form of marketing that uses email. Email marketing has an insanely high ROI of 3600%, and it’s no surprise many companies use this tactic to generate leads and nurture them into customers. Content marketing: Content Marketing Institute defines content marketing as a strategic marketing approach that focuses on creating and distributing relevant, valuable, and consistent content to attract or retain customers. According to SemRush, 97% of... --- ### Most Compelling Trends from Litmus Email Engagement Trends Report > Litmus just released their Email Engagement Trends Report and we compiled the most compelling stats, check them out! - Published: 2023-01-25 - Modified: 2023-01-25 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/most-compelling-trends-from-litmus-email-engagement-trends-report/ - Categories: Email Marketing When Apple launched the Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) in September 2021, marketers were unsure of the new mail client's impact on email marketing. As you can read in the latest Litmus’ Email Engagement Trends report, the effect is already conspicuous one year after MPP's launch. The email marketing landscape is tipped to tilt further, and in this guide, we’ll put your fingers on the pulse of changing email engagement. We’ll dissect the Litmus Email Engagement Trends report and discuss four trends that could force you to change how you go about email marketing. 1. Use of Dark Mode is Gaining Popularity Dark mode is cool, sleek, and elegant — and it’s no surprise it’s gradually becoming table stakes in app design. More and more users are falling for the dramatic new look, and now, many subscribers prefer their email clients in dark mode. Proponents of dark mode claim that it improves user experience in a way never seen before. It helps cut the menace of blue light, thus mitigating the disruption to the reader’s circadian rhythm. According to the Litmus report, the number of subscribers using dark mode has increased by 6% in the last year. While this isn’t an eye-popping leap, it signifies the direction marketers need to take. If you’ve not added the dark mode experience to your email strategy, the time is right to do so. However, it would be best if you relied on first-party data to determine precisely what percentage of your audience prefer dark... --- ### 20 Marketing Metrics To Focus on in 2023 To Measure Success > Let's start 2023 off on the right foot by tracking the right marketing metrics for success. Here are 20 of them. - Published: 2023-01-24 - Modified: 2024-01-18 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/marketing-metrics-to-focus-on-in-2023/ - Categories: Marketing Digital marketing is extremely fast-paced, so it’s important to keep up with the best metrics to ensure continued growth in 2023. There are several marketing strategies and metrics to work with, so it’s easy to get lost in a sea of numbers without making much progress. That’s why marketers and business owners need to know which metrics are the best for measuring business growth. This guide will share 20 marketing metrics to focus on to measure success in 2023. Marketing Metrics for Success in 2023 Measuring success in 2023 is easy when you have the right metrics for the job. Let’s take a closer look into five categories of metrics: lead metrics, social media metrics, brand awareness, micro conversions, and metrics that measure customer satisfaction. Lead Metrics Leads by Source Organizing leads by the source they originated from can lead to more in-depth insights about your audience. Keep track of where your leads are coming from to determine which channels are most effective and which ones need attention. Average Lead Value by Source This metric measures the success of each unique marketing channel. To calculate the average lead value by source: Average Lead Value = (Total Revenue / Number of Leads) X Percent Profit Lead Quality Measuring the quality of leads is helpful, as is gathering and organizing this information. The easiest way to track lead quality is with CRM software. Most modern CRMs can automatically analyze your leads and measure their quality for you. Lead Velocity Rate This metric... --- ### 15 Must-Have Content Marketing Tools to Ensure Quality and Consistency > Content marketing is a powerful marketing strategy. Here are eight content marketing tools that can help improve your content processes. - Published: 2023-01-18 - Modified: 2024-03-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/must-have-content-marketing-tools/ - Categories: Content Marketing Content marketing continues to evolve as a powerful marketing strategy in the fast-moving and information-driven digital world of today. It is the need of the hour for any business that wants to establish a strong brand image and boost its sales. According to a Statista report, 42% of content marketing professionals expect their content budgets to increase in 2022. Another report said that 82% of marketing professionals use content marketing as an integral part of their strategy. Although it is not a new marketing strategy by any means, it’s evident that the popularity of content marketing has grown exponentially in the last few years. The idea of content marketing is to share valuable and relevant content as means of persuading the decision-making audience. Customers today are intelligent decision-makers who are looking for useful and factual information that provides them with some kind of value. So it is your responsibility to ensure the quality and consistency of your content across channels. This is where content marketing tools come in. Content Marketing Tools – What are they? Content marketing tools are essentially marketing automation tools that simplify various aspects of the content processes. These tools can help businesses in: Acquiring deeper insights into the type of content that keeps the audience engaged. Making the content SEO-friendly. Managing various teams involved in the content processes. Collaborating with content team members. Creating captivating visuals and imagery for content. Managing social media campaigns. Making email marketing campaigns simpler. Project management and workflow automation. According to... --- ### Grey Hat SEO: How To Avoid Crossing The Line In The Search For Marketing Results > Are you familiar with Grey Hat SEO? If you want to ensure your SEO strategy is lock-tight, then it's time to know what it is. - Published: 2023-01-17 - Modified: 2024-10-30 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/grey-hat-seo/ - Categories: Marketing What is Gray Hat SEO? Grey-Hat SEO is best explained in the context of White-Hat SEO and Black-Hat SEO. So let us first define the two extremes. White Hate SEO is your regular by-the-book SEO. You are optimizing your website while strictly following the rules and guidelines. It is ethical and unproblematic. Good guy stuff. Black Hat SEO, on the other hand, includes sneaky, unethical tactics to increase search rankings. These tactics usually violate the guidelines. They work... up until you get caught. If you get caught, WHEN you get caught, the consequences are horrible. And recovery is extremely difficult, if at all possible. Grey Hat SEO is more complicated and undefined. It is a mixture of White Hat techniques and Black Hat techniques. These tactics are often transitory- they may work right now but will soon be classified as Black Hat. They have not yet been clearly defined by Google’s Webmaster Guidelines as legal or illegal. Grey Hat SEO is like Batman. He isn’t your typical hero. He is far from the definition of good. But he isn’t bad. Yet. He exists in this liminal space between hero and villain. Why is Gray Hat SEO Still Practiced? In the most cut-and-dry terms - Grey Hat SEO is used when you are impatient and want results without putting in the work of creating good content. It is looking for shortcuts. There is a right way of doing things, and there is an easy way of doing things. The easy way... --- ### Why Personalized Marketing Should Be at the Core of Your Strategy > Sending your subscribers tailored messaging that addresses their needs increases your ROI. Here's how to use personalized marketing. - Published: 2023-01-12 - Modified: 2023-01-25 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/personalized-marketing/ - Categories: Marketing Marketing is the lifeblood of any organization, but its success is contingent on how well you know your target audience. When you know your target audience, you not only know where to find them online but how to reach them with your marketing strategy. A more traditional marketing approach is to cast a wide net to reel in your audience. However, personalized marketing allows you to be a bit more strategic with your approach. What is Personalized Marketing? Personalized marketing uses collected data and insights to deliver targeted brand messaging to each customer or prospect. The approach of customizing each brand message helps to make your campaigns more relevant for the individuals receiving them. Traditional marketing emphasizes quantity, but personalized marketing isn’t about reaching as many people as possible with the same message. Rather, the primary focus of personalized marketing is the relevance and quality of brand messaging for the person it is directed towards. When you implement personalized marketing, your brand messages get across to your ideal customers at the right time and with the right content. Data + Personalized Marketing = The Perfect Match Some marketers view personalized marketing as just adding the first names of their prospects to emails, newsletters, and other communications. But to truly practice personalized marketing, you need all the information you can get about your customers and prospects. Without data, it's hard to discern what your customers need and how you can proffer solutions. You need to collect data to be able to:... --- ### 16 of the Worst Writing Mistakes to Avoid in Your Email Campaigns > When writing your email marketing campaigns, a small mistake could ruin your results. Here are the worst writing mistakes to avoid. - Published: 2023-01-11 - Modified: 2023-01-19 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/writing-mistakes-email-campaigns/ - Categories: Email Marketing Let’s face it. Writing mistakes are the absolute worst, especially when they’re in any sort of marketing material. When we make simple writing mistakes, especially in our email marketing, they can derail the focus and purpose of your message, impact your reputation with your target audience, and lead to miscommunication. Before hitting that “Send” button, take the time to review your email for style, accuracy, and writing errors. It is one of the most important things you could do to ensure your marketing message doesn’t get convoluted. In this post, we’ve called out 18 of the biggest copywriting mistakes you should avoid when putting together your next email campaign. Take a look! 1. Not Formatting Fonts If you've copied and pasted some text into your email, always format it to ensure consistency. A collection of mismatched fonts will immediately turn your readers off, making your emails appear spammy, amateur, and unprofessional. Stick to one or two fonts at most if you want to get creative, and make sure they complement each other well. 2. Misspelling Your Company Name One of the worst mistakes you can make in email campaigns is misspelling your own company’s name. This may seem like a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised how often this happens. Not only does it make you look unprofessional, but it also shows a lack of attention to detail. Make sure you proofread your email campaigns carefully before sending them out, and if possible, have someone else check them for you. This... --- ### Accounting For eCommerce: A Small Business Guide to Managing Finances > A guide to managing your finances as a small eCommerce business. Everything you need to know, from basic accounting methods to software tips. - Published: 2023-01-10 - Modified: 2025-05-12 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/accounting-for-ecommerce/ - Categories: Ecommerce It's the beginning of a new year. Which means if you haven't begun evaluating your businesses' finances at the end of 2022, you're doing so now. Appropriate management of cash flow is essential for the success of any business. For eCommerce startups and small businesses, however, a healthy cash flow can mean the difference between survival and bankruptcy. If you're one of the 41% of small eCommerce business owners who do their own accounts, this article is for you. Image Source What is eCommerce Accounting? At its most basic level, accounting refers to bookkeeping tasks like recording transactions or handling payroll. But accounting goes further than bookkeeping and if you're running a small business, you'll need to handle these responsibilities as well: Preparing and analyzing balance sheets Reporting income for tax purposes and calculating tax liabilities Preparing financial statements and stakeholder reports Keeping records in line with auditing requirements Analyzing financial data for risk analysis and forecasting Good cash flow management starts with good bookkeeping. The first step is to accurately record the cash flowing in and out of your business. There are two main accounting methods that eCommerce businesses use to keep track of cash flow. Cash Basis Accounting The cash-based method is the starting point for most small eCommerce businesses. This is when you record cash movements in and out of your business bank account as they happen. So, you record expenditure when it leaves your business and income when it clears. This means that for your end-of-year... --- ### The 5 Best Online Marketing Tactics for 2023 > 2023 is going to be an exciting year for marketing. Here are some of the best online marketing tactics to try this year. - Published: 2023-01-08 - Modified: 2025-06-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/best-online-marketing-tactics-2017/ - Categories: Marketing 2022 is quickly coming to an end, and 2023 is just around the corner. Typical to the industry, a lot has happened in the marketing sphere in the last year, with new trends emerging and shaping the way brands reach their audiences. If being a marketer has taught us anything, it’s that the way to succeed is to stay agile and prepare for anything. We know that can be close to impossible, especially when you have a small team. So, in an effort to help set you up for an excellent and successful 2023, we’re sharing the top online marketing tactics that will define 2023. It’s time to be prepared so you can stay one step ahead of the curve. Finally. Let’s jump in! 1. Influencer Marketing Growing steadily from $9. 7 billion in 2020 to $13. 8 billion in 2021 and projected to reach $16. 4 billion this year, what started as a social media fad has now become a sought-after marketing strategy for numerous brands and businesses. Influencers are individuals on social media platforms with large, engaged, loyal audiences and followers. Due to the effort they have put into growing their presence by engaging users; they can affect the purchase decision of their audiences. Influencers build their following by engaging actively in a specific niche to develop: Authority Knowledge Position Audience relationship You should include influencer marketing as part of your marketing mix for 2023. Below are some ways you can easily incorporate it into your overall marketing... --- ### 11 Email Marketing Ideas That Will Breathe New Life into Your Campaigns > Don't get stagnant with your email marketing strategy. Here are 11 email marketing ideas that will breathe new life into your campaigns. - Published: 2023-01-05 - Modified: 2023-04-24 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-ideas/ - Categories: Email Marketing When it comes to email marketing, it's important to stand out from the dozen other emails hitting your audience’s inbox. You want your messages to grab the attention of your subscribers and make them engage so you can leave a lasting impression. Doing this requires a lot of creativity with your email content and developing unique ideas that will resonate. No more putting together a basic email and hitting send. If you aren’t sure where to start, here’s a list of some creative email marketing ideas that will help you craft emails that stand out, get noticed, and delight your subscribers. 11 Brilliant Email Marketing Ideas to Breathe Life Into Your Campaigns It is easy to get stuck in a rut regarding emails. You might find yourself sending the same boring copy-heavy email over and over, or you’re just unsure how to mix things up to keep your subscribers engaged. But it doesn’t have to be an uphill battle. Check out these brilliant ideas that will keep your subscribers coming back for more: 1. Spice it Up With a Video Including a video in your email marketing is a great way to add excitement and visual interest. You can use videos to showcase new products, demo features, or tell a story about your brand. You can even embed a video right into the body of your email for maximum impact. When choosing a video for your email campaign, make sure it's short and to the point. You don't want to... --- ### 6 Emails You Should Be Sending if You're in eCommerce > If you run an eCommerce business then you know sales are everything. Are you sending the right kind of emails to increase sales? - Published: 2023-01-03 - Modified: 2023-03-27 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ecommerce-emails/ - Categories: Ecommerce In the words of David Newman, "Email has an ability many channels don't: creating valuable, personal touches – at scale. " It is one reason why email marketing remains the favorite tool of eCommerce business owners. It is the most widely used tactic for sales, lead generation, customer retention, and lead nurturing. While email marketing is great at reaching out to your customers, you still need the right formula. You may just be wasting effort, time, and resources if you're not reaching out to your client base with the right emails that align with where they are in their buying journey. To ensure that your business keeps being profitable, we have put together this list of emails that you should be sending to your subscribers as owner looking to increase their eCommerce valuation. The Stages of the Buying Journey for eCommerce Customers Before deciding on the types of emails to send, it is crucial to segment your eCommerce customers based on where they are in the buyer's journey. In eCommerce email marketing, your customers could fall into three stages: Interested Stage The interested stage lumps subscribers and potential customers who interact with your brand primarily through gated content (for example, signing up for a coupon, or downloading a guide, amongst other things) but who have not purchased anything from your eCommerce store yet. Also in this category are first-time buyers who did not end up making a purchase but only put products in their carts. Emails sent to buyers in... --- ### 5 Tips for Brainstorming Ideas for Content Creation > Creating new, unique, engaging content is hard. Here are some tips for brainstorming ideas for content creation. - Published: 2022-12-28 - Modified: 2023-01-19 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/brainstorming-for-content-creation/ - Categories: Content Marketing Quality and shareable content keeps your audiences engaged, educated, and informed. But it may seem demanding to churn out great pieces all the time, and occasionally, you experience creative block. So, how do you keep your creative juice flowing to generate great ideas? If you’re stuck for content ideas, brainstorming can be a helpful way to jump-start your creativity. Whether a business owner or a marketer, engaging your team offers a collective approach to formulating powerful and share-worthy ideas for your next post. In this article, we’ll share with you some of our top tips for coming up with ideas for content creation. Perform a Content Audit A content audit assesses all the content on your website or blog to identify pieces performing well and those that need updating. While at it, keep an eye out for duplicate content, outdated information, or poor-quality writing, and make edits as needed. To get started, take an inventory of all the existing content on your site and identify the ones already ranking and the key terms they rank for. You can use a tool like SEMrush to get this done. Once you’ve identified the areas that need improvement, you can start brainstorming ideas for new and better content. You can improve existing content by: Adding more information that is relevant and valuable to your audience to fill in any gaps Updating existing details if they are outdated or no longer accurate Improving the writing style and tone, especially if they do not align... --- ### How to Start Your Online Business in 5 Simple Steps > Starting your online business can be intimidating, but if you follow our five simple steps, you'll have your business up and running asap! - Published: 2022-12-27 - Modified: 2024-09-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-start-your-online-business/ - Categories: Ecommerce Whether it’s a brilliant business idea you want to pursue, the desire to break away from a 9-5, or you are part of the 29% who want to be their own boss— launching your online business is an exciting and daunting endeavor. There are a lot of possibilities that come with launching an eCommerce brand. However, having it all figured out and getting your ducks in a row can be extremely hard and stop aspiring small business owners in their tracks. We’re here to help! This guide will take you through the essential steps you need to complete to get your online business up and running in 2023. Create Your Website When you launch an eCommerce store, your website is your business’s hub. It’s the point of contact your potential customers will have with your business, learn more about what you do, and decide why they should choose you amongst others. It’s also where you display your available products and services for sale. There are things your eCommerce site must have in order to drive sales successfully. To ensure your site has everything it needs, make sure you do the following: Choose and purchase a domain name for your business. Try as much as possible to get your domain name close to your business name for brand consistency. Decide on the platform where you will host your website. If your online business is strictly eCommerce, you may consider using popular eCommerce solutions like Shopify and Squarespace. WordPress is also a... --- ### 15 Ways to Increase Your Website Traffic > Learn the most effective strategies to attract qualified traffic to your website ✔ check our guide to apply them. - Published: 2022-12-22 - Modified: 2024-11-06 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/increase-website-traffic/ - Categories: Inbound Marketing When it comes to web traffic, the more, the merrier. Part of your job as a marketer is to come up with new and inventive ways to drive more eyes to your site. This has a couple of big benefits for any business, including ramping up brand awareness and sales as well as growing your email subscriber list. The connection between web traffic and overall email marketing success is a big one, with the more visitors that you can bring to your site equaling more opportunities to sign them up for your emails and make stronger, more impactful connections. We have lots of advice on how to capture contacts once they make it onto your site, but how do you get them there in the first place? Keep reading for 15 creative ways that you can increase website traffic, then get to work tracking visitor behavior so that you can put website forms and CTAs in optimal spots. But first, let’s start with the basics. Types of Website Traffic Before going into details on how to increase website traffic, you should know that there are six types of traffic: Organic Traffic Organic traffic refers to unpaid visits coming from queries on search engines (Google, Yahoo, etc. ). To obtain organic traffic, it is necessary to optimize the contents of the website with keywords that respond to the users' intentions, and other SEO-related practices that we are going to explore later in more depth. As a result, your website can rank... --- ### 9 Tips for Running Automated Campaigns While You’re Out of Office > Your campaigns don't sleep, even when you're out of office for the holidays. Here's how to keep your campaigns going while you're OOO. - Published: 2022-12-21 - Modified: 2022-12-14 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/running-automated-campaigns-while-ooo/ - Categories: Email Marketing Today’s business environment is fast-paced, with a constant overlap of tasks to complete. It can be hard to find time for anything else, including vacations. When you finally get to spend time out of the office, like for the holiday season, your marketing campaign is the last thing you want to worry about. Fortunately, you can set up automated campaigns to keep your business running while you’re away. So while you’re out for the holidays, you can leverage digital tools to automate your campaigns and keep them running. Tips and Best Practices for Out-of-Office Automated Campaigns 1. Choose the Right Strategy Your email marketing strategy dictates how the campaigns perform. It provides the goals and direction for regular emails and promotional emails. Plus, it provides time frames for achieving your goals. So, it’s vital to establish your customer journey in each of your emails as well as throughout your automated campaign. Talk through your strategy and messaging with your team to resolve any questions or hiccups that might hinder conversions. Also, consider A/B testing options your team can implement on the fly if a campaign isn’t working as you had hoped. Marketing can be somewhat of a guessing game, but creating the right strategy based on solid data and your specific goals can help set you up for success. 2. Test Actors don’t earn their roles without first acing an audition. Likewise, marketers shouldn’t blast their automated campaigns without taking them for a test drive. Before heading out of the... --- ### The Four Marketing Strategies: What They Are and Why You Need Them > Are you aware of the four major marketing strategies? It's important that you identify which work best for your business and how to use them. - Published: 2022-12-20 - Modified: 2025-04-22 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-four-marketing-strategies/ - Categories: Marketing Coordinating your marketing activities and tying them back to your business goals helps maximizes profit and amplifies your chances for success. In a nutshell - that’s the job of your business’s marketing strategy. Irrespective of the marketing strategy you employ, email marketing is a key channel for overall success. It consistently delivers an impressive ROI, making it one of the most effective mediums for brand awareness and increased sales. Let’s take a crash course on the four main marketing strategies you can implement and how email marketing can be included in the mix for ultimate success. 1. Traditional Marketing Traditional marketing is the widely used marketing channel that dominated marketing until the 90s when the internet became popular. It refers to any marketing activity that is carried out offline to attract customers and generate sales. Traditional Marketing Uses offline channels, like print advertisements or collateral. Doesn’t segment audiences. Facilitates relationships with customers majorly via physical contact or phone It is still considered a credible form of marketing, especially for building brand awareness. It is the oldest form of marketing. Reaches large prospects and customer groups. Advantages of Traditional Marketing Promotional materials and resources can be used for future marketing activities and campaigns. Placements are typically in magazines, newspapers, direct mail, or even commercial spots, allowing it to reach a diverse audience. Provides extensive brand exposure for businesses. It helps to solidify brand identity, brand recognition and increases brand awareness. Disadvantages of Traditional Marketing It requires huge capital investments to see... --- ### How Benchmark Email's Shopify Sync Will Increase eCommerce Sales > Benchmark Email's Shopify Sync is built to help eCommerce businesses increase sales and personalize outreach to Shopify customers. - Published: 2022-12-15 - Modified: 2023-03-27 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/shopify-sync-increase-ecommerce-sales/ - Categories: Ecommerce Did you know there was a staggering 19% increase in online holiday retail shopping in 2018? And that online shopping made up 13% of the total holiday sales? This percentage only continued to increase each year after. Understandably, no one imagined we would be battling an uncertain economy and recession in 2022. Thus, as an eCommerce and small business owner, depending on your niche, it's more important than ever to ensure that customers receive regular emails, promotional emails, and reminders of products they've seen or shown interest in. Continue reading to learn about our Shopify Sync and how it can help increase your eCommerce sales during the holiday season. Shopify Sync – Why You Need It Shopify is the leading eCommerce platform trusted by businesses of all sizes. It is easy to use, has a wide range of features, and integrates with several email marketing platforms, including Benchmark Email. Shopify Sync ensures that all your Shopify customers and newsletter subscribers are automatically added to your existing Benchmark email list or to a new list you specify. That way, you can be sure that you're always reaching out to your entire customer base and not just those who happen to be on your email list at the time. Not only will this make your email marketing more effective, especially in a season when consumers are becoming prudent with their spending, but it also saves you time and hassle. With Shopify Sync, there's no need to manually export and import lists between... --- ### How to Reduce Email Bounce Rate and Improve Deliverability > Experiencing a high bounce rate is extremely damaging to your email marketing and can negatively affect your deliverability. - Published: 2022-12-14 - Modified: 2024-01-25 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/reduce-email-bounce-rate-and-improve-deliverability/ - Categories: Email Marketing After all the sweat, blood, and tears you gave to craft a valuable email for your subscribers, it’s finally time to hit the send button. But, after you send them, a large chunk of your subscribers end up not getting it. Can you even imagine the horror? Bounced emails aren’t a new kid on the block when it comes to email marketing. Whether your subscribers no longer have access to their emails or the email server is under construction, it happens. The higher the email bounce rate you have, the higher chances it’ll hurt your email deliverability. According to a study, the accepted benchmark for email bounce rate is around two percent. It means for every 100 emails you send, it’s normal to see two emails be returned to you. Meanwhile, if you see your email bounce rate is over five percent, it’s time to bring that number down to a healthier range by taking some actions. Fortunately, reducing the email bounce rate doesn’t have to be a head-scratcher. Let’s dive into everything regarding email bounce rate, including some powerful ways to make sure your emails land smoothly in your subscribers’ inboxes. What is Email Bounce Rate Your email bounce rate is the percentage of the emails you’ve sent that weren’t able to reach the recipient’s inbox — or even spam. Instead, they were bounced right back to you as undeliverable. Now, this might just be a ‘soft’ bounce, meaning the email couldn’t be delivered for potentially temporary reasons, like... --- ### 25 Examples of Holiday Email Subject Lines with the Highest Open Rates (with Emojis) > Looking to wow your subscribers with your holiday email marketing? Here are some holiday email subject lines with the highest open rates. - Published: 2022-12-13 - Modified: 2024-08-20 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/holiday-email-subject-lines-with-highest-open-rates/ - Categories: Email Marketing The holiday marketing season is finally here, so it’s time to brush up on holiday email marketing techniques to improve open rates this year. From holiday specials to limited-time offers, emails are an excellent way to engage audiences and drive customers to your shop. If you’re tired of the same old tricks, maybe it’s time to give emojis a try. Emojis in subject lines have a proven track record for high open rates and boosted engagements. In fact, 35% of email recipients look at the subject line to decide if they will open your message or not. From snowflakes to fire, there are many ways you can add an emoji to spice up your holiday email subject line. In this article, we’ll share the top 25 holiday subject lines with the highest open rates, as well as plenty of inspiration for writing your own email subject lines for your upcoming holiday email campaign. How to Create an Engaging Email Subject Line for the Holidays The subject line is the first point of contact when your recipients see they have a new email from your brand. It sets the tone for the body of the message and tells the reader what to expect when they open the message. A good email subject line can make the difference between making a great first impression or not making an impression at all. Whether you are starting a business or you have been grinding it out for a long time, knowing how to craft... --- ### How to Perform a Social Media Audit in 5 Steps > You should perform a social media audit regularly. We explain how to do a social media aduit in just five easy steps. - Published: 2022-12-08 - Modified: 2023-07-05 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/social-media-audit/ - Categories: Social Media Let’s face it; social media is a constant battle. In today’s social media landscape, what’s hot one day may be cold the next. This has made staying on top of ever-changing trends a challenge, even for the most experienced social media managers. To challenge this, businesses must constantly tweak and update their social media strategies. But how do businesses know they’re on the right track? The best way is to conduct a social media audit from time to time. A social media audit is the process of measuring your social media profiles and strategies to determine your strengths and weaknesses. Social media audits are great tools for assessing your effective marketing strategies and identifying areas that need improvement. That said, are you just getting started on social media? Or perhaps, you want to take your game to the next level? Below are five simple steps to perform a successful social media audit. 1. List All Your Social Media Accounts First, there is a high chance that you may have forgotten some of your social media profiles. To be sure, list all the social media accounts you’ve created for your business - both active and inactive ones. One way to get this is by using the search option on social media platforms. You can take a clue from this search for Benchmark’s Instagram profile below. This will help you discover all your social media pages, including impostor accounts. For profiles you no longer use, you may want to recover them (if... --- ### Are You Underutilizing Your Email Marketing Automation Software? > There's a lot you can do with your email marketing automation software. But if you're underutilizing it, you'll never see its full potential. - Published: 2022-12-07 - Modified: 2022-11-30 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/underutilizing-email-marketing-automation-software/ - Categories: Marketing Automation As a small business owner, ongoing tasks need your attention constantly. There are new strategies you want to develop; you must plan your content, research product ideas, and much more. Naturally, it is always a welcome bonus if a tool helps you take care of repetitive tasks, freeing up much-needed time for other projects. That’s exactly what email marketing automation software does for you. It helps you keep the communication with your prospects and buyers ongoing without manually crafting the message or sending it each time you need to engage your subscribers. Sounds like a dream, right? However, so many people that sign up for email marketing software aren’t actually using it correctly. They either forget to get started, get intimidated, and neglect it, or they use one or two features and call it a day. In order to see as many benefits from your email marketing as possible, it’s crucial that you utilize as much of your marketing software as possible. We’ll help you determine what aspects of your software you may be neglecting and why you should correct that as soon as possible. The Importance of Using Email Automation Software Email marketing automation software does more than send emails to your subscribers using set triggers. Below are other benefits it offers: It allows you to utilize personalized email marketing. Using dynamic content, you can automate a different email series for different triggers (or “actions” that your subscribers take), improving the way you market to your subscribers and increasing... --- ### The Importance of Owning Your Email List > Your email list is by far your most important marketing asset. Here's why owning your email list is so crucial to your company's success. - Published: 2022-12-06 - Modified: 2024-07-23 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/owning-your-email-list/ - Categories: Email Marketing Imagine starting your social media accounts, posting regularly, and growing your following to almost 100k. Then one day, you wake up, and everything is gone. The only option is to start all over again. As a business owner, this could be you. As unlikely as this scenario may seem, it’s always a risk to be reliant on other platforms to connect you to your audience. But email marketing is different. It’s the marketing channel that gives you control over your contacts and audience. Unlike social media, diligently building your email list doesn’t come with as many risks. Since it’s essentially your asset and not owned by another platform, you have more control over your ability to market to your audience. But let’s dig deeper by looking at what exactly an email list is and why it's so important for your overall marketing success. What is an Email List? An email list is your business's collection of email addresses and contact information of individuals who signed up to receive your email correspondence. When prospects and customers opt into your email marketing, it means they are open to receiving your messages and are interested in your brand. With an email list, you can send out email campaigns to your subscribers, communicating with them directly and nurturing long, trustworthy customer relationships. Why You Should Build Your Email List Some business owners wait too long to start building their email list. Small business owners stall because they believe an email list and email marketing... --- ### 6 Marketing Goals to Keep Your eCommerce Leads Engaged After the Holidays > The holidays are the busiest time for online shopping. Discover ways to keep your eCommerce leads engaged during (and after) the holidays. - Published: 2022-12-01 - Modified: 2022-11-23 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/holiday-marketing-goals-ecommerce/ - Categories: Marketing Fostering engagement with prospects isn’t always easy. eCommerce brands need to know who their ideal customer is, what they need, and how to position their messaging in alignment with prospects’ preferences. The good news? With eCommerce conversion rates 0. 65% higher during the holiday season, brands have access to invaluable lead information they can use to keep prospects engaged well after the holiday season ends. If you’re interested in learning how to keep the connection alive after the holidays, we have six key marketing goals you need to keep in mind. Ready to discover what they are? Let’s begin. 1. Create a Personalized Sales Strategy Use your post-holiday sales data to develop a sales strategy in line with your prospects’ preferences. During the holidays, people tend to leave more of their personal data when shopping. This information holds tremendous value since it sheds insight into what kinds of products and information your prospects were eyeing so you can try offering them again in the future. (More on this in a bit. ) When creating your personalized sales strategy, segment your leads into groups. For instance, if you sell cookware, you might have a personal chef segment, a family segment, and a restaurant owner segment. Then, comb through your data to uncover your audience segments’ buying habits, consumer preferences, needs, and pain points. Use these insights to create a personalized sales strategy for each audience segment. Image Source 2. Simplify Your Outreach and Marketing Process with Marketing Software Using marketing software... --- ### Establishing a Brand Connection: Your Biggest 2023 Email Marketing Objective > Next year's email marketing objective is all about making a strong brand connection with your consumers. Here's how you do it. - Published: 2022-11-30 - Modified: 2022-11-23 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/2023-email-marketing-objective/ - Categories: Email Marketing Getting your marketing strategy right is one of the most challenging aspects of running a business. With advances in technology, consumer behavior, and competition all constantly shifting, it's never been more critical to stay on top of your game. There's no denying that email marketing is still an effective way to grow your business, but people want more than just regular emails in their inboxes. Many of today’s customers want real connections with businesses. According to customer engagement research, 84% of customers prioritize being treated like a person rather than just a number in your marketing email list. In this piece, we'll share six ways you can build authentic connections with your audience using email marketing. Why is Establishing Customer-Brand Connection Important? There are plenty of good reasons to focus on establishing a customer-brand connection as a business owner, and chief among them is the fact that it could lead to increased brand loyalty and customer retention. Your prospects and customers will see you as more than just a faceless corporation, instead viewing you as a relatable, human entity they can connect with personally. And, as any good marketer knows, it's easier and cheaper to keep existing customers than to acquire new ones. Additionally, when you have that connection with your audience, they can be the doors to new customers for you. Establishing a solid customer-brand connection makes your customers more likely to engage with your brand, recommend your products or services to others, and give you valuable feedback that... --- ### How to Respond to an Angry Customer: 7 Email Responses to Calm Dissatisfied Customers > Angry customers happen. Here are some email responses that will help you address issues and calm angry customers. - Published: 2022-11-24 - Modified: 2024-05-29 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-responses-to-calm-angry-customers/ - Categories: Small Business Working with dissatisfied customers is a vital part of any customer-facing role. Your role is to understand their frustration and work through how to manage it without increasing their frustration or damaging your company's public reputation. The best outcome is that you reach a mutually satisfactory result that maintains your business’ customer reputation and solves your customer’s problem. Having the right tools to construct an appropriate email response will help to raise audience email engagement, and promote trust in your business. It will also help to encourage customer retention if frustrated customers know their concerns will be listened to. What Causes Customer Dissatisfaction? Many things cause people to become frustrated, whether related to their experience with your business or not. This is a complicated truth of customer service professions because this type of consumer frustration is in no way your fault, but this does not reduce your customer’s frustration or anger. In fact, it may make it worse. Certain situations may heighten customer anger: Products that require specialist expertise to repair e. g. , IT systems Products or services with a timing element e. g. , limited-time sign-in links Systems that could result in lost wages e. g. , work logs or payroll systems Services that revolve around emotional situations and responses, e. g. , healthcare, funeral care, and childcare. Understanding what causes customer frustration will help you to empathize with angry customers and employ this understanding in formulating an email response. How to Respond to an Angry Customer There... --- ### Small Business Trends on the 2023 Horizon > 2023 will be here before you know it. And there are some trends that will affect your small business in more ways than one. - Published: 2022-11-23 - Modified: 2023-03-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/small-business-trends-2023/ - Categories: Small Business A lot has changed within the past couple of years, and it’s ultimately affected how businesses operate. The United States currently has about 32. 5 million small businesses in active operations. However, a looming recession, rising inflation, and inventory issues are all curve balls that could ultimately make that number change. If small businesses are going to not only survive but thrive, this coming year, then they need to be one step ahead of what’s to come. There are trends to look out for, and if small business owners prepare and plan as soon as possible, it could help them stand out against bigger businesses they may be in competition with. Would you like to know what’s on the horizon for small businesses? This article gives insights into the trends your small business should capitalize on this year. Let’s take a look. 6 Small Business Trends for 2023 1. Integrated Marketing With the rise of digital media, integrated marketing has become an essential tool for small businesses. By delivering a consistent message across all channels – from social media to email marketing to blog posts – businesses can ensure that their audience will not only recognize them but easily identify them and connect. This is an important trend, given the current marketing landscape and the way consumers engage with brands. Consumers interact with brands more than ever before and across multiple touchpoints. They might see your ad on TV, look up your business on their phone, and then see your... --- ### How eCommerce Businesses Can Utilize Amazon Marketplace This Holiday Season > The holidays are all about increased sales. Here's how your eCommerce can utilize Amazon Marketplace this holiday season. - Published: 2022-11-23 - Modified: 2023-11-01 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ecommerce-amazon-marketplace/ - Categories: Ecommerce The holiday season is when retailers and eCommerce business owners look forward to their busiest times when customers shop for gifts for loved ones. However, this year could be different for most online stores. With the current inflation rate and an unexpected decline in retail sales, the IMF is warning that colliding pressures are pushing toward recession. Due to such factors, consumers are re-evaluating their spending habits and rethinking harder about what they want versus what is necessary. However, many consumers still plan to make themselves happy this holiday season with some shopping. The businesses that catch their attention will be the ones that have the most successful holiday period. So, to maximize sales for your eCommerce business this holiday season, take advantage of Amazon's 2. 4 billion average monthly traffic. Let us show you how. Why Selling Via Amazon Marketplace Is A Good Idea As an eCommerce owner, Amazon Marketplace is an excellent option if you want to make extra sales this holiday season. With over 310 million active customers worldwide and a nearly 40% share of the U. S. eCommerce market, there's a good chance you'll be able to reach your target market on Amazon, irrespective of the current economic outlook. Also, 66% of all online shoppers start their product searches on Amazon. This makes it the right platform for you to get your products in front of potential buyers. Cost-conscious consumers will be turning to eCommerce marketplaces like Amazon to cut down on shopping costs and logistics.... --- ### 15 Ways to Take Your Email Signature to the Next Level > There are some things you can do to make your email signature a little more exciting and promote your brand. - Published: 2022-11-22 - Modified: 2022-11-22 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-signature/ - Categories: Email Marketing There are lots of elements to a successful email, but many brands and professionals underestimate the power of their signatures. Your email signature tells your recipients who sent the message, of course, but it also lends legitimacy to your content and/or your request. And if you really take the time to do it right, it can increase your engagement levels and get you a lot more responses. Here’s what to know about email signatures, including easy ideas that you can use to go beyond the standard elements and get more bang for your signature buck. Why Your Email Signature Matters Getting your email signature right offers several benefits, regardless of who you're reaching out to and why. For starters, email signatures take the guesswork out of contact recognition. It's one of the fastest ways for a recipient to figure out who sent them the message, both in terms of the brand itself and the individual team member. Email signatures also give your email authority. Whether you're sending out a consumer-focused email newsletter or a cold outreach email to a potential lead, your signature tells the recipient that the email is coming from a real person, not just a nameless bot. Finally, email signatures make it easy for recipients to get in touch. By providing a quick snapshot of your name and contact information, you make it a lot more likely that someone who has a question or wants to learn more will actually take the time to do so. Since... --- ### The Best Days and Times to Send Newsletters > Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays might be the best days to send emails, but this is not a one-size-fits-all approach.➔ Find out why on our guide - Published: 2022-11-17 - Modified: 2022-11-30 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/whats-best-time-day-send-newsletter-v-promo-email/ - Categories: Email Marketing - Tags: Email Marketing The latest statistics show that competition in the newsletter arena is heating up. 81% of email marketers are sending email newsletters. Newsletters have become successful, so much so that people are paying to receive newsletters with personalized, original content. With your competitors shooting for the same subscribers as you do, how do you cut through the noise and reign in the subscriber’s inbox? To succeed, you have to nail three aspects: relevance, timing, and frequency of sending email newsletters. In this article, we will touch upon the best times to send a newsletter and the appropriate frequency. How to Know the Best Times to Send an Email Newsletter These tips might help determine the right timing to send your email newsletters: The first step is to determine and segment your target audience. Secondly, if we have performed email newsletter campaigns in the past, it can also be helpful to track past data. Another recommendation would be to check the competition. Finally, to really obtain accuracy we need to run A/B tests and re-adjust our strategies until we hit the right spot. 1. Know Your Audience Knowing your buyer persona is the very first step to perform any effective email marketing campaign. This is not only helpful to create and deliver relevant content: the best times to send a newsletter will depend on who you are directing it to. For example, if the newsletter is directed to a company, it will be best to send it during working hours, whereas, if... --- ### Is Inflation Affecting Your eCommerce? > Inflation is affecting the country in more ways than one. Is it possible that it could be affecting your eCommerce business? - Published: 2022-11-17 - Modified: 2022-11-10 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/inflation-ecommerce/ - Categories: Ecommerce Surging inflation and interest rate increases are making American consumers cautious about spending. According to JungleScout's Consumer Trends Report, 55% of consumers admit that the current inflation has impacted their gifting and spending plans for this year. Such trends can spell trouble for brick-and-mortar stores and eCommerce sites alike. This piece discusses the challenges posed by inflation for your eCommerce business and how you can fix it before it takes full effect. Challenges Caused By Inflation in the Ecommerce Industry To stay ahead of the game, you need to understand how inflation affects your business and what you can do to mitigate its impact. Here’s an overview of the top challenges caused by inflation in the eCommerce industry. A Decrease in Customer Purchasing Power As the cost of living increases, people are running short of cash that they can spend on buying from online stores. Due to the pandemic, about one in every four adults have had trouble paying their bills. As a result, consumers have less money to spend on discretionary shopping. They are re-evaluating their purchasing habits and spending less on non-essential items, which can lead to lower sales and profits for your eCommerce business. An Increase in Freight Costs The eCommerce industry relies on sea shipping to move goods from suppliers to eCommerce business owners. As of 2021, sea freight costs rose astronomically as part of the industry experiencing the fallout of COVID-19 and global lockdown, with a 466% increase in freight rate for August 2021 compared... --- ### A Comprehensive Guide to Email Marketing Jobs > Every wonder how many hands go into implementing an email marketing strategy? Here's a comprehensive guide to email marketing jobs. - Published: 2022-11-15 - Modified: 2025-05-09 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-jobs/ - Categories: Marketing An email marketing team is responsible for planning, executing, and measuring email marketing campaigns. The team typically consists of people with different skill sets, including creatives and copywriters, designers, analysts, and project managers. With a team like this, you're giving your business the best chance of creating email marketing campaigns that will achieve the desired results. If you don't have the internal resources to build an email marketing team, other job positions can contribute to your email marketing activities and success. In this post, we will look at the different job functions within an email marketing team and examine how they tie into your business's marketing goals. Job Positions Within Your Email Marketing Team Below are a variety of marketing job positions that you can consider as you build your email marketing team: Email Marketing Manager The email marketing manager is responsible for planning, executing, and measuring email marketing campaigns. This role requires a strategic thinker who can see the big picture and has keen attention to detail. As an email marketing manager, you must be able to develop creative campaigns that engage the customer and achieve the desired results. This position also works closely with other marketing team members to ensure that all email campaigns align with the overall business's marketing strategy. An email marketing manager earns an average annual salary of $86,000. Content Marketing Manager The content marketing manager role is a critical one in any organization. Content marketing managers are tasked with planning, creating, and executing a... --- ### What is SMS Marketing? > Should your business be using SMS marketing to communicate with your audience? Check out what it is and more in this article. - Published: 2022-11-10 - Modified: 2023-02-19 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/sms-marketing/ - Categories: Marketing SMS marketing is an effective marketing channel that doesn't depend on the internet and algorithms. It's a cost-efficient way to engage your target audience and existing customers, giving you an edge over competitors. However, more than 50% of customers urge businesses to interact with them using SMS marketing, and over 60% of companies are yet to implement it in their business communications. In this piece, we’re going to demystify SMS marketing. You'll learn what SMS marketing is, why it is an effective marketing channel, and why SMS marketing should be a part of your marketing mix. Are you ready? SMS Marketing Defined SMS marketing, or short-message service marketing, refers to the use of text messages to send promotions, advertisements, and transactional messages to a group of customers who give their consent to receive texts from your business. According to Global text messaging stats, five billion people communicate via text messaging, and it is the only messaging app with virtually worldwide uniformity. You can use SMS marketing to send automated text messages, communicate between staff and customers, or send bulk SMS promotional messages. However, while SMS marketing promises numerous advantages, use it with other marketing channels like email marketing for the best results. Why is SMS Marketing Effective? SMS marketing offers numerous benefits for your marketing and business. Some of these include the following: Quick Message Delivery With people spending more time on their mobile devices, SMS messages prove to be an effective way to grab their attention, yielding a 97%... --- ### 5 Tips for Beating Writer’s Block With Your Email Content > It's not easy writing unique, creative email content. Here's how to beat writer's block with your email content. - Published: 2022-11-09 - Modified: 2024-08-20 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/beating-writers-block-with-email-content/ - Categories: Email Marketing From the subject line to the email body, compelling and engaging content is one of the strong pillars that define the success of your email marketing strategy. However, there’s a method to the madness and a few things needed to create a successful email. Every effective email marketing strategy consists of the following: Content and frequency planning Creative and content development Spam-free deployment system Email campaign tracking, analysis, and reporting Excellent email content engages your subscribers and makes them more likely to read your future marketing emails. Conversely, boring or poorly written content can make your audience lose interest, leading to increased unsubscribe requests and negatively affecting your email stats and your email ROI. While great content is the goal, we understand that coming up with it can be challenging, especially when you are wearing many hats as a business owner. Below are our top tips for overcoming writer's block when writing email content: 1. Tap Into Insights From Your Email Automation Tool Daniel Murphy, a marketing automation consultant, states that creating customer-centric content is one of the elements of successful marketing automation implementation. One of the reasons for implementing marketing automation in email marketing is to cut down on repetitive tasks that can help free up significant time. However, your email marketing automation tool can also help you overcome writer's block for moments when coming up with engaging content may be challenging. How? Insights from past campaign performances help you identify email content types that have worked for successful... --- ### 6 Ways to Communicate More Effectively With Customers For eCommerce > Check out our latest blog post on the top six methods businesses can use to improve communications with eCommerce customers. - Published: 2022-11-08 - Modified: 2024-10-01 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/effective-ecommerce-communication/ - Categories: Ecommerce In the past, encouraging customers to leave the house and step over the shop threshold was a challenge for businesses. Not anymore. Customers can now access products and services without moving an inch from their sofa. eCommerce represents, therefore, a great boom for business. So, it’s easy for businesses now, right? Well, no. There are other challenges that eCommerce has thrown up, which must be overcome for a company to thrive in the virtual world. And one of the biggest alongside supply chain and inventory management? Knowing how to establish and nurture effective communications with remote customers. Why is Communication with eCommerce Customers so Important? There are two key reasons businesses need to consider customer communications in the eCommerce sphere carefully. 1. Getting Attention in the First Place One of the wonders of the internet is also its drawback. The World Wide Web delivers incredible democratizing potential, which is great for all those businesses that want to get their wares selling across the country or even the world. The problem is that if everyone’s out there, megaphoning away about their business, how are you supposed to differentiate your eCommerce brand and stand out? The answer is to think carefully about communication. Consider who you want to communicate with. This will often inform your decision on the best way to reach your audience and what you might say to reel them in. 2. Maintaining a Relationship Once a customer has bought from you, the last thing you want is for them... --- ### Your Holiday Email Marketing Guide > The holidays will be here before you know it. It's time to get your email marketing strategy going so you can take advantage. - Published: 2022-11-03 - Modified: 2022-12-01 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/holiday-email-marketing-guide/ - Categories: Email Marketing The holiday season is no time to relax on your marketing activities. It’s one of the best times to reach out to your customers, and it's also an excellent opportunity to build relationships with them. While the holiday season is a great time for people to relax and bond with family and friends, it is a time for you to improve your sales and grow revenue. The last quarter of the year makes up 26. 8% of total annual retail sales, with customers in America spending between $755 billion and $767 billion in November and December alone. This makes the holiday season the most important time of year for many businesses, so what you’re doing to capitalize on the spending trend is of utmost importance. What’s the best way to reach your customers and increase sales during the holidays? Use a marketing channel that guarantees returns and conversions. Join us as we walk through how to leverage email marketing to provide customers with what they need during the holiday season. Tips for The Ultimate Holiday Email Like you, other businesses will take advantage of the holiday season and the shopping frenzy. How do you stand out and capture the attention of your subscribers? Use the following tips: Get Creative With Your Subject Lines 47% of email respondents decide whether to open an email based on the subject line alone. It is the first element in your email that pulls your reader in. Get creative by using attention-grabbing words, and make... --- ### 5 Reasons To Adopt Mobile-First eCommerce Site Design > Yes, your site should be mobile-optimized. However if you're looking to increase eCommerce sales, make your site mobile-first. - Published: 2022-11-02 - Modified: 2022-11-02 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/mobile-first-ecommerce-site/ - Categories: Ecommerce Today, we do everything on our smartphones, from catching up with friends and finding love to reading our emails, ordering cabs, banking, making dinner reservations, and buying things we need. Mobile shopping, in particular, has become so popular that it accounts for more than 54% of all eCommerce sales. Yes, more than half of online sales come from iPhones, Androids, and tablets. With such figures, it is more important now than ever for online storefronts that want to continue growing their sales to adopt a mobile-first approach. Mobile-first means your eCommerce website is built to load and function more efficiently on mobile devices. This article will look at the benefits of implementing a mobile-first approach on your eCommerce website. Before that, however, let’s understand what mobile-first means. What Is Mobile-First Design? Traditionally, web designers have always built websites for desktops first and then scaled them down so that they work on mobile devices as well. The problem with this approach is that it requires some of the features and elements to be removed to make the website mobile-friendly, which often results in mobile websites that aren’t good enough. Mobile-first design flips this approach on its head. Instead of designing for desktop and removing some functionalities to make the site work on mobile, the mobile-first approach builds websites optimized for mobile devices, then scales them up for larger screens. For instance, if you have an accounting tool, mobile-first design means building a mobile website that lets users create invoices on the... --- ### Email Marketing for Agencies: A Breakdown > Looking for a breakdown of what email marketing looks like for agencies? Look no further. Here are some tips and recommendations. - Published: 2022-11-01 - Modified: 2023-02-15 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-for-agencies/ - Categories: Email Marketing As an agency keen on signing more clients, increasing revenue, and growing your business, an effective email marketing strategy is non-negotiable. 42% of businesses agree that email marketing remains one of the best lead-generation marketing channels. Clients are the lifeblood of your agency. Hence, you need to have a pipeline of leads that you can convert to paying customers. Although other marketing channels will get you results when you put in the effort, email marketing is the number one channel that gives you higher returns for your spending and can be done at scale. So, how can you use email marketing to your advantage as an agency? Read on to get the must-know email marketing tips that your agency can start using today. The Importance of an Email List The key to the high ROI email marketing generates for businesses is in the email list. Without an organic email list of your target audience, your email marketing campaigns may fall short even when they check all the boxes for effective marketing emails. Your email list refers to the contacts and subscribers with whom you share information, communicate regularly, and send your marketing emails. While starting with an already-made list from third-party sources is tempting, do not take this route. Start by building your email list organically from scratch for a more engaged list of people who actually want to hear from you. Lead Generation: How to Build Your Agency’s Email List Now that you know how important an organic email... --- ### Enterprise Email Marketing: Tips and Tricks to Follow for Ultimate Success > When it comes to your enterprise business, how can you ensure your huge list of email subscribers get the right emails at the right time? - Published: 2022-10-27 - Modified: 2022-10-19 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/enterprise-email-marketing/ - Categories: Email Marketing Email marketing for enterprise businesses differs from email marketing for small business owners. There are unique needs and concerns due to the high volume of contacts involved and email correspondence that will take place between you and your target audience, and internal communications as well. As an enterprise business, how do you market to your target audience at scale without falling prey to the negative abyss associated with bulk emails? Read on for tips and strategies to make your enterprise email marketing successful. Let's start by addressing your unique email marketing needs. The Unique Email Marketing Needs Enterprise Businesses Face List Building As an enterprise business, you have an extensive list that runs into tens of thousands and will only keep growing. Hence, to keep your email marketing agile and scalable, you're looking for an email marketing solution that can manage large data sets and contact information and lets you scale as your list grows. Also, the email marketing solution should have easy-to-use features that you can use as part of your list-growing activities to keep adding to your contact lists for improved engagement and conversions. Target Audience Focus Although you desire growth for your enterprise, it should not be at the expense of your target audience. This you understand as an enterprise business, and that's why you want an email marketing service that helps you focus on the needs of your target audience and subscribers. It’s crucial that your email marketing software allows you to incorporate an approach rooted... --- ### 6 eCommerce Trends That Will Impact 2023 > The ecommerce industry is growing exponentially year by year ➔ Remain competitive and keep up with the upcoming ecommerce trends - Published: 2022-10-26 - Modified: 2023-03-27 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ecommerce-trends-that-will-impact-2023/ - Categories: Ecommerce The eCommerce industry has seen tremendous growth over the past few years. In 2021 alone, eCommerce sales worldwide were approximately 4. 9 trillion US dollars. This figure is projected to grow to 50% by 2025, reaching a whopping 7. 4 trillion US dollars. While it’s generally believed that the eCommerce industry is more about business-to-consumer (B2C), the global business-to-business (B2B) eCommerce industry is projected to reach 18. 97 trillion US dollars by 2028. In short, both B2B and B2C eCommerce will experience growth, but will your online store be a part of it? Here are the important eCommerce trends that you need to pay attention to as you prepare for the coming year: 1. Reducing One-time Buyers With numerous online stores springing up across different industries and product categories, one-time buyers are a pain for eCommerce store owners. One-time customers are a direct result of low brand loyalty due to the availability of multiple online stores and numerous touch points. In his interview with Forbes, Jason Finkelstein (CMO of AdRoll) mentions that 75% of consumers do not return to purchase from the same online eCommerce store (using data from Shopify customers). The upcoming eCommerce trend is about reducing one-time transactions. As an eCommerce store owner, start prioritizing customer touch points that yield the best results for your business and concentrate your efforts on these touch points. Also, focus on personalized service and excellent customer experience to improve brand loyalty and keep customers returning to your online store. 2. Unique Product... --- ### 30 Successful Examples of Email Marketing Campaign Templates > Discover 30 of the most compelling email marketing examples from a variety of companies to use as templates for your brand’s next campaign. - Published: 2022-10-25 - Modified: 2024-04-03 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-campaign-templates/ - Categories: Email Marketing Much like advertising and branding itself, email marketing campaigns are more of an art than a science. It takes a compelling idea, great visual design, and excellent copywriting to increase the chances of your email marketing campaign being successful, maximizing clicks, and converting readers into buyers. Email marketing campaign templates can help, but it’s hard to create one from scratch. Fortunately, your business can stand on the shoulders of giants by taking everything that’s great about existing successful email marketing campaigns and applying it to the context of your business. According to our recent study, the average open rate for an email campaign is 19. 66% Depending on the size of your newsletter audience and average conversion rate, you’ll need to sharpen up your email marketing skills if you want to reap its rewards. So, we’ve collected 30 of the most compelling email marketing to use as guides and templates for your brand’s next big campaign. But first, let’s go over the key elements of crafting an effective email marketing campaign based on the latest best practices and research to make your marketing emails shine from the ground up. What Makes a Successful Email Marketing Campaign? Not all email marketing campaigns are created equal. You can painstakingly craft the single greatest email marketing message in the history of the internet, but if you only have 138 people on your marketing list, don’t expect to see many conversions. So, before you start nailing down the art and technique of email marketing,... --- ### The Best Way to Send Bulk Emails > Email marketing is an effective channel to use for communication with groups of all sizes. Emails are easy to write and send and are unintrusive for the - Published: 2022-10-20 - Modified: 2023-01-13 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/best-way-to-send-bulk-emails/ - Categories: Email Marketing Email marketing is an effective channel to use for communication with groups of all sizes. Emails are easy to write and send and are unintrusive for the recipient. Because of this, sending bulk emails has become a popular way to scale marketing efforts. But how do you send bulk emails? And how do you know if this strategy is right for your company? We'll provide answers to all these and more in this piece. Let's jump in. What is Bulk Email Sending? Bulk email sending refers to sending an email communication which can be a newsletter, product announcement, promotional email, or nurture email series, amongst others, to many subscribers in your list simultaneously. Sometimes referred to as email blasts and mass emails, bulk email sending is used by business owners and marketing specialists worldwide. You can use bulk email sending and enjoy the benefits of email marketing in one go without having to duplicate efforts of sending the same email repeatedly to different contacts. The Specific Needs of Those with Large Email Lists As a business owner with an extensive email subscriber list, you have other concerns besides the apparent benefits email marketing offers. These are: Reliable Support From concerns about the deliverability of the emails you send to tips for managing your many contacts, data security, email security, email marketing strategies to employ, and many more, you want email marketing software that provides the proper support. At Benchmark email, we don’t just provide you with email marketing software that... --- ### A Complete Guide to eCommerce Project Management > From a subtle start to exploding into our daily lives, the eCommerce industry is rapidly growing and revolutionizing the way we shop online. The - Published: 2022-10-19 - Modified: 2024-07-10 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/a-complete-guide-to-ecommerce-project-management/ - Categories: Ecommerce From a subtle start to exploding into our daily lives, the eCommerce industry is rapidly growing and revolutionizing the way we shop online. The eCommerce industry is less expensive to enter, has fewer startup costs, and has better margins than traditional retail. Currently, eCommerce makes up 20. 4% of all retail sales worldwide, and this figure is expected to grow to 21. 8% by 2024. For this reason, it's the right time to set your foot in the online world and upgrade your existing business. And you cannot afford just to sit back and let such a great opportunity slide out of your hand. However, you need the right plan and tools to survive and drive sales in this dynamic and competitive eCommerce world. Taking the first step towards online success begins with understanding eCommerce project management. Let’s quickly dive in! What is eCommerce Project Management? ECommerce project management is a subset of regular project management that has a different focal point and its own characteristics. It is the use of numerous talents, tools, techniques, and approaches, as well as the performance of various tasks, to the effective development of an eCommerce project. ECommerce project management significantly relies on tried-and-true traditional project management concepts and methodologies, although implementing them in eCommerce is far more difficult than in any other domain. However, lacking a proper plan and management can make it a little rocky for online businesses to achieve success. For instance, you can fall into the loop of delays in... --- ### How to Write Welcome Emails That Turn Subscribers into Leads > When done right, welcome emails can help turn new subscribers into loyal, qualified leads, and eventually, customers. - Published: 2022-10-18 - Modified: 2022-10-18 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/write-welcome-emails-turn-subscribers-leads/ - Categories: Email Marketing Welcome emails are an important part of an email marketing strategy. It’s a chance to show that you are personable and thoughtful and eager to share useful information with your new subscribers. As a result, the subscribers will look forward to receiving more messages from you. You may be surprised that welcome emails have a 50% average open rate, which is more than various other types of emails. Plus, an amazing 76% of people are waiting for that welcome email after signing up for your email list. Given this expectation, you can’t afford to ignore welcome emails. In this piece, we'll take you through the importance of welcome emails and their role in your onboarding series. Let's jump in. What Makes Welcome Emails so Powerful? Welcome emails are similar to online dating. Attracted by your profile and photo (read: your website, blog, or landing page), people express interest by “poking” (read: subscribing) you and waiting for you to meet their expectations. Now it’s your turn to take a step: write and send a welcome email that will “wow” them with your brand personality so they will look forward to your next letter, open and click on it, and therefore turn into your friends (read: loyal customers). Crafted by expert marketing writers, welcome emails meet users’ expectations, guide subscribers, and engage them in communication to see and heighten their interest in the brand as well as learn their preferences. All this allows your business to move through a sales funnel successfully.... --- ### How to Get Started with Your Holiday Marketing > Now's the time. It's time to get started with your holiday marketing. Here's how to get moving so you can take advantage of this time of year. - Published: 2022-10-15 - Modified: 2023-02-27 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/holiday-marketing/ - Categories: Marketing The holiday season presents unique opportunities for both businesses and consumers. It’s a time when consumers happily purchase products for family, friends, and loved ones. For businesses, it’s a chance to increase sales, brand awareness, and engagement. Every year, the holidays are pretty promising for small businesses. Some even know that they’ll make the majority of their sales for the entire year in these couple of months. However, this year, with a looming recession, rising costs, and lingering uncertainty around supply chains, holiday sales may not soar to the same heights as in past years. If you want this season to be as impactful for your small business as possible, then you should start planning your holiday marketing now. We know that it can be hard to prioritize this in your marketing plan with all the other things that come with running your business. But we’ve got a list of steps for you to take that will ensure you’re ahead of the game. Why Should You Plan Your Holiday Marketing Campaign Now? You may think you’re jumping the gun a bit, but, as they say, the early bird gets the worm. Here are some reasons you should start planning your holiday marketing right now: Even if this year isn’t as busy as last year, you should still anticipate a rush in business, and nothing is worse than having an increase in online orders and foot traffic with limited products or resources. By starting your prep now, you can estimate the... --- ### What is High Volume Email Marketing? > What is high volume email marketing and how is it different from low volume email marketing? We dive into specifics in this blog post. - Published: 2022-10-13 - Modified: 2022-10-13 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/high-volume-email-marketing/ - Categories: Email Marketing In the words of David Newman, Author of Do It! Marketing, "Email has an ability many channels don't: creating valuable, personal touches – at scale. " Email marketing is possibly the most valuable communication channel for you as a business owner. It allows you to nurture and build personal relationships with your target audience and contacts in your list. And with high volume email marketing, you can nurture all these relationships with your contacts simultaneously. Read on to learn about high-volume email marketing and how you can harness it for your business. The Difference Between High Volume and Low Volume Email Sending High-volume email sending, as the name implies, refers to sending email communication to a large database of contacts in one go. While there is a variation in what is considered high-volume, when your email list grows to tens of thousands of contacts, you have a high-volume email list. Low volume sending, on the other hand, implies that you send email correspondence to a small number of contacts, usually a few thousand. This is typically what the email lists of small business owners look like. Ideally, what is encouraged in email marketing is to send emails in batches to contacts – low-volume email sending. While high-volume email sending gets a bad rap because of the need for content optimization and personalization, there are some occasions when your business may need to send a high-volume email. So, how do you ensure you tick all the boxes for effectiveness? How To... --- ### Wake Up to More Shopify Orders with Shopify Sync From Benchmark Email > Ready to leverage email marketing to take Shopify sales to the next level? It's quick and easy to set up Shopify Sync. - Published: 2022-10-12 - Modified: 2022-12-13 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/new-feature-shopify-sync/ - Categories: Uncategorized We just rolled out a new way to sell more of your Shopify products and services - Benchmark Email's Shopify Sync. With our latest integration, you can easily send targeted, personalized emails to your Shopify customers. Staying top-of-mind and selling more, more frequently, has never been easier. But how exactly does this sync help Benchmark Email users? Let’s take a look at all the eCommerce benefits that come with Benchmark Email’s Shopify Sync. Seamless List Integration for Effective Selling Some may argue that your most important marketing asset is your email list, and growing your email list is a must. But wouldn’t it be nice if the channels used to grow your email list were magically synced? For Shopify and Benchmark Email users, it can be. Our Shopify Sync allows any customer segment in your Shopify account to be synced with a Benchmark Email list. As new customers are added to your Shopify segment, your contact list will be updated in Benchmark Email. With Shopify customers neatly and automatically up-to-date in your Benchmark Email lists, the sky's the limit for customer outreach, engagement, and selling. Stronger Brand Awareness and Loyalty Growing your slice of market share requires making room in buyers’ minds - and hearts. With Shopify Sync, you can be sure that all of your customers are included in your monthly newsletter campaign. Company highlights, monthly promos, employee spotlights, and more are effective newsletter components that build familiarity and trust with your brand. So, when your customers are ready... --- ### How to Automate Your Emails: Getting Started with Email Automation > Email automation provides you with tons of effeciencies, but getting started is the hard part. Here's a quick guide for you to easily follow. - Published: 2022-10-12 - Modified: 2024-01-23 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/get-started-email-automation/ - Categories: Marketing Automation, Benchmark Recommends Do you remember the heyday of email chain letters? It was considered good luck to send an email to 25 of your closest friends, or else there were (silly) consequences. Email chain letters were the early 2000s version of “viral” content before social media existed. We may not forward emails for good luck anymore, but the magic of that process has stayed with us because of its effectiveness. Marketers want customers to take action and either forward or respond to their marketing emails, so how can we harness the power of the email chain? Around 60% of consumers say they’ve bought an item because of a marketing email, so the reward for investing in email marketing is clear. Whether you run a small business or work on a small team with few resources, email automation can increase your team’s overall efficiency. Getting started with email automation may feel overwhelming at first, but like the famous phrase says, “luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. ” What is Email Automation? Businesses must build and maintain good relationships with new and existing customers and predict their future needs in order to stay ahead of the competition. Email marketing remains the top channel for maintaining and nurturing customer relationships. For best results, businesses gather data from website visits, direct calls, surveys, and questionnaires and personalize marketing to each customer on their list. However, to do this at scale for effective results, email automation needs to be implemented. Marketing automation requires the use... --- ### Holiday Email Campaigns: The Concise Guide You Can Bookmark > Take a look at some of these tips and examples so you can take your holiday email campaign to the next level this year. - Published: 2022-10-11 - Modified: 2022-10-21 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/holiday-email-campaigns/ - Categories: Email Marketing Inflation, global recession, and other economic issues mean that this holiday season may not be like last year’s. However, holiday sales growth is mostly driven by emotional instinct rather than any monetary aspect. Therefore, retailers and marketers will continue to scramble to attract customers and get high conversions in this most lucrative time of the year. Among all the marketing channels, my vote goes to email, as it allows businesses to reach out to customers with tailor-made communications that resonate the most with them. However, the challenge is to stand out from the astronomical number of emails in the subscriber’s inbox. Worry not! We have got you covered. To help you beat the fierce competition, here are some expert tips that will make your holiday email campaigns work like magic. 1. Write Engaging Subject Lines that Match the Holiday Vibe Subject lines have the maximum influence on the open rate. If the readers don’t open your email, nothing else would matter — no copy, visuals, or CTA. So, make sure you draft catchy subject lines that align with the festive mood, and don’t be afraid to use emojis related to the holiday season. Take a look at this back-in-stock email subject line by UncommonGoods: Source Pro-tip: Your subscribers might be worn out reading the same ol’ puns, like “spooktacular,” “trick-or-treat,” and “fang-tastic. ” So try to think of something new for your subject lines. 2. Address the User’s Challenges Through the Email Copy What are the user’s main concerns during... --- ### 4 Shifts Your Small Business Needs to Prepare for This Holiday Season > This holiday season things are going to be a little different. Here are some shifts you need to make sure and prep for. - Published: 2022-10-10 - Modified: 2023-03-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/shifts-to-prepare-for-this-holiday-season/ - Categories: Small Business We’re quickly approaching the most wonderful time of the year – the holiday season. While typically this time of year has been busy with increased consumer engagement and sales for many small businesses, this year may look a little different. With talks of a recession and the market continuously taking a hit, a lot of small businesses aren’t exactly sure what to expect this holiday season. Many are simply planning as they have in the past, and prepping their businesses for an influx of foot and website traffic. While I don’t advise against doing that, there are things small business owners need to be doing differently to make sure they’re prepared, and that includes planning for less-than-ideal situations in the next couple of months. To ensure you’re as prepared as possible, below are four of the most crucial shifts currently happening that will ultimately shape holiday business. But don’t fret, I’ve also included how your company can prepare for these shifts to ensure you end the year as successful as possible. 1. Inflation Will Affect Consumer Spending Everything seems to cost more, from the cost of living to gas prices and grocery bills. Modern-day necessities just aren’t as cheap as they were last year, so consumers will be curbing their spending in other places to ensure they’re managing their budgets. This means that the sales numbers you hit last holiday season may not be as predictable this year. You need to prepare for how inflation may impact your sales, or... --- ### What is Hyperpersonalization and What Does it Mean for Email Marketing? > What is hyperpersonalization? How is it diffferent than personalization? And what does it mean for your email marketing? - Published: 2022-10-06 - Modified: 2024-07-30 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/hyperpersonalization/ - Categories: Email Marketing People receive over 100 emails daily, and I am no exception. Like others, I spend some minutes scrutinizing my inbox, marking some as spam, deleting some outright, unsubscribing from some lists, and even marking some as important so that I remember to pay more attention to them later when I have time. How do you ensure your business's email campaigns are not part of the emails the average individual is sending to the bin or blocking as spam? By ensuring it's the content your subscribers are looking for through hyperpersonalization. But what exactly is hyperpersonalization? Personalization and Hyperpersonalization: Are they Different? Hyperpersonalization is personalized marketing taken a notch higher. Personalization uses data points to gain customer insights and uses customer profiles and characteristics to develop assumptions that help to meet each customer's unique needs. Hyperpersonalization employs the three basic steps of personalized marketing – data collection, analysis, and application. Rather than stop there, it leverages advanced technology like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), and Machine Learning (ML) to gain accurate insights into the specific needs of customers. As such, it is not just about real-time data for hyperpersonalization. Real-time data is combined with behavioral data across multiple channels and customer touchpoints with the intent of delivering contextualized communication that is relevant to your customers. Why is Hyperpersonalization one of the Biggest Email Marketing Trends? Hyperpersonalization changes your email marketing game, elevating it and driving even more return, which is impressive, as email marketing already has a high ROI.... --- ### Bringing You Up to Speed on Web3 and its Impact on Digital Marketing > Are you prepared for what Web3 will do for your marketing and email marketing efforts? Let's bring you up to speed. - Published: 2022-10-05 - Modified: 2023-11-01 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/web3/ - Categories: Marketing Digital trends are continuously evolving, and as marketers, we must constantly keep on top of industry-changing trends to stay in the know, remain relevant, and maximize marketing effectiveness. One such industry-changing recent trend which we are sure you've stumbled upon is Web3 - an improved form of the current internet-type projected to be the next big thing in tech. All the buzz stems from what content creators, marketers, brands, and everyday internet users stand to gain from the changes Web3 brings to internet usage. From a marketing point of view, it's imperative to understand what Web3 is all about, its ties with blockchain technology, and how marketers can make the most of it. How Does Web3 Work? Let’s start with some background. Web1 was in use before the current iteration of the internet (Web2). Web1 featured static pages, few content creators, and an uninspiring replication of existing media such as magazines and newsletters. With Web2, which kicked off in 2004, it's been a different ball game, as evident in how we interact with the internet today. Web2 integrates user-generated content, giving rise to big social media guns such as Facebook, where people share and download information as opposed to the read-only system of Web1. So, what does Web3 do differently? And how is it a major improvement over what is currently available, especially from a marketing point of view? Since it became the moment's wave, the major selling point associated with Web3 is the possibility of decentralization. Virtually every internet... --- ### The 6 Biggest Email Design Trends Of 2022 So Far–And What We Can Learn From Them > This has been a wild year for email marketing. Here are some email marketing design trends of 2022 that you should be aware of. - Published: 2022-10-04 - Modified: 2023-10-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-design-trends-of-2022/ - Categories: Email Marketing In the last ten years, email design has evolved from plain-text messages to fully-fledged HTML newsletters, including images, videos, and animation. As email design continues to develop, so do the trends that dictate those changes – while some email design trends come and go quickly, others have a lasting impact. In this article, we'll provide an in-depth explanation of email design and look at some of the most popular email design trends we're seeing this year. What is Email Design? Email design is the practice of strategically planning and creating an email to resonate with an audience. Marketers use it to optimize the look and feel of their email campaigns, grab recipients' attention, and evoke action. Email design considers every element of an email's content – from its subject line and preview text to images, buttons, and text – to make the final message as cohesive and attractive as possible. Why Prioritize Email Design? You may be thinking: "Why go through all that trouble for a simple email? Does it make a difference? " The answer is yes; it does, and here's why: Emails are designed to be fast, in-and-out messages – the average person spends only 13. 4 seconds reading them. No one has the interest or patience to stop and consider every email – it's up to the design elements and planning to catch their attention. By carefully strategizing the layout, style, and overall look of an email message, marketers can increase their chances of catching recipients' eye... --- ### Stop Sending Emails to Unengaged Subscribers > If you're still sending emails to subscribers who are not engaged, it's most likely hurting your deliverability. - Published: 2022-09-29 - Modified: 2022-09-22 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/stop-sending-emails-to-unengaged-subscribers/ - Categories: Email Marketing An active email list is an essential pillar of email marketing. As a business owner that sends out emails regularly, you want an email list with contacts that engage with your content and purchase your offers for email marketing success, great ROI, and increased business revenue. An average worker battles with up to 121 emails daily. For this reason, you should not expect everyone on your list to engage with your emails or buy from you. You will likely find that email subscribers become inactive over time. Unengaged and inactive subscribers are bad for the success of your email marketing activities and the overall growth of your business. Below are reasons why you should stop reaching out to inactive subscribers. Why Unengaged Subscribers Are Bad When you repeatedly send emails to contacts who do not open or engage with your emails, it sends a wrong signal to email ISPs, making them believe your emails are not important. Hence, your email deliverability is affected negatively. After some time, mail providers such as Microsoft, Yahoo, and Google will begin to divert your emails to the promotions folder, and sometimes, it goes to the spam folder outrightly. What this means is this: when you keep engaging with unengaged subscribers who do not want to engage with you, it can lead to an increase in the number of people who will mark your marketing emails as spam. This hurts not just your email deliverability but brand perception too. And, what’s more, it could land... --- ### Email Marketing and Landing Pages: How They Work Together > Integrating landing pages in your email marketing strategy can lead to higher conversion rates. This is how they work together. - Published: 2022-09-28 - Modified: 2023-01-05 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-landing-pages-a-guide/ - Categories: Email Marketing Before sales happen, your brand needs to nurture a relationship with prospects. A great way to establish relationships with your leads—and build toward successful sales—is through email marketing and landing pages. A client-first approach makes prospects feel valued, especially in a world where other businesses are solely focused on sales and conversions. With email marketing, you can provide your subscribers with valuable content, and landing pages can help with generating more conversions from your email marketing campaigns. So, what are landing pages, and how do they help with email marketing success? Read on to find out. What are Landing Pages? Landing pages are specific pages on your website that prospects visit by following a call to action in an email or from one of your social media posts. Unlike a website, it is a single page that is focused on a single message and/or call to action. When you need your prospects to take specific actions like downloading an ebook, registering for a webinar, or taking advantage of limited offers, a landing page is an excellent tool for getting your audience to take action. With it, you can drive traffic to specific pages that expound on the action you want your audience to take. Landing pages are conversion-focused. They achieve this because each landing page focuses primarily on one action, which converts prospects to leads or leads to buying customers, depending on the goal of the landing page. It also eliminates all distractions by focusing on a single CTA, making... --- ### How AI is Taking Your Email Marketing to the Next Level > AI is making big waves when it comes to email marketing. Here is how you can use AI to create better emails. - Published: 2022-09-27 - Modified: 2023-08-14 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ai-and-email-marketing/ - Categories: Email Marketing Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the world. Virtually every industry adopts and incorporates AI as it improves many processes and offers new ways of doing things. The following are examples of AI use in different sectors: Autonomous vehicles like Tesla use AI to drive cars and identify obstructions to avoid collisions. Devices, including smartphones and laptops, use AI for facial recognition to improve privacy and security. eCommerce brands use AI to provide personalized shopping experiences to their customers and bolster sales. AI has applications and uses in the marketing industry, and email marketing is no exception. It allows email marketers to create more engaging campaigns and, as a result, drive better results. AI and Email Marketing AI helps email marketers create more efficient campaigns. The technology uses customer data, including shopping history, online behavior, and habits, to derive valuable data insights. With these insights, email marketers can tailor their outreach to create personalized campaigns geared towards conversion. AI Applications in Email Marketing Email marketers can use AI technology in a few different ways. Below are some examples: AI And Email Subject Lines The first step to ensuring people read your email is to write a subject line that stands out. In the past, this meant hiring top copywriters to craft potential subject lines for each individual campaign. Then, the marketing team would have to experiment and analyze the results before choosing one with the best chance of driving results. However, with AI, marketers get extra help in generating perfect subject... --- ### How to Use Instagram to Sell > Instagram is making it easy for eCommerce stores to sell their products using the platform. Read on for tips on selling via Instagram. - Published: 2022-09-22 - Modified: 2023-01-27 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-use-instagram-to-sell/ - Categories: Ecommerce Since its acquisition by Meta for a billion dollars in 2012, Instagram has grown to become a popular social media marketing platform with over 160 million users in the US alone. Since it has so many users and can tap into tons of demographic data for brands to utilize, it provides numerous eCommerce opportunities for small business owners and entrepreneurs. Primarily a media-based social platform, eCommerce businesses can leverage the platform for showcasing products, facilitating direct communication with potential buyers, and making sales. There are key features that make it easy for business owners to sell on the giant photo and video sharing platform. We'll explore these features and how you can use them for your eCommerce business. Key Instagram Features that Boost eCommerce Sales Shop Feature On the Instagram app, you can have your customizable online storefront. When you turn on Instagram's shop feature, you make it possible for interested prospects to view available products and buy from your Instagram page without needing to visit your website or other touch points to check out your products. This reduces the time it takes for buyers to reach buying decisions and helps cross out buyer objections faster. The absence of numerous touch points helps to avoid the problem of “cart abandonment” so that you can convert prospect interest to sales. The shop feature is not available in all countries. To check if your country is supported, please click here. When you enable the shop feature, you can: Turn your page into... --- ### What is Proper HTML Email Formatting? Mistakes and Fixes Uncovered > What is the proper format for email? We cover proper HTML email formatting, mistakes, and fixes in this blog post. - Published: 2022-09-20 - Modified: 2022-09-20 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/html-email-formatting-mistakes-and-fixes/ - Categories: Email Marketing Your email or newsletter must balance text, white space, images, and links perfectly. However, you might be surprised by how many email marketers get this delicate equation all wrong. We've seen it all at Benchmark: emails with too many images and plain emails with not enough engaging content. The aim of this article is to help you get it right. We’ll point out the components of a professional email, how to format your email, the most common HTML formatting mistakes, and how to correct them. So, keep reading if you want to learn more about how to put together the perfect HTML email. How To Format An Email Formatting is one critical part of your email marketing process that you must not ignore. Whether you want to send a cold sales email to prospects, promote your latest offers to brands, or run content marketing campaigns, you need to pay attention to email formatting. Formatting your email correctly makes your email look professional and easy to read. It also helps you deliver your message clearly to the recipient. If you have always wondered how to format your email appropriately, below are important parts of your email you shouldn't ignore. The Subject Line Most sales emails end up in the trash folder because they lack compelling subject lines that do not arouse curiosity. Before hitting the send button, format your subject lines using the following pointers. Keep it concise and straight to the point Keep your character count between 50 and 75... --- ### Why It's Important for eCommerce Stores to Utilize YouTube > YouTube has integrated with Shopify making it essential for eCommerce stores to be present on the platform. - Published: 2022-09-15 - Modified: 2023-07-13 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ecommerce-stores-youtube/ - Categories: Ecommerce YouTube, a giant video-sharing platform and the second largest search engine after Google has announced its partnership with Shopify to bring eCommerce support and experience to the video-sharing platform. With daily active users of about 122 million, the platform allows eCommerce businesses and influencers to interact with potential buyers directly and connect with audiences on an intimate level. Now with the Shopify integration, direct sales have become possible on the video platform. The world of eCommerce is vast, so differentiating your eCommerce brand is essential if you want to stand out. This Shopify integration with YouTube could be a solid start. But what else does it mean for you as an eCommerce business owner, and how can you take advantage of the integration? Read on to find out. What Possibilities Does the Shopify - YouTube Integration Present For Your Ecommerce Business? We’re experiencing a recession, so for eCommerce brands to thrive, it’s crucial they find new and creative ways to sell to their consumers. That’s what’s so exciting about this integration, as it presents tons of selling possibilities. Businesses that have also built followings on YouTube can now display available products in new and exciting ways. Such as: YouTube Livestreams Live shopping grew through the pandemic and rose globally, as consumers sought different ways to shop for products online. YouTube remains the most popular live shopping platform hosting 30% of businesses. eCommerce business owners can take shopping to a new level with livestreams. For direct selling, eCommerce merchants and creators... --- ### The Top 8 B2B Marketing Trends You Need To Know in 2022 > There have been a lot of developments this year affecting your marketing. Here are eight B2B marketing trends you should know about. - Published: 2022-09-13 - Modified: 2023-01-18 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/b2b-marketing-trends/ - Categories: Marketing B2B marketing is always evolving, and 2022 is no different. If you want your brand to thrive in the modern market – and beyond 2022 – you need to know what marketing trends to consider and adopt for maximum effect. When leveraged properly, the below eight marketing trends can help your organization earn more revenue, convert more customers, and dominate your market niche better than ever. The (Continued) Rise of Content Marketing Strategies Content marketing has grown more popular over the last few years, but it’s likely to continue as a critical marketing focus for the foreseeable future. Why? Simply put, content marketing is of chief importance to: Help boost brand awareness among your target audience. When you put out great content, your target consumers naturally see your brand as an authoritative and educational source in its niche. Drive sales or conversions. Good content marketing can also drive website visitors to your product pages and encourage them to buy your products. Improve brand reputation. The right content marketing strategy can attract quality leads and help you set trends in the industry. This is a form of market dominance you want to cultivate, no matter your niche or target audience. Good content marketing relies on posting things like blog posts, guides, educational newsletters, and even YouTube videos. Practically every modern business has a content marketing strategy these days, and you’ll need to make one of your own work if you want to master B2B marketing. Improved Focus on Personalization Personalization is... --- ### 8 Must-Have Features for Travel Websites > If you want your travel website to be user-friendly and have a high conversion rate, here are some must-have features. - Published: 2022-09-08 - Modified: 2022-09-01 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/features-for-travel-websites/ - Categories: Marketing The travel and tourism industry has been through quite a lot these past few years. COVID-19 all but killed the industry, but if this past summer has taught us anything, it’s that as things opened back up and restrictions loosened, people were ready to get on planes, hit the road, and take their long-awaited trips. It’s time to get back to promoting your travel and tourism site, which means you have to ensure your site is set up right. You want to make sure that prospective travelers can navigate your site efficiently to get exactly what they need. The happier visitors are with your travel website, the higher the possibility of increased conversions and sales for you. In this article, we’ll discuss essential website features that will help prospects and website visitors get the best experience on your travel site. Make your travel website engaging with the following must-have features: Responsive Mobile-Friendly Design The increasing use of mobile devices for long hours makes it a must for website owners to make their websites mobile-friendly. With people spending about five hours on their smartphones daily and 70% of web traffic coming from mobile phones, you will be missing a significant market share if you have a non-mobile-friendly travel website. Take it a step further by ensuring it’s not only mobile-friendly, but responsive too. This means that irrespective of the mobile device people view your website from, it adjusts to fit the screen size of the specific device. Optimize website pages for... --- ### Reminder Emails: How to Politely Craft a Nudge Email in Every Situation > Read this article to learn how to craft the perfect reminder emails that offer a polite nudge for every situation. - Published: 2022-09-07 - Modified: 2023-04-14 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/reminder-emails/ - Categories: Email Marketing There’s nothing more annoying than waiting, especially for action from someone else in a work situation. The action or response you are waiting for could impact the work you are doing and you could find yourself at an impasse until that person takes action or sends you the information you need. In these situations, it’s tempting to get angry and to show that anger in hopes it will yield a quicker turnaround. However, being professional means showing respect in the workplace and finding a way to politely remind your colleague of your request for action or information. There are many different types of emails out there. But reminder emails are unique in that they can be internal as well as external. Sending reminder emails to colleagues is not uncommon, as well as sending reminder emails to sales prospects when asking them to review a contract, download a piece of content, or sign up for your webinar. No matter the situation, any reminder or nudge email should be friendly but firm while maintaining that professionalism and politeness we mentioned. So, just how should you craft a polite email that will urge the person to respond? Read on to find out. Why Would you Need to Send a Reminder Email? There are many situations when a reminder email may be needed. However, we’ve never been more connected than we are now, and there are tons of ways to interact with others than by sending an email. How do you know when a... --- ### Your Step-by-Step Marketing Strategy Guide > Need to get your marketing in order but aren't sure where to begin? Follow our step-by-step marketing guide. - Published: 2022-09-06 - Modified: 2023-04-26 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/marketing-strategy-guide/ - Categories: Marketing “Business has only two functions – marketing and innovation. ” - Milan Kundera In order for your business to be successful, you need to have a well-thought-out and multi-channel marketing strategy. But you can’t just put some ideas on the table and start checking off boxes. You need to follow a particular process to ensure you not only identify your target audience but fully understand their needs and how your product or service can address those needs. Although marketing is essential, it can quickly become a case of hit-and-miss when carried out without a defined strategy. In this article, we’ll take you through a step-by-step process for putting your marketing strategy together. Let’s dive right in. Why A Marketing Strategy Is Important Marketing without a strategy is essentially useless. Creating a marketing strategy gives your activities a definite direction aligned to your business goals, as well as creating markers for you to check against to determine whether or not your efforts are successful. A great marketing strategy will: Help you identify core business goals Map out ways to achieve business goals using specific tactics Keep you one step ahead of your competitors Identify specific customer needs and how your business can cater to them Maximize the use of your resources Identify key channels to focus on and the appropriate budget to allocate to each What a Marketing Strategy Should Include A comprehensive marketing strategy should include the following. 1. Target Audience – Buyer Personas Identifying who your ideal customers are... --- ### How Can Audience Engagement Improve Email Deliverability? > If you want to improve your email deliverability (so you actually make it to the inbox) then you have to have solid audience engagement. - Published: 2022-09-01 - Modified: 2024-04-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/audience-engagement-improve-email-deliverability/ - Categories: Email Marketing Every successful business also has solid email deliverability. It’s not without effort. They most likely have a team of email marketers building strategies that ensure successful email campaigns without any throttling, bulking, bouncing, or spamming. Simply put, email deliverability is the ability to deliver emails to recipients' primary inboxes. Sounds easy enough, but there are multiple factors that can negatively affect it. Sending an email without custom authentication, an unsubscription option, or seeing a lack of engagement are just a few of those examples. Today we’ll dive into the correlation between audience engagement and email deliverability, as well as some best practices to ensure your deliverability stays on point. What is Email Engagement, and How Does it Help Email Deliverability? Email engagement is a measurement of your subscribers' interaction with your emails. Measuring email engagement can only be done by observing specific actions, such as: Open rate Click-through rate Click map Unsubscription rate Website traffic rate These actions function as email metrics, allowing you to properly measure your email engagement and locate where improvements are needed. Open Rate A metric indicating the percentage of emails opened from the total delivered. The average email open rate depends on the industry, but this percentage indicates the number of people interested in your content. Tracking the open rate is possible through bulk email service providers. A bulk email service is software used to send a large number of email campaigns to a list of recipients. This service can both be self-hosted or provided... --- ### 15 Ways to Differentiate Your eCommerce Brand and Stand Out From the Competition > If you want your eCommerce brand to stand out, you have to differentiate it from the competition. Here are 15 ways to do just that. - Published: 2022-08-31 - Modified: 2024-09-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/differentiate-your-ecommerce-brand/ - Categories: Ecommerce Whether you are a small business owner or a major corporation, your growing eCommerce store needs to stand out from the competition to succeed. It's not enough to simply have a nice looking storefront with quality products and good service. You need to find ways to differentiate yourself from competitors and make your brand unique. Here are 15 different ways you can do just that. 1. Offer Unique Products If you want to stand out from the competition, you need to offer unique products. This could mean developing your own products, partnering with exclusive brands, or simply curating a selection of hard-to-find items. Whatever approach you take, the goal is to offer something that nobody else does. This will not only help you attract new customers, but it will also keep existing customers coming back for more. So if you're looking to take your business to the next level, start by offering products that are truly unique. For example, imagine if, instead of selling high-quality glassware for weddings and parties, your company created glassware that was made from recycled materials. Or perhaps instead of selling logoed T-shirts, your company offered custom printed ones — not just any old tee shirt in an array of colors but one that had been designed specifically for them. These are just two examples of how businesses can offer unique products in their lineups. The point is: think outside the box when creating new offerings for your customers while also making sure these offerings align... --- ### Top 11 Reasons Email Marketing Fails > Is your email marketing coming up short? You could be doing something wrong. Here are 11 reasons email marketing fails. - Published: 2022-08-30 - Modified: 2022-09-21 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/top-4-reasons-email-marketing-fails/ - Categories: Email Marketing - Tags: Email Marketing Only a small fraction of the potential customers who click through to your website will actually make a purchase. So how can you get the number of conversions from your email marketing campaigns up? Here’s the bad news: Prospects are already jaded about emails because they receive a bunch of useless spam. But even if your emails are not currently being opened frequently enough, then don’t panic just yet. You are probably making one of the simple mistakes that so many email marketers make. Let’s dig into some of the top reasons why email marketing fails. 1. Inefficient Subject Lines Many people receive hundreds of emails every single day, and there is no way that they can open and read all of them. But, they will see all of the subject lines. The likelihood of someone opening an email with a poor or cliché subject line is quite slim. A study about digital marketing found that it’s possible to improve your open rates just by tweaking your email subject lines. Writing headlines is an art form. It’s not something that you should take for granted. The subject line of your email is going to directly affect its open rate. So, it needs to intrigue the reader and encourages them to open the email. Just be careful that you don’t accidentally create clickbait! Headlines that are overhyped and bait people into clicking, then underdelivering in the email itself will just break the trust between you and your subscribers. 2. Not Segmenting... --- ### The Beginner’s Guide to eCommerce Email Marketing Automation > eCommerce sites could benefit in big ways from an email marketing strategy. Here's a beginner's guide to eCommerce email marketing automation. - Published: 2022-08-25 - Modified: 2024-09-24 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/beginners-guide-ecommerce-email-marketing-automation/ - Categories: Ecommerce - Tags: Email Marketing We know that email automation can be a daunting task for owners of eCommerce websites, but there are plenty of benefits to making this a part of your marketing strategy. In this article, we’ll take a look at the basics, from building an email list to the different types of emails that you should be automating. So, grab your notebook and let’s get started. Why eCommerce Should Utilize Email Automation Though it may come as a surprise, customers actually like receiving emails more than any other type of communication. In fact, according to a study done by MarketingSherpa, 72% of U. S. adults prefer communicating with a company by email compared to social media, texts, and phone calls. Here are the main benefits of email automation: You can send personalized emails and utilize segmentation capabilities You can build strong customer relationships with consistent touchpoints Automated workflows save you time It’s a channel that is universally used and has high engagement It’s great for building a foundation of trust among your customers and prospects There is tons of flexibility and versatility when it comes to intent and conversion strategies How to Get Started with Email Marketing Automation Like any business workflow, building an email marketing process requires time and energy. But with the right steps, you’ll be well on your way to sending emails that convert prospects to clients and build long-lasting relationships with your customer base. 1. Build Your Main Email List A lot of people still don’t know how... --- ### The Biggest Email Marketing Hurdle (and How to Overcome It): Interview with ZeroBounce COO Brian Minick > Email marketing isn't a walk in the park. We interviewed Brian Minick, COO at ZeroBounce to discuss email marketing's biggest hurdle. - Published: 2022-08-24 - Modified: 2024-08-30 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/biggest-email-marketing-hurdle-brian-minick/ - Categories: Email Marketing Email marketing is often praised as the most effective marketing channel to date. With an impressive ROI, it’s hard to find a company that isn’t utilizing it to some degree. However, that’s not to say that everyone is hitting it out of the park with their email marketing strategy. In fact, many business owners and marketers are making mistakes and experiencing hurdles they have no idea how to overcome. To get more insight into the email marketing issues people and businesses may be facing, we chatted with Brian Minick, COO of ZeroBounce. ZeroBounce helps email senders ensure the data they use is up-to-date so they can reach their customers and prospects successfully – in the inbox. With over 15 years of experience, Brian is an email deliverability thought leader and oversees ZeroBounce’s support and sales teams, streamlining operations and making sure users get the most out of the email validation and deliverability platform. Here’s what he had to say. What would you say is currently the biggest hurdle most email marketers are facing today? Getting into the inbox. It’s been more and more challenging to accomplish this. There’s so much mail being sent now that mail filters are really starting to turn up the dial on filtering out what they consider spam emails. Just check your spam folder. Look how many go in every day. It’s crazy. Why should email marketers care about not only avoiding decreased email deliverability but improving their deliverability? Deliverability is the holy grail of email... --- ### Interactive Marketing: Why It's Time to Try It > Diversifying your marketing efforts can make any strategy more robust and successful. Here's why interactive marketing tactics are a must. - Published: 2022-08-23 - Modified: 2023-04-12 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/interactive-marketing/ - Categories: Marketing Are your brand’s marketing efforts a one-sided conversation? In an increasingly digital world, there are more opportunities than ever to connect with your leads. More often than not, however, those connections are driven in one direction, without the back-and-forth dialogue that more closely mimics the way we engage with each other in real life. Fortunately, there’s a better way. Interactive marketing is a sort of “choose your own adventure” approach to nurturing your leads, with content driven by relevance — not just by chance. And it’s growing rapidly in popularity, with 62 percent of B2B marketers relying at least in part on interactive content to help grow their brand. So how does it work? To help you get off the ground with interactive marketing, we’ve put together this quick guide to what you need to know, including what interactive marketing is and some tips for putting it into practice. Let’s get to it. What is Interactive Marketing? Interactive marketing is a form of content advertising based on lead behaviors and actions instead of being passively marketed to. We already know that data and personalization are key to moving prospects down the funnel. Interactive marketing takes these essentials and uses them to determine what pieces of content a prospect is presented with and when. Ultimately, this means that leads get more access to the information they need — with less of the stuff they don’t. The results? Content that’s directly aligned with an individual’s preferences, actions, and experience, and not just... --- ### 5 Proven Tips to Spend Less Time on Emails and Reclaim Your Productivity > If you want to spend less time on emails and boost productivity, explore how to organize your inbox, set email-checking boundaries, and more. - Published: 2022-08-18 - Modified: 2023-08-31 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/spend-less-time-on-emails/ - Categories: Marketing Do you spend too much time on emails? With billions of emails sent every day, it’s unsurprising that so many of us feel as though reading and responding to emails makes us stressed and unproductive. Image Source Sure, emails are a diverse and integral part of our day-to-day communications. They support us in everything from customer service to internal collaborations. However, there’s no denying that on the whole, emails are a reactionary task that can sometimes distract us from high-priority tasks. For marketers, email marketing automation software has made handling emails much more time-efficient. But how can we spend less time on emails that involve communicating with customers, clients, and colleagues? Let’s explore five actionable tips to help you become more productive with emails. 1. Set Email-Checking Boundaries If you’re the kind of person who is always getting distracted by your emails, you’re not alone. A recent survey discovered that for 30% of remote workers, receiving work emails disrupted their workflow more than checking social media and home distractions. Image source It’s easy to become blinded to the amount of time you waste on email. Try setting some boundaries and exercising self-discipline using the tips below. Turn Off Your Notifications How many times have you stopped what you’re doing just to reply to an email that didn’t require an immediate response? Emails are reactionary. As soon as we hear that “ding,” we lose our train of thought. Turning off notifications prevents us from getting distracted. “But,” I can hear you... --- ### How to Recession-Proof Your eCommerce Business > A recession is looming, which makes business owners panic. But don't fear, here are tips on how to recession-proof your eCommerce business. - Published: 2022-08-17 - Modified: 2024-03-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-recession-proof-your-ecommerce-business/ - Categories: Ecommerce With the economy continually shuffling between the highs and lows, small business owners and eCommerce stores are bearing the brunt more than ever. Fear-inducing economic news has raised concerns about an impending recession. Although no one is sure whether the economy will reach a complete downturn, businesses need to prepare as though it is imminent. Smart businesses are coming up with recession-proof practices, which you can replicate to solidify your eCommerce business and prevent it from being swept away. It can seem like a scary, tough time, but we’re here with some highly recommended tips for recession-proofing your eCommerce business. 5 Key Recession-Proof Practices for eCommerce Businesses 1. Minimize Overhead Costs Businesses with enormous overhead costs are prone to financial issues during an economic downturn, especially when the expenses don't result in significant sales and business revenue. You can minimize costs by considering the following: Are there operations that you can eliminate? Are there processes you can improve upon with less spending? Do you need to make drastic changes that could be challenging to budget for? You need to look at your business critically and devise the most cost-efficient means to keep marketing and business operations going without negatively affecting product and service quality. 2. Keep on Marketing Businesses tend to slow down on marketing when there is an economic downturn because of the belief that ads could prove ineffective in the face of declining revenue. On the contrary, you should keep marketing your store and products! Other businesses may... --- ### 12 Top Tips For Successful Email Marketing Campaigns > Less than satisfied with your email marketing campaign results? These tips can give your email marketing campaign performance a boost. - Published: 2022-08-16 - Modified: 2024-08-20 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/top-tips-for-successful-email-marketing-campaigns/ - Categories: Email Marketing Need details on how to send a successful email marketing campaign? Here’s everything you need to know. The key to any successful email marketing campaign is knowing your target audience and continually optimizing your campaigns to build on your success. Everything from targeting the audience to personalizing emails plays a role in getting those coveted opens, clicks, and purchases. If you’re less than satisfied with your email marketing campaign results, try one or all of the following tips to give your email marketing campaign performance a boost. Basic Email Marketing Campaign Optimization Tips If you’re getting started with email marketing, here are the fundamental things you must do to set your campaigns on a path toward success. 1. Know Your Audience If your message is for everybody, it’s for nobody. Generic emails don’t cut it anymore: today’s customers expect the brands they interact with to send personalized communications and highly relevant offers. However, to send personalized emails, you have to understand your audience beyond their demographics. What are their interests, needs, and preferences? When and how do they prefer to receive their emails? What unique qualities set them apart from the general public? What’s in it for the subscriber? You won’t have the answers to these questions right away. However, with time and after several email campaigns, you’ll have enough data and insights to deeply understand each cohort of subscribers so that you can start segmenting them effectively. 2. Segmenting Your List Whether you have 10, 100, or 1,000 subscribers,... --- ### Your Agency Outsourcing Checklist > When outsourcing help from an agency, it's important to have some guidelines. Here's an outsourcing checklist to follow. - Published: 2022-08-11 - Modified: 2023-12-29 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/agency-outsourcing-checklist/ - Categories: Marketing Business owners can use outsourcing to take care of some tasks which they cannot handle internally. It is a tactic used by companies—whether big, small, or just starting up—to carry out business operations and administration tasks. Outsourcing is also a great way to get expert advice and services when your internal team lacks experience in a particular area. And while it can be expensive to hire an outside team, outsourcing can also help businesses save money. Creating a separate department or team for a particular task or project is not cost-effective for companies, making outsourcing the more efficient option. Other reasons why companies outsource include: Lack of needed resources and technology Inability to handle the task Reducing workload volume The need for a specialist Outsourcing is a great way to get things done, but it can quickly become a nightmare when not handled properly. You can get into issues regarding expectations, quality of work could be in jeopardy, or important deadlines could be missed. It’s important when you begin your outsourcing process to consider a few important details if you want your endeavor to be as successful s possible. To get the best out of outsourcing and see the results you’re after, implement the simple steps below. Steps to Consider Before You Outsource 1. Define Your Project and Scope of Work Identifying the project you need to outsource, and the full scope of work can help you to decide which agency could take on the project. Don’t cut corners here.... --- ### Study Confirms: Email is Still the Top Marketing Channel > We're not surprised to see that email is still the top marketing channel. Here are some eye-opening email marketing stats. - Published: 2022-08-10 - Modified: 2022-08-16 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-is-still-top-marketing-channel/ - Categories: Email Marketing Regarding digital marketing, retailers have myriad options to explore in driving shoppers to take the ultimate action on their eCommerce stores: buying the products they're offering. But one digital marketing channel that has consistently done the job better than others is good ol' email. Surprised? Don't take our word for it. DigitalCommerce360 and Bizzare Insights survey reveals that email is still the number one way to influence an online purchase. Here, we break down the collated data from the survey and how you can harness the insights to drive sales. Why Email Marketing? Despite all the other marketing channels available, email marketing continues to come out on top. According to the survey of 1,015 online shoppers on what influences their buying decision, general email (44%) comes first, followed by conventional post mail printed materials. In addition, one in every five online shoppers stated that they are receptive to emails, which positions emails as a strong driving force between your store and consumers' money. How do we know this? Despite being most retailers' focal point, SMS marketing and a couple of other channels don't seem to influence online shoppers as much as email marketing does. Their numbers are as follows: Social media posts (18%) Social Media Influencers (7%) SMS (12%) These are among the go-to channels for many retailers. So have these businesses been utilizing the wrong marketing channels all this time? Not quite. Each still works, depending on your target audience, business model, and the products you offer. However, you... --- ### How Small Businesses Can Close Sales Faster Using an Effective Sales Cycle > With an effective sales cycle, small businesses will close sales faster and see more revenue. Here are four steps to follow. - Published: 2022-08-09 - Modified: 2022-08-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/small-businesses-sales-cycle/ - Categories: Small Business A sales cycle is a set of steps taken by a sales representative or marketer that converts a lead into a paying customer. The sales cycle begins with the first contact with a prospect and ends when they become loyal customers. Depending on various factors, such as the nature of the prospect and the type of industry you are in, your sales cycle’s length can vary. The longer your sales cycle, the more resources (in terms of money, time, and effort) you will have to spend. So, as a small business, it’s crucial to optimize your sales cycle so you can convert new prospects into loyal customers as rapidly as possible. In this post, we share four tips that’ll help you do just that. 1. Set the Right Expectations with Landing Pages In the initial stages of the sales cycle, your prospects first become aware of your business and visit a landing page where they can register as a lead. A good landing page, in general, has four key components: Value proposition: This will highlight the value that the prospect can look forward to. It can be saving time or money, reducing their workload, or otherwise improving their lives. Benefits: The tangible benefits that they will see in their day-to-day life. For instance, less back pain, better performing ads, or more time to spend with loved ones. Social proof: Customers like to see how using your service has given others the value and benefits that you claim it provides. Call... --- ### 6 eCommerce Personalization Strategies to Boost Customer Experience > If you're in eCommerce and looking to boost your customer experience, here are six eCommerce personalization strategies. - Published: 2022-08-04 - Modified: 2024-07-30 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ecommerce-personalization-strategies/ - Categories: Ecommerce Customer segmentation, knowing your target audience, and highly targeted social media advertising are a few examples of personalized marketing dimensions. Each of these forms the foundation of personalized marketing and advertising, but in eCommerce, personalized marketing goes beyond market segmentation and targeting. In this new era of eCommerce, it's recommended that you customize the consumer experience for each unique user you hope to attract. This article will cover all you need about personalized marketing and how to implement it in your marketing efforts. What is Personalized Marketing? Using data on a person's behavior, preferences, and location, marketers can create a customized experience for their audience through the practice of personalized marketing. Similar to how you might recommend a movie or product to a friend based on items you know they will enjoy, personalized marketing aids brands in identifying, converting, and keeping their most important customers. Personalized marketing, as opposed to traditional marketing, which targets users widely, customizes the experience to clients based on specific data acquired from a range of sources: Surveys Demographics Customer intent Brands that utilize personalized marketing know their customers and provide a customized user-specific customer experience based on the data gathered. Although many businesses utilize personalized marketing, eCommerce brands trying to stand out from the crowd should perceive personalization as a vital tool in their arsenal. Why is Personalization Crucial in eCommerce? A typical user views several daily ads across social media, email, video platforms, and other websites. As a result, most internet users are developing... --- ### Best Practices for Using Email Sign-Up Forms > When it comes to email sign-up forms, there are things you should and shouldn't do. Here are some best practices. - Published: 2022-08-03 - Modified: 2022-08-24 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-sign-up-forms-best-practices/ - Categories: Lead Generation If lead generation is a goal (which it should be), you’ve undoubtedly spent a lot of time and effort towards generating website traffic. And while increasing site traffic is a terrific goal to achieve, what you do with that site traffic is even more important. It isn’t enough to just send people to your site. You have to make sure your site is set up to capture leads so you can start growing your email list and sending email campaigns successfully. This is where website forms come in. Website forms are essentially sign-up forms, and there are two major kinds: online forms and pop-up forms. They’re an indispensable part of your lead generation and sales strategy, as essentially, they’re where those strategies truly begin. The way you design and use your sign-up forms dictates the rate at which your email lists grow and, in turn, dictates how successful you can be at converting that list into paying customers. In this article, we’ll discuss the best practices for using sign-up forms so you can use them to effectively grow your email list. What’s an Email Sign-Up Form? First things first, let’s dive into what sign-up forms are a bit more. Email sign-up forms refer to the forms that pop up or are embedded on your website pages to collect the email addresses of potential customers and leads. Generally, the form has fields where the web visitor can add their name and email address, a CTA button, a headline, and a description.... --- ### Sales and Marketing Software Leader, Benchmark Email, Launches AI-Powered Suite of Tools > Benchmark Email today announced the release of Smart Content, the second in their new suite of artificial intelligence features. - Published: 2022-08-02 - Modified: 2022-09-21 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/benchmark-email-launches-ai-powered-suite-of-tools/ - Categories: Uncategorized SAINT LOUIS, MO, Aug 2, 2022– Benchmark Email, a subsidiary of Polaris Software LLC, today announced the release of Smart Content, the second in their new suite of artificial intelligence features. Smart Content is Benchmark Email’s AI-fueled copywriting technology that allows users to create professional content from scratch, or rewrite existing content, with a few simple inputs. “We see AI as the future of sales and marketing software. Time is a precious resource, and marketers need a way to create compelling content quickly,” says Polaris CEO Jonathan Herrick. “Smart Content gives Benchmark Email users the tools they need to accomplish their goals and stand out in the inbox so they can focus energy on building relationships and growing their businesses. ” With users spanning across verticals, Smart Content technology is uniquely suited to meet the needs of marketers no matter the objective – ecommerce, B2B, B2C. Smart Content is available in both free and paid Benchmark Email subscriptions. “I was really skeptical when I was told about the Smart Content technology. But then I saw it in action. It took something I thought I wrote pretty well and made it much more impactful,” says Benchmark Email user David Lopez of Antiphon Consulting. The release of Smart Content follows the launch of Smart Sending in spring of 2022. Smart Sending is Benchmark Email’s backend machine learning technology that intelligently identifies unengaged contacts and instead targets a user’s most engaged audience to improve overall deliverability and sending reputation. “We’re encouraged by the... --- ### How Email Marketing Can Support Your Growth When Starting a New Business > Learn about email marketing for new business owners, as well as tips for successful email marketing campaigns. - Published: 2022-08-02 - Modified: 2022-12-13 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-new-business/ - Categories: Email Marketing In the US, there are around 804,398 businesses that have been operating for less than one year. If you’re still in the early days of running a business, you may be looking for strategies for growth. You’ve probably already launched a website, and you could even have social media pages. But have you thought about email marketing? Even if you have an email sign-up form, are you using your email list to its full potential? In a digital world, email is the way we communicate. By 2025, it’s predicted that 376. 4 billion emails will be sent every day. If you’re not targeting your customer’s inboxes, you could be missing out on sales. So, how can email marketing support your growth when starting a new business? Read on to find out. Growing Your Email List Before we dive into our email marketing tips, let’s talk about how you can kickstart your subscription list. With brands fighting for the attention of internet users, you can’t expect them to sign up for no reason. Think about the exclusive perks you can offer in exchange for their email address. You can promote your eNewsletter and collect leads on your website and social media pages. If you’re using a pop-up form, make sure it matches the look and feel of your brand. Just remember, it should only appear once and be easy to close. Do you run a service-based business? Are you trying to chase new leads? Potential customers may have to submit an... --- ### Want Your Drip Campaign to Convert? Make Sure it Has These Five Elements. > If your drip campaign are successful, they're converting. If they aren't converting, make sure they have these give elements. - Published: 2022-07-28 - Modified: 2022-10-05 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/drip-campaign-conversions/ - Categories: Email Marketing Drip campaigns are effective and powerful. The reason they work so well is that they’re a soft-selling approach. An email to your subscribers every few days with resources and helpful tips means they can buy when they’re ready. And you’re able to build trust with them in the process. But what if your drip campaigns are falling short? What if your conversions are dwindling and you’re not seeing much return? It typically means there’s an issue somewhere, but with so many email sequences and different stages of the customer journey, it can be hard to uncover where the problem resides. To ensure your email drip campaigns get the results you're aiming for, make sure they have these four important things: 4 Important Elements for Conversion-Focused Drip Campaigns 1. Value Offer When creating your drip campaigns, don't go for the sale immediately. Modern buyers tune out creepy marketing tactics focused on just getting the sale. Instead, start by providing your subscribers with value. To do this, you must learn about your target audience and what matters to them. This includes identifying audience pain points and what they're looking to find out. Once you identify these, your first contact should not be formal. Draft a friendly email that addresses their top concerns, illustrating how your brand can deliver what they are looking for. Examples of value you can provide are blog posts that answer common questions, eBooks with in-depth, valuable information, and whitepapers. By providing this sort of helpful insight to your... --- ### 9 Must-Have Features for eCommerce Sites > Here are some features your eCommerce site should have if you want a positive user experience and to drive sales. - Published: 2022-07-27 - Modified: 2023-04-26 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/features-for-ecommerce-sites/ - Categories: Ecommerce There are over 24 million eCommerce websites online and counting. In the competitive space that keeps growing, it’s even more essential that your eCommerce store be customer-friendly and make the buying process seamless. The industry is booming. Ecommerce sales are projected to grow exponentially to 6. 54 trillion dollars, and there are things your eCommerce brand will have to do to stand out from the crowd. Not only does your customer service need to be on-point, but if you’re to grow your eCommerce store and increase website traffic, your website must have certain features and capabilities. Below are nine website features your eCommerce site cannot go without. 1. User-Friendly Website Navigation Help customers move through various pages and products on your eCommerce website by making sure that navigation is user-friendly. Make the menu visible to website visitors at all times, irrespective of the website page. Also, avoid making the navigation menu complicated. A simple header menu is all you need. If there are more links to important pages, you would like to include, take advantage of the secondary footer menu. Daniel Gray from Market Media Connect, Inc. suggests a filtering and sorting capability for additional usability. By offering your online shoppers a way to filter and sort your products, they’ll be able to find what they’re looking for better. Instead of sorting through hundreds of products, they’ll be able to cut through the noise and narrow down their selection so they can find and purchase what they need quicker. 2.... --- ### Debunking the 4 Most Popular Email Marketing Myths > There's a lot of misinformation out there, especially when it comes to email marketing. Here are the four most popular email marketing myths. - Published: 2022-07-26 - Modified: 2022-07-21 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-myths/ - Categories: Email Marketing Email marketing is an important part of any wide-reaching, holistic digital marketing campaign. With email marketing, you can reach customers who rarely visit your online shop, bring people who have abandoned their carts back to your store, and announce special deals to drive engagement and traffic on the most important days of the year. But for all its value, lots of online business owners subscribe to popular email marketing myths. These myths can be damaging to your email marketing campaigns and marketing approaches. To make sure that you leverage email marketing correctly and successfully, let’s debunk these email marketing myths one by one. No One Signs Up for Emails Anymore The first myth is that most modern web shoppers, namely Millennials, don’t sign up for emails any longer. We’re not sure where this myth came from, as Millennials are the number one demographic that’s both highly online and willing to spend money (as GenZ is still a bit too young to make up the primary shopping demographic for most industries). Indeed, most Millennials are always on their phones and are constantly checking their emails. That means there’s ample opportunity to get Millennials to subscribe to your email marketing list, opening them up to special deals, cart abandonment reminders, and more. It is true, however, that you may need to sweeten the deal to get more Millennials to sign up for email marketing in the first place. You can do this by: Not making it difficult to sign up for emails... --- ### Bulk Email Senders: What Are They and Tools We Recommend > Ever heard of a bulk email sender? Read our blog post to learn more about them and why they're beneficial, along with some recommended tools. - Published: 2022-07-21 - Modified: 2024-05-21 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/what-is-a-bulk-email-sender/ - Categories: Email Marketing When it comes to email marketing, the name of the game is efficiency. It would be impossible to assume that you would be able to send each of your email subscribers an individual email. The time it would take to put together hundreds of emails just doesn’t exist. You’re busy, with a lot of other things to do. That’s where bulk email senders come in. This may not be a term you’ve heard very often, so let's dive into what bulk email senders are, why they’re a godsend for email marketers, and some tips to follow when using them. What Are Bulk Email Senders? A bulk email sender is software that enables users to send the same message to many recipients at once. They’re often used for newsletters, promotions, or other mass informational messages that don’t need to be adjusted to different recipients. The main difference between bulk email software and an email service provider (like Benchmark Email) is the level of functionality. Most bulk email software only enables users to send mass mailings, while email marketing service providers are more robust and include the ability to create multiple mailing lists and automate email campaigns, along with sending bulk emails. Why Are Bulk Email Senders Beneficial? Bulk email senders not only save you a massive amount of time and money by sparing you the headache of manually sending the same message to hundreds (or even thousands! ) of recipients, but they also provide significant reach and can improve brand awareness.... --- ### How CRM And CPQ Software Benefit Your Sales & Marketing > CRM and CPQ software can work together in ways that will make your sales and marketing efforts soar. Here's how. - Published: 2022-07-20 - Modified: 2023-12-20 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/crm-and-cpq-software-benefit-sales-marketing/ - Categories: CRM Having a solid customer base is paramount, as no business would exist without one. Plus, how a company establishes and maintains strong customer relationships also determines its success. Solid customer service begins in the sales process. Your sales reps must price products or services accurately, as inaccurate quotations can make future negotiations with the customer difficult—thus impacting the overall relationship. That is where CRM software helps centralize, optimize, and streamline customer communication, and a CPQ solution accelerates product configuration and proposal, simultaneously reducing the risk of generating faulty quotes. CPQ stands for configure, price, and quote. The standard CPQ definition is the software systems that help sell complex products. Both CRM and CPQ software aid marketers and sales reps in building positive customer relationships and delivering an optimal buying experience. Read on to learn how. A 360-Degree View of the Customer with CRM and CPQ Your marketing and sales teams are the fuel that keeps the wheels of the business moving. However, they need the right tools to work effectively and efficiently. It is obvious that CRM and CPQ are intelligent technologies on their own. However, their effectiveness increases when they are used together. CRM demonstrates the customer’s order history with your business, equips you with trustworthy reporting, and simplifies cross-departmental collaboration. Alternatively, CPQ gives you access to past pricing, open quotes, and support information. Both CRM and CPQ together eliminate time-consuming, error-prone manual processes—supplementing marketing and sales strategies and resulting in higher customer satisfaction. How CRM and CPQ Software... --- ### What Are Spamhaus and SpamCop? > Getting blacklisted is the email marketing kiss of death. Here's why you don't want to land on Spamhaus and SmapCop's lists. - Published: 2022-07-19 - Modified: 2022-09-19 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/insights-spamhaus-spamcop/ - Categories: Email Marketing Email delivers a return on investment of 3600%, making it the best digital marketing strategy. The fact that email is free and highly effective means it’s prime for driving revenue. However, there’s one nuisance that hangs around email marketing like a bad smell, and that’s junk email. As of September 2021, out of 105 billion emails sent every day, more than 88 billion were spam emails, per a Statista report. Put simply, more than 84% of emails sent in September 2021 went straight to the spam folder. However, spam emails are nothing new; it’s an inevitable side effect of email marketing. Why is Spam Email Such a Problem? Regardless, junk email is a nuisance for you and your email subscribers. As an email marketer, getting your message to the inbox is your biggest priority, and if you hit major ISPs’ spam traps, they can permanently blacklist your domain. What’s more, hitting a spam trap damages your sender reputation, causing low deliverability and an increased bounce rate. What is Spamhaus? Spamhaus is an international non-profit organization that helps the majority of Internet Service Providers, ESPs, corporations, and other security vendors by tracking spammers and blocking the vast majority of spam and malware sent over the internet. It provides several blacklists which can be used by mailbox providers for protection against spam-like activities. Here are some of their blacklists explained: SBL – The Spamhaus Block List is the collection of IP addresses from which Spamhaus doesn’t recommend the receipt of email. It... --- ### Email Verification 101: What is it and Why is it Important? > Email verification improves performance and protects your campaigns. Learn more about why it should be part of your marketing efforts - Published: 2022-07-12 - Modified: 2025-03-26 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-verification-what-why-and-how/ - Categories: Email Marketing - Tags: 信箱, 聯絡人, Email Marketing, list verification, mx 紀錄, 名單品質檢測, 品質, 群組 Picture it: You sign up with a great new email service provider (like Benchmark Email). You’re excited to get started, so you prepare to launch your first campaign by uploading your email list. Suddenly, your progress stops short. You’re informed you need to verify the email addresses on your email list. So, what exactly is email verification and why is it stalling your email marketing efforts? Email verification is actually greatly beneficial to your email marketing process, and it’s something you’ll be grateful for down the line. If you aren’t totally convinced yet, don’t worry. We’re going to dive into the what and why behind email verification so you can get more familiar with it and see how it can significantly improve your marketing efforts. Let’s dive into the details. What is Email Verification? Email verification is the process of making sure the emails on your list are tied to an inbox. In other words, it’s making sure that the messages you’re sending have somewhere to go. List Verification is the process of removing undeliverable or dangerous emails from your list. For example, when using Benchmark Email, our List Sampling Process deploys as soon as a user uploads a list into our system. This process checks for undeliverable emails and based on the findings, the list is either rejected or approved. Why Should I Verify My Emails? When it comes to undelivered messaging, blasting your emails to an unverified list could result in some unfortunate consequences. Email service providers, like... --- ### Promoting Travel and Tourism with Email Marketing > The travel and tourism industry can benefit greatly from email marketing. Read on for some tips and examples. - Published: 2022-07-07 - Modified: 2023-03-23 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/promoting-travel-and-tourism-with-email-marketing/ - Categories: Email Marketing The travel and tourism industry was hit worst by the COVID-19 pandemic. The sector is still in recovery mode, but the uncertainty of new variants is taking the wind out of its sails. Now, businesses in this industry are faced with the challenge of marketing to clients who are increasingly less confident about making plans to travel. For this reason, it’s crucial for businesses to invest their marketing budgets into tactics with high returns. In this article, we’ll show you how to use email marketing to get an impressive return on investment from your campaigns. How to Promote Travel and Tourism With Email Marketing Potential customers are ready to travel again, but the uncertainty engulfing the sector could be holding them back from booking. Besides promoting your brand, use email as a tool to inform and educate travelers. Doing so will go a long way in helping dissipate the uncertainty. Here’s how: 1. Leverage Segmentation and Personalization When it comes to preferences, every tourist is different. For this reason, using email blasts or mass emails will only take you so far when it comes to winning customers back. To be successful, you have to send personalized messages to each customer. Personalization begins with segmentation. You have a rich set of data in your system to help you segment your customers. For example, by using a customer's previous trip bookings, you can segment them into different vacationing groups or categories, such as: Relaxation Active/sports Business Cruise Culture If you’re new to... --- ### 8 B2B Prospecting Tips That Will Bring More Revenue in 2022 > Your sales efforts are only as good as your prospecting. Here are some crucial B2B sales prospecting tips for this year. - Published: 2022-07-06 - Modified: 2022-10-17 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/b2b-prospecting-tips/ - Categories: Sales Are you looking for the best prospecting tips that will help you build stronger relationships with your customers and generate new leads in 2022? Building and maintaining B2B relationships can be challenging. And that's where B2B prospecting comes in. In fact, recent research shows that about 40% of all companies consider sales prospecting be the most difficult part of B2B sales. And that's reasonable. The term itself can encompass numerous aspects of your business and can be chaotic at times for salespeople. For that reason, we will first explore what B2B sales prospecting is and how important it can be when it comes to making more sales. By the end of this read, you'll also know the eight most effective prospecting tips and ideas you can use to generate new leads and build strong B2B relationships in 2022 and beyond. What is B2B Prospecting and Its Importance In a few words, B2B prospecting is a process that a business can follow to identify, attract, and convert potential buyers. In other words, prospecting is a series of steps that include email marketing and cold calling, content marketing, and pretty much any digital marketing approach you can think of. So it becomes clear that B2B prospecting is all about increasing your leads and, in turn, your sales. But how does this approach differ from other traditional methods? Well, to find out the differences, let us look at the key benefits of prospecting. With B2B prospecting, you can: Explore new, improved leads Be... --- ### How to Make an Effective Email Invite? 7 Tips. > There's a secret weapon your email marketing strategy should be using, and it's that of the email invite. Here are some tips. - Published: 2022-07-05 - Modified: 2022-12-16 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-invite/ - Categories: Email Marketing With COVID came a new way of doing business. Online and digital events became plentiful as people abandoned in-person functions due to safety precautions. It’s been over two years since the pandemic started, and now in-person events have been making a comeback. In the marketing industry, they say one should never get comfortable. And while that certainly rang true these past couple of years, one thing is still for certain: email marketing will always be a beneficial channel to utilize. No matter what your aim is, be it to convert a lead to a customer, engage a new subscriber, or create buzz and registrations for your next event, email marketing is the channel to get the job done. As marketers navigate getting back to in-person events and planning events for their brand, we thought it would be a good time to discuss some tips and best practices for writing effective email invites. Let’s dive in. Why Email Invites? An email invite is a digital version of a conventional card or paper invite. The goal, just like any other invite, is to create buzz around your business events, increase awareness, and boost the number of attendees. Email invites are different than conventional invites in that you can be smarter and more strategic about how you send them out, as well as how you measure engagement and success. To help you get the most out of your pre-event email marketing campaigns, we’ve put together the following tips: 7 Tips for Creating Effective... --- ### 6 Inspiring Travel and Tourism Industry Emails > Check out what makes these travel and tourism emails so great, and what you can learn from doing something similar. - Published: 2022-06-30 - Modified: 2023-07-12 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/travel-and-tourism-emails/ - Categories: Email Marketing It’s no secret that we love email marketing. There are many reasons to love it, but a big one is how impressive the return can be. Email can generate 3,600% ROI when done right (unbelievable, right? ), making it a highly effective yet affordable medium for most brands. With very little risk, email marketing is a standout marketing strategy compared to most out there. For the travel and tourism industry, this is important. COVID-19 has hit this industry hard the past few years, so utilizing marketing channels that require very little investment is a must. And if these channels can promise substantial return, well, that’s even better. With summer in full swing, we’d like to take this time to highlight some impressive and inspiring emails from noted brands within the travel and tourism industry. Let’s take a look at the types of emails these brands are using to attract, nurture, and convert prospective travelers. 1. Welcome Email Welcome emails present an excellent opportunity to generate interest and move prospective travelers down the marketing funnel. They are often used as part of an automated series, delivered to potential customers when they sign up for a newsletter or join your email list. The time period immediately after someone signs up for email marketing is typically when they are the most eager to learn more about the brand. Besides providing more details about the business, the welcome email is an opportunity to remind customers to set their preferences to receive custom offers, or... --- ### How to Design Your Website for More Sales > Is your website optimized to bring in more sales? Here are some tips for a user friendly website design that generates revenue. - Published: 2022-06-28 - Modified: 2023-02-10 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/website-design-more-sales/ - Categories: Sales Your company website is invaluable. It not only harbors everything potential customers need to know more about your company, but it serves as a gateway for capturing new leads. The customer journey can be a long one. Customers have to find you online, go to your site, convert to a lead, and then make a purchase. That’s why it’s crucial that your website makes it as easy as possible for leads to convert. Generally, out of all onsite visitors, only 3. 5% will end up making a sale – but the conversion rates vary across industries. If your conversion rates are falling behind industry averages and you’re looking for the culprit, look first at your website design. In this article, we'll give you actionable tips so you can ensure your website leads more visitors towards a sale. 6 Website Design Tips That Will Help You Boost Revenue 1. Keep it Simple The first time a potential customer lands on your website, it takes 50 milliseconds to form an opinion about it. Yes – 0. 005 seconds to decide whether you’re a credible brand or not. Unfortunately, though, most customers won’t stay any longer than 15 seconds. If you want them to make a sale, you have to offer your value proposition early on and make it easier for the customer to find what they need. First and foremost, implement a clear hierarchical structure. In this structure, the homepage is at the top, and beneath there are categories that can further... --- ### AI and The Future of Email Marketing > AI is impacting email marketing in new and exciting ways. Here are a few things AI brings to the table that will help your strategy. - Published: 2022-06-23 - Modified: 2022-06-17 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ai-and-the-future-of-email-marketing/ - Categories: Email Marketing Email marketing has been an integral part of marketing as far back as the 1970s. Now, in the 2020s, the role of email marketing in the overall digital marketing strategy of businesses has only grown bigger and better. The email marketing industry value stood at $7. 5 billion as of 2020 and is expected to hit $17. 9 billion by 2027. Like most things since the 70s, email marketing has progressed and adapted. It now offers more possibilities, especially with the introduction and development of artificial intelligence (AI). Let's take a look at how AI will impact email marketing, what it means for your business and your overall marketing efforts. 4 Important Contributions AI is Making Towards Email Marketing 1. Email Content Creation Email subject lines, as well as the body content, are essential contributors to the success of your email marketing campaigns. Think about it: the first thing a subscriber sees is the subject line, so whether or not they open the email depends on if the subject line did a good enough job of pulling them in. Maximizing contact with prospects and increasing conversions is no easy feat. Marketers can spend hours trying to work out the best email subject lines, the right type of content to send, and the proper email format to use. This leaves room for trial and error, which can waste time, effort, and resources. AI takes away the guesswork and makes the process relatively easy for busy marketers. With AI, you can generate... --- ### 4 Tools That Will Help You Make Your Cold Outreach Emails Stand Out > Sending cold outreach emails is typically a gamble. Use these four tools to make your email stand out and get a response. - Published: 2022-06-22 - Modified: 2022-06-17 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/tools-for-cold-outreach-emails/ - Categories: Sales One of the biggest reasons why email marketing is so effective is that everyone has an email address and checks their inbox consistently. On average, Americans check their personal email two hours a day and work email three hours a day. There are various types of emails out there - promo emails, newsletters, content-related emails, transactional emails - the list goes on and on. However, for some reason, cold emails get a bad rap. A cold email is similar to an unexpected guest knocking on your front door. You aren’t expecting it, and it catches you off guard. You can sense that there must be an ulterior motive for the outreach, so your initial reaction is to be skeptical. Cold email senders aren’t totally set up for success. If they want to not only get their emails opened but engaged with, it needs to stand out and be extremely relevant to the needs of the recipient. In this article, we’ll show various tools you can use to make your cold emails more successful. The Value of Cold Outreach Emails Sending potential customers unsolicited emails without prior contact is a tried-and-tested email marketing strategy. When done correctly, it can have a powerful impact on your overarching marketing strategy because it helps you cast your existing lead pool. As Auren Hoffman, CEO at SafeGraph, states, “Great cold emails help you access almost everyone you want. ” He further shares that most c-suite executives spare some minutes to read the well-informed emails they... --- ### How to Create Your Own Report: A Step-By-Step Guide > Proprietary reports are a great addition to your content marketing and inbound marketing efforts. Here's how to create a report. - Published: 2022-06-16 - Modified: 2022-06-10 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-create-your-own-report-a-step-by-step-guide/ - Categories: Marketing A great B2B marketer understands the utility of an informative and original piece of content. And while blog posts, press releases, and eBooks are all super effective mediums of content marketing, there are even more content formats worth exploring for your business — including reports. Marketing reports provide a comprehensive snapshot of your brand, your industry, your product or service, and your ability to meet the needs of your customers. It’s a way to do your own research on where your brand is succeeding, all while putting together a piece of content that can then be used for marketing and sales enablement. Creating a report is an excellent way to increase your brand’s thought leadership and tap into your audience to gain essential insights. You can also use it to gather new subscribers and leads. And to help you do it, we’ve outlined the five steps you need to take to research, write, and promote a B2B report, with helpful tips for making your content count. The Value of a B2B Marketing Report Putting together such a thorough piece of content requires time and resources, but it’s definitely worth the effort. A well-done marketing report can offer a lot of value to your business, including: Providing you with insight into the practices of your audience Providing current customers with information that might be helpful to them Serving as a gated piece of content to generate new leads with Creating buzz for your brand Best yet, you’ll learn a lot along... --- ### 4 Mistakes You're Making with Email Marketing Automation > Email marketing automation is powerful and extremely useful. But if you make these four mistakes, you won't see much progress. - Published: 2022-06-15 - Modified: 2022-08-24 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-automation-mistakes/ - Categories: Marketing Automation “Email marketing automation is the key to doing more with less,” says Tabish Bhimani — founder Mastrat Digital. His message encapsulates the reasons why more than 59% of marketers are expanding automation of email programs. It’s easy to understand why many marketers are jumping on the bandwagon. Email automation saves time and creates opportunities for increased conversions. However, to reap the benefits, you have to avoid the most common email automation pitfalls. Here are the four mistakes to avoid when automating email campaigns: 1. Not Practicing Opt-In Email Marketing We’ve all been there - there’s a knock on the door, but we’re not expecting anyone. We instantly freeze or even panic, not sure what to do. Should we answer it? Suddenly, the thought of someone knocking on our door unexpectedly makes us a bit frustrated. The same thing can happen with email marketing. If you manage to access email addresses and enroll those addresses into your email marketing, unprompted, it can result in a lot of negative reactions. This is why opt-in email marketing is important to practice. Today’s consumer wants to have as much control as possible. If they’re going to receive emails, they might as well be emails they’ve opted into and indicated they want to receive. What’s more, instilling an opt-in practice is just good marketing. It complies with GDPR guidelines, can lead to higher engagement rates, and allow you to maintain deliverability (as you’ll be less likely to be marked as spam). So, before you add... --- ### 6 Ways to Use Social Proof to Grow Your eCommerce Business > Social proof is powerful for your eCommerce brand and can do wonders for selling your products. Here are six examples of social proof. - Published: 2022-06-14 - Modified: 2022-11-02 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/social-proof-ecommerce-business/ - Categories: Ecommerce No matter how great you and your marketing team are at advertising your products, the simple truth is that these days, 75% of consumers will do their own research before committing to a purchase. And, it just so turns out that this research will include seeking out examples of social proof that confirm that your offer delivers real value. So, if you want your marketing activities to result in conversions, high customer satisfaction levels, and (ultimately) business growth, you will have to learn how to use social proof to your advantage. If you're ready to start exploring ways to use social proof to grow your eCommerce business, these are the main tactics you should consider adopting to achieve next-level results. 1. Use Data That's Readily Available One of the absolute best (and most uncomplicated) ways to employ social proof in your eCommerce store is to display ratings and reviews on your site. In fact, here's the thing: there's probably a lot of social proof about your business out there, which you could use to grow your brand. According to a survey from BrightLocal, 80% of consumers are "likely" or "highly likely" to leave a review, especially if their initial negative experience with a brand is turned into a very positive one. Source: brightlocal. com So, the obvious solution would be to check out review websites where consumers are most likely to leave their impressions. For eCommerce, these will include Yelp, Google, and Facebook. Then, all you have to do is... --- ### 6 PR Tips for Your Small Business > Just because your budget is limited doesn't mean you can't make a splash with your PR tactics. Here are some PR tips for small business. - Published: 2022-06-09 - Modified: 2024-09-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/pr-tips-small-business/ - Categories: Small Business Public relations (PR) has evolved over the years. Once an industry mostly tied to event creation and promotion, now it’s broader and encapsulates various channels and avenues to access your audience, which means it can offer more value when used correctly. Getting the word out about your small business is so crucial. The more people that know about you and the more traffic you’re able to get to your site, the higher your chances are of building a robust, high-quality email list. And a quality email list is one of the most important things a small business can have for long-term success. But there are a ton of approaches to consider for these efforts, which means you’ll need assistance wherever possible if you’re going to pull it off. However, the unfortunate truth is that as a small business, you may not have the deep pockets to hire a high-priced PR team. But, that shouldn’t discourage you from making the most of what a PR strategy can do to better your business. To build consumer interest and shape your brand identity, you can try these simple and low- or zero-cost PR hacks. 1. Host an Event Your followers, potential customers, and investors want to hear a compelling story. Holding an event gives you a platform to tell your brand story in front of customers and the media -- the most critical element of your PR strategy. If you’re an online fashion brand, you could create a pop-up event at a local... --- ### How to Know What Marketing Channels to Add to Your Strategy > To see real results, you need to be using multiple marketing channels in your strategy. But how do you know which ones will pay off? - Published: 2022-06-08 - Modified: 2022-12-15 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/marketing-channels/ - Categories: Marketing Marketing today is dominated by fickle customer demands, making nailing down an effective strategy more complicated than ever before. To succeed, you have to get a compelling message to potential customers by way of the right channels at the right time. Sounds easy, right? There are dozens of marketing channels you can use to promote your product or service. However, not every marketing channel will work for your strategy, meaning you have to be meticulous when choosing which to utilize. In this article, we’ll show you how to choose beneficial marketing channels for your strategy, saving you tons of guesswork and time. 3 Ways to Determine Marketing Channels for your Strategy 1. Evaluate Your Goals Marketers who set their goals before embarking on a project are 376% more likely to succeed. Before you can even choose the channels for your strategy, you should outline the objectives. What do you want to accomplish out of your marketing investment? Do you want to: Build product awareness Generate high-quality leads Improve ROI Build authority in your niche, or Become a thought leader Your goals inform your decision about the channel to use. Remember: each marketing channel is well-suited for specific objectives than others. For example, online communities are great for customer acquisition and advocacy. Email works well for customer retention, whereas billboards might help build brand awareness. 2. Know Where Ideal Customers Hang Out Everything your business does should revolve around the customers because any effort would be futile without them. Actually, 84%... --- ### UX And Its Impact on SEO: 8 Tips For Improving SEO Rankings > UX and SEO go hand-in-hand. Checkout some easy-to-implment, DIY tips for improving your UX and SEO ranking at the same time. - Published: 2022-06-07 - Modified: 2024-06-29 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ux-and-seo-mproving-seo-rankings/ - Categories: Marketing The tactics we used 15 years ago for improving page rankings no longer apply today. In the old days, it was enough to fill content with keywords, a practice known as "keyword stuffing. " The problem here is that low-quality websites and irrelevant content ended up ranking higher than user-friendly and relevant websites. Today, there have been hundreds of updates to search engine algorithms that take into consideration other factors to better determine whether pages are relevant to search intent. Among these factors, user experience comes into play: This is where UX and SEO join forces. By doubling down on improving UX, you can get better SEO, more website traffic, and more conversions. For eCommerce sites, it's how to get more sales. For web apps, it's how to improve product quality while also giving your inbound marketing funnel a boost. How to Measure User Experience: Engagement Metrics Engagement is a factor in your SEO ranking, and it’s a measure of how compelling your site is to your target audience. If you’re seeing low engagement per page, you could be suffering from poor UX. Therefore, keeping track of your engagement metrics will be key to understanding if you are doing a good job. These ones are key: Bounce Rates: Refers to the percentage of users who leave your website after viewing only one page. A high bounce rate can occur because users could not find what they were looking for. Pages per session: Refers to the average number of pages that... --- ### Drive a Customer-Centric Digital Transformation via Email Marketing > The increasing importance of a customer-centric experience is responsible for digital transformation in companies around the world. - Published: 2022-06-02 - Modified: 2023-11-15 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/digital-transformation-via-email-marketing/ - Categories: Email Marketing The increasing importance of an end-to-end customer-centric experience is responsible for digital transformation in companies all around the world. The adoption of various digital technologies has made it significantly easy for businesses to transform their operations according to the new market requirements. According to a survey by Statista, digitally transformed enterprises are expected to account for $53. 3 trillion by the year 2023. This suggests that the supremacy of digital transformation is fueling businesses to focus on a “digital-first” approach for their businesses. What Is Digital Transformation? In simple words, digital transformation or DX is the process of creating new or modifying existing business processes and strategies to meet the changing needs to deliver more value to the customers. Research conducted by Foundry, a software firm, reveals that 91% of organizations have adopted or are planning on adopting a digital-first business strategy. Nearly 50% of companies surveyed by PwC say customer satisfaction and improving customer experience were the main reasons for investing in digital transformation. Customer Experience and Email Marketing Customer experience or CX is how customers feel about their interactions with your brand. It focuses on improving the relationship between your business and your customers. From navigating through your website to using your product or service, from chatting with a customer service representative to interacting with your email, every interaction a customer has impacts their perception of your brand. Delivering an excellent customer experience proves to be beneficial for a brand in many ways: It establishes and promotes brand... --- ### The Customer Support Side of CRM > Your CRM provides your business with increased productivity and marketing efficiency, and the ability to offer great customer support. - Published: 2022-06-01 - Modified: 2024-09-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-customer-support-side-of-crm/ - Categories: CRM Excellent marketing and a great product that speaks to the needs of your target audience will get the ball rolling for your business, and the relationships you build with your customers — and the support you provide to them — is just as important when it comes to lasting success. CRM, or customer relationship management systems provide your business with increased productivity and marketing efficiency, with a central system to manage your customers and leads. Most importantly, CRM systems help you provide better customer support and improve your relationship with your customers and prospects. Let's take a look at how your CRM can improve the customer support side of your business. Centralized Customer Data Customer Onboarding Automation Fill in Missing Customer Data Customer Segmentation 4 Ways a CRM System can Improve Your Business's Customer Experience Paul Rjinders reiterates that most businesses focus on converting prospects with their CRM. There is ample opportunity for you as a business owner to work not only on sales conversion, but also on support experience for your customers with your CRM. Let's take a look at how. 1. Centralized Customer Data One great feature of CRMs that can help improve customer experience is centralized customer data. CRMs present all customer data in one place and provide your team with all the vital information needed to deal smoothly with a customer, irrespective of who is attending to them. The sales notes for each customer are present, providing context for the problems they may be experiencing. Also,... --- ### Should I Use a Background Image > Great design helps your business stand out, builds your brand consistency, and captures your audience's attention, amongst other benefits. Background - Published: 2022-05-26 - Modified: 2024-09-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/should-i-use-a-background-image/ - Categories: Marketing Great design helps your business stand out, builds your brand consistency, and captures your audience's attention, amongst other benefits. Background images offer great design benefits wherever they appear, but there’s lots to consider when it comes to including them in your design. The use of background images allows you to layer on more design elements like text, quotes, a bold call-to-action, or another image, without taking up more space while providing creative appeal. In this piece, I'll take you through important points you need to consider before popping that background image into your design, and some tips to make them stand out. Questions to Ask Before Using Background Images in Your Designs Considerations for Using Background Images Emails Landing Pages Static Display Ad Facebook Ads Text on Background Images – Best Practices Questions to Ask Before Using Background Images in Your Designs Before using that background image in your design, you should ask yourself the following: Is it readable? Readability is vital in any design. If your design is unreadable, it puts your audience off reading your message. When using background images with other design elements like text, ensure the result is readable. Is it accessible? Search engines and accessibility tools can't read your images without alternate image descriptions. If you're using a background image as part of your design on a landing page, for example, make sure that you have a concise alternate description that captures what the image is about. Does it align with your branding? Being on-brand... --- ### 3 Ways to Create a GIF for Your Email Templates > Most email clients still do not support inline video, but do support GIF animation. Here's three ways to make a GIF for your email templates. - Published: 2022-05-24 - Modified: 2022-05-18 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-create-a-gif-for-email/ - Categories: Email Marketing When it comes to email design, captivating imagery and visual content are important in getting the attention of your target audience. Enter the GIF. A GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) may appear as no more than a short goofy animation meant to make people laugh. Still, these pieces of content bring variety and a lot of engagement to your content marketing as a business. Not to mention, most modern email clients still do not support inline video, but do support GIF animation. So if you want to give your images a pop with movement, a GIF is an excellent way to achieve that. Use GIFs to spice up your marketing emails and newsletters, and bring a friendly dimension to your cold emails to capture the attention of your prospects. So, how do you create them? Read on to learn more. 3 Ways to Create GIFs Use a GIF/Meme Generator There are many GIF makers, but we'll be focusing on Giphy for this piece. Giphy is a popular GIF maker with an extensive library of animated GIFs for different purposes. To create GIFs on Giphy, you need to have an account and be signed in. GIFs can be made using videos or images. Let's take a look at how to do both. To create GIFs from videos using Giphy's GIF maker, Choose the video you want to convert and drop it into the GIF maker screen or input a YouTube video URL. The video should be no more than 15 seconds long... --- ### The Pros and Cons of Text-Based Email Versus HTML > Which is better: text-based emails or HTML? The debate is almost as old as email marketing. We'll weigh the pros and cons so you can decide. - Published: 2022-05-19 - Modified: 2024-09-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/text-based-email-versus-html/ - Categories: Email Marketing Which is better: text-based emails or HTML? The debate is almost as old as email marketing itself. In 2011 and 2014, HubSpot asked survey takers which they prefer, and both years a majority chose HTML. In practice, though, simple, text-based email designs win out time and time again in A/B testing. Of course, it would be silly to write off HTML emails — and in fact, images, videos, and creative design elements are some of the most memorable features of successful email marketing. What is there to make of it all then? In this post, we’ll explain the basics of both text-based emails and HTML emails as well as their pros and cons so that you can decide for yourself which is worth your time and effort. Plain Text Emails Plain text emails are messages that contain text without any additional flair, such as fonts, colors, or design elements. Nothing is embedded, including images or links. They’re just plain Jane, good ole’ fashion text emails — the same as you might send to your friends or colleagues. These types of emails were commonplace when emails were first being used in marketing. For obvious reasons, too, considering we hadn’t yet tapped the potential of what emails could be and look like — or built an infrastructure of email tools and platforms to aid in their transformation. Pros They’re better for one-on-one email correspondence. Where plain text emails really excel is with sales letters and updates. They’re inherently personal, and offer quick,... --- ### How to Manage a Remote Email Marketing Team: 5 Productivity Tools > The emphasis on remote-first workplaces means that email teams need to realign collaboration digitally to deliver on KPIs and outcomes. - Published: 2022-05-18 - Modified: 2025-03-21 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/remote-email-marketing-team/ - Categories: Email Marketing Image Source: Freepik Email remains one of the most effective marketing channels: with an average ROI of $38 gained to $1 spent. Nowadays, businesses big and small use email not just to directly promote their products but also to share exclusive content and offers their audience might enjoy, provide one-to-one customer support (or redirect recipients to helpful self-service guides on their help center knowledge base), convey order confirmation and delivery status, and overall, to build a better connection with their customers. Since 2020, businesses have made great leaps in managing distributed teams and remote workers. Not that email marketing teams were unaware of what is a digital workplace before the COVID-19 pandemic struck because these roles can be fulfilled remotely. However, the emphasis on remote-first workplaces means that email teams need to realign collaboration digitally to deliver on KPIs and outcomes. Email marketing campaigns require a concerted effort by several roles: strategy, project management, copywriting, design, testing, and marketing and sales. With the right Martech stack, a robust email design system, and clear roles and responsibilities, teams can achieve a good balance. Source: Email vendor selection Let’s explore five categories of tools to manage remote email marketing teams: Project management software Project management software is used in traditional offices, but it’s essential for remote email teams to stay on top of multiple ongoing tasks and projects. It enables project managers to track processes and the right email marketing metrics to improve workflows. It also helps them ensure that team deliverables... --- ### Polaris Software Appoints former Balto, Clearent Executive Jeff Zimmerman as CPO > Polaris Software Adds New Role to Oversee Product Strategy Across Global SaaS Business ST LOUIS, Missouri, May 17, 2022 – Polaris Software, a leading - Published: 2022-05-17 - Modified: 2022-05-17 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/polaris-software-appoints-former-balto-clearent-executive-jeff-zimmerman-as-cpo/ - Categories: Uncategorized Polaris Software Adds New Role to Oversee Product Strategy Across Global SaaS Business ST LOUIS, Missouri, May 17, 2022 – Polaris Software, a leading provider of sales and marketing software, announced today that the company has hired Jeff Zimmerman as its first product leader to oversee product strategy across Polaris’ three global sales and marketing platforms, Benchmark Email, BenchmarkONE, and Contacts+. In the role of Chief Product Officer, Zimmerman will drive the product strategy and roadmap, build out the product team, and achieve product-driven KPIs. “With three sales and marketing products and a presence in 15 regions across Asia, Europe, and Latin America, we have a large product footprint and are poised to make a tremendous impact for SMBs seeking simplified sales and marketing solutions,” said Jonathan Herrick, CEO of Polaris Software. “That’s why I’m thrilled to bring Jeff’s talent, experience, and leadership to the team. Jeff has a track record of building and scaling successful product teams and businesses while keeping the customer at the heart of every decision. ” Jeff comes to Polaris Software having served most recently as the Chief Product Officer at Balto where he led the launch of two new products that achieved immediate success in the market, as well as grew the product team from zero to 13 in 1. 5 years. Previously Jeff led product at Clearent as part of an executive team that scaled Clearent from a startup to a leading payment solutions provider. “I’m very excited to join Polaris Software and... --- ### 4 Must-Have Centralized Email Marketing Processes > We'll break down four major benefits of centralizing email processes and go over how you can centralize your email marketing step-by-step. - Published: 2022-05-10 - Modified: 2022-09-22 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/centralized-email-marketing-processes/ - Categories: Email Marketing Email marketing is one of the cornerstones of modern digital advertising. It’s important both for startups and companies with many years of successful operations. With email marketing, you can attract new customers to your brand, boost customer retention, and even remind consumers about abandoned shopping carts or special offers. However, you’ll need to leverage centralized email processes correctly to get the most out of email marketing. Today, let’s break down four major benefits of centralizing email processes and go over how you can centralize your email marketing step-by-step. Decentralized Email Marketing – The Less Effective Standard Although email marketing is supremely important in modern business, it is most often decentralized. Decentralized email marketing means that: Different team members work on email marketing materials or campaigns at different stations and toward different low to medium-level goals. Team members working on email marketing are geographically separated. For example, one person might work remotely while the other works in the office. Marketing tasks are tackled by multiple people across departments, leading to disjointed and dysfunctional visions and campaigns. For example, customers might receive contradicting emails if marketing materials are sent by different departments or teams. Why does this occur? In most cases, it’s because companies don’t dedicate enough thought and planning to their email marketing campaigns ahead of time. They treat email marketing as a secondary marketing channel when it can be very valuable for acquiring and retaining customers over the long term. Benefits of Centralized Email Marketing Centralized email marketing, on the... --- ### Your Product Rollout Checklist > A successful product launch can dictate the pace for revenue growth, which is why you should plan it meticulously. - Published: 2022-05-05 - Modified: 2023-04-24 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/your-product-rollout-checklist/ - Categories: Marketing So, you have created a revolutionary product. That's great! The next step is to take your product to market and generate revenue. A successful launch can dictate the pace for revenue growth, which is why you should plan it meticulously. In this guide, we'll show you how to plan and deliver a successful product launch. Our rollout checklist will help you to sidestep issues and ensure that your go-to-market plan delivers the desired results. Define your Target Audience You likely figured out your target audience before creating the product in the first place. Chances are that you saw a problem and decided to create a solution for it. Right? Now, you have to do market research to determine which exact sets of people are facing this problem. What are their demographics? (Age, gender, occupation, location, etc. ) What are their most pressing needs? Do they already know that your brand or product exists? Are they likely to find the product helpful? Create a Positioning Statement Let's say you have created a new email marketing tool. Obviously, your target audience is email marketers. However, your product isn't the first in this niche: other tools are dominating the market. Product position is all about dissipating the "product limbo" or uncertainty over where the product fits, which can lead to launch failure. You have to define your product's strengths and make sure its differences sway the buyers. To achieve that, you've got to put your product on one side and your competitor on... --- ### 5 Ways Your Business Can Use Instagram to Grow Your Email Marketing List > Instagram has incredible reach, yet email marketing is more powerful than ever. Leverage Instagram to build an owned email marketing list. - Published: 2022-05-04 - Modified: 2022-06-07 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/instagram-email-marketing-list/ - Categories: Social Media It’s vogue to think of social media and other new channels as the way to go with marketing these days. Indeed, Instagram marketing is on-trend due to the platform’s one billion active monthly users – it’s simply not possible to ignore those kinds of numbers. And most businesses have responded by upping their social media efforts – more than 200 million business accounts are active on Instagram right now. But this doesn’t mean you can ignore other marketing channels like email. In fact, email marketing may be more important than ever before – 78% of marketers in 2020 said email is important to overall company success, compared to 71% in 2019. Almost 100% of email users check their inbox every day, with some checking multiple times in one day – drastically increasing the odds of your email marketing actually being seen. In fact, these two approaches to marketing don’t have to be in opposition – indeed, they can be synergistic, with Instagram becoming the gateway to growing your email marketing list. Instagram is special because its users are deeply connected to the brands they follow. Instagram has also made it easier and easier to use the platform to promote your business, with various features to help you get email signups. It would be a mistake to not maximize these opportunities. Today we’ll show you 5 ways you can use Instagram to grow your email marketing list. Use the contact button in your profile Today’s Instagram users are much more savvy... --- ### The Ultimate Guide to Lead Generation in 2022 > Discover the best practices and lesser-known tips & tricks for successful and efficient lead generation in 2022. - Published: 2022-04-28 - Modified: 2025-05-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/lead-generation-guide/ - Categories: Lead Generation Chances are, you and your business have been around the block a few times when it comes to lead generation. You've probably tried a few successful (and less so) strategies but haven't landed on a reliable mix that you can 'set and forget' - allowing you to forget about creating leads and focus more on nurturing them. It's easily done, as people seem to forget the most important law of business: constant, unforgiving change. Last year's lead generation tactic might not fly this year. Your demographic may have moved on from your most reliable lead generation channel. Or, a static lead generation flow might have simply run its course in terms of effectiveness. So, more than finding the 'perfect' set of lead generation strategies, it's important to regularly audit and re-assess what's working and what's not for the highest level of lead generation efficiency. This is why we've dug around to find the hottest, most discussed, and demonstrably effective lead generation strategies of 2022, based on the latest research and examples. Let's take a look at what we've discovered. Optimize your website Before diving into the nitty-gritty, take a step back to the foundation of your sales funnel - your website. If your business is digital, be it B2C or B2B, then its website really is the most important determiner of lead generation effectiveness. The information presented there will be the main factor your prospective customers will use to decide whether it's worth parting with their email addresses. People tend... --- ### Tips for Writing Effective Blog Post Titles > Good blog post titles make all the difference in getting eyes on your content and clicks through to your website. - Published: 2022-04-27 - Modified: 2023-01-12 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-importance-of-writing-effective-blog-post-titles/ - Categories: Content Marketing The hard work that you put into crafting informative blog posts only pays off if you get eyes on them, and nailing the blog post title is the first step to making sure that you’re capturing the attention of as many readers as possible. A good blog post title makes all the difference in the world. It can be the difference between having your post widely read and shared across the internet and only getting a small amount of traction. The main purpose of a title is to garner attention and entice people to start reading your post. This is why the words that you use and how your craft your blog post title are vital to the success of your post. You can have the most insightful post in the world, but if your title doesn’t incent people to click on your article, no one will ever discover your wonderful post and the wisdom that is contained within. A great blog post title will sell your post to readers and get them to click. An average title that lacks engagement will be overlooked and get lost in the sea of information online. Your blog post title is a marketing tool in itself. It is what will appear in search engine results, links, archives, and on social media sites. This is why it is important to spend some time working on your title. It is the first thing that readers see and we all know what they say about first... --- ### How to Use Social Media to Grow your Business > Social media is more than just a strategy for brand awareness and content distribution. It can help you grow your business. - Published: 2022-04-21 - Modified: 2023-08-16 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/social-media-business-growth/ - Categories: Social Media Every day, the digital marketing landscape is changing. And this year is no different. Many marketers out there compile social media tips that aren't actionable and don't help companies build a brand with staying power. But, don't worry, I got your back with this one. When it comes to effectively using social media to grow your business, there’s a lot of ground to cover. First, we'll look at the big goals your social media strategy should focus on. Next, we'll work our way through each social media channel, one at a time, so we can cover each as fully as possible. Let’s dive in. Social Media Pillars of Growth When it comes to social media, it's easy to get caught up in likes, retweets, DMs, and more. With so much to measure, it can be easy to lose sight of what social media should actually be helping your business to achieve. Dial-in your social media strategy with these three pillars to focus on for growth: Increased Brand Awareness More than 53% of the world’s population is on social media, meaning that most of your potential customers are on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social channels. These customers spend 2½ hours on their favorite channels every day. If you create a strong social presence, there is a better chance that potential customers will discover your brand whilst spending time on social media. And as more and more people interact with your social media posts, awareness of your brand will increase. Once... --- ### How to Promote a Webinar with Email Marketing > We'll cover how to promote a webinar best practices around email copy, timing and performance to boost registrations. - Published: 2022-04-19 - Modified: 2023-02-02 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/promote-a-webinar/ - Categories: Marketing Webinars can help you to generate qualified leads, educate customers, facilitate onboarding processes, and foster partnerships and collaborations. However, to achieve the desired results, you need to promote your webinar to get a good number of attendees. In this guide, we'll show you how to use email marketing to convince people to sign up for and attend your webinar. Whether you're targeting your subscribers or a list of people who are less aware of your brand, we have got you covered. Our three-step process covers how to effectively promote a webinar by creating persuasive email copy, using the correct segmentation to send out emails, and tracking email performance. Step 1: Create the Promo Copy The promo copy refers to the content of the webinar promotion email. It consists of the email subject line, body text, call-to-action (CTA), images, and videos. All these materials should align with the common goal of getting your target audience hyped up for the webinar. Here's how to ensure each part of the copy is beneficial to your webinar promotion: Email Subject Line The email subject line influences whether or not the recipient will open the email. In fact, 47% of email recipients open the email based on the subject line. For this reason, if you want to pique the recipient's interest and encourage them to read your email, the subject line has to be on-point. Make sure the subject line conveys your webinar's main agenda using the fewest words possible. Ideally, the subject line should... --- ### Why Customers are Unsubscribing and How to Prevent It > We explore why customers are unsubscribing from your email list and how to prevent unsubscribes from happening in the first place. - Published: 2022-04-16 - Modified: 2024-11-12 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/prevent-unsubscribes/ - Categories: Email Marketing Are you seeing a lot of email unsubscribes lately? If so, don't worry - you're not alone. At some point, many businesses see a significant decline in email subscribers. This blog post will explore why customers might be unsubscribing from your email list and, more importantly, how to prevent unsubscribes from happening in the first place. Top Reasons Why Customers Unsubscribe From Emails It's best to build your email list organically and have an engaged audience with great metrics such as high open and conversion rates. To ensure that your email campaigns are successful, you should keep an eye on the key email marketing metrics and tweak your email marketing strategy as needed. Let's dive into potential reasons for high unsubscribes. Irrelevant Emails This is the number one reason customers unsubscribe from email lists. If your emails are not relevant to them, they will likely unsubscribe. Research your audience to get the best idea of what they're interested in. Not all emails should go to every subscriber. A common issue is that out of 100 marketers, 89 of them make the same email mistake: they send an email to their entire database rather than segmenting their database. Few, if any, emails apply to all subscribers. Make sure you are personalizing your content and targeting it to each subscriber to prevent unsubscribes before they happen. Too Many Emails Did you know that 35% of emails are left unread? This percentage was based on more than 91 million inquiries analyzed by Mailbird.... --- ### Growing your eCommerce Store? Here's your Tech Stack. > Here's an eCommerce tech stack checklist to help you round out everything you need for your online store's digital foundation. - Published: 2022-04-14 - Modified: 2024-07-10 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ecommerce-tech-stack/ - Categories: Ecommerce eCommerce is an essential part of the market for many retailers today, with ready customers but cutthroat competition. While 58. 4% of internet users shop for something online every week, there are hundreds or perhaps even thousands of online stores selling what you sell. You've got to be on top of your game to lure shoppers away from your competitors and convert them into regular buyers for your business. However, you have to create a solid ecommerce tech stack to help you run your online store. We have compiled an eCommerce tech stack checklist to help you draw up your store's tech foundation. eCommerce Platform An eCommerce platform is the foundation of your online store tech stack: you can't run an online store without one. The eCommerce platform comes preloaded with a suite of features to help you customize your store and manage your business. Some of the notable features include store payment options, checkout options, content management, advanced eCommerce search engine optimization (SEO) capabilities, and reporting tools, to name a few. The slew of tools enables you to customize the look and feel of your store, as well as create, edit, and publish store content without writing any code. You can also modify the product layout, add new sections when you introduce new products, and create promotional banners to boost sales. Some of the notable eCommerce platforms include: Shopify WooCommerce BigCommerce Wix Shift4 Shop Payment Processing Software Much like an eCommerce platform, the payment processing software is a must-have... --- ### The Top Benchmark Email Integrations > In this article, we’ll discuss the top Benchmark Email integrations and how transform data and processes to improve your email campaigns. - Published: 2022-04-13 - Modified: 2023-04-24 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/top-benchmark-email-integrations/ - Categories: Email Marketing At Benchmark Email, we go all out to ensure the success of your email campaigns. We’ve built reliable email marketing tools that streamline your email campaigns from creation and launch, right through to tracking and optimization. Beyond that, we keep on analyzing your email marketing pain points to find integrations that solve these specific problems. In this article, we’ll discuss the best four Benchmark Email integrations to show you how they can orchestrate and transform data and processes to improve your email campaigns. Shopify Email is a critical step on the path to purchase. On average, email accounts for 21% of online shoppers that visit your Shopify store. However, driving all these visitors to your store using email - and converting interest to sales - is the tough part. You have to send numerous email campaigns such as win-back, cross-selling, abandoned cart, welcome series, and more. Not to mention continually growing your email list. Juggling all of these tasks can be time-consuming. Our Shopify integration eliminates mundane tasks, saving you more time to focus on managing your store. First, it lets you add customers to your lists with ease. You can configure Benchmark email to automatically pull data from Shopify and add it to a predetermined list. We know that 24% of email marketers, especially those in the eCommerce sector, grapple with poor email performance. Our Shopify integration helps mitigate this problem. You don’t need additional tools or resources to bring your campaigns to life. With Benchmark email, you have... --- ### 10 Email Segmentation Strategies to Hone Your Marketing Message & Make More Sales > Email segmentation groups contacts with similar characteristics to help you send more tailored messaging and increase sales. Here's how. - Published: 2022-04-12 - Modified: 2022-11-01 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-segmentation-strategies/ - Categories: Email Marketing Social media services like Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat are now a fundamental part of daily online life. But, you might be surprised to learn that email marketing has maintained high importance in digital communication while also growing in popularity. According to statistics, the total number of global email users equates to 4 billion in 2020 and is evaluated only to increase to around 4. 6 billion users by 2025. The number of emails communicated daily is expected to increase to over 376. 4 billion in 2025. We already know that email personalization is a crucial element in successful digital marketing. But what about email segmentation? Email segmentation groups contacts with similar characteristics based on things like their location, gender, or how recently they have clicked on an email. This helps you refine your email strategy and provide your audience segments with content curated specifically to their interests. However, determining the best segmentation approach might be time-consuming. But don't worry, we've got you covered with this list of ten effective strategies to segment your email list: 1. Get Your Demographic Data Ready The first way that many marketers begin to segment their email list is through demographics. Segmenting your customers in this way can dramatically increase your click-through rate. Nonspecific characteristics such as age and gender and other information like income level, region, and education level can say a lot about a person's interests and needs. Surveys show that 84% of brands are using basic segmentation in their email marketing efforts.... --- ### Headless Commerce Vs Traditional E-Commerce. What’s The Difference? > In eCommerce, headless commerce is being termed as the ‘star of the show’ these days. Here's how it can turn the tables for your business. - Published: 2022-04-07 - Modified: 2024-06-21 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/headless-commerce-vs-traditional-ecommerce/ - Categories: Ecommerce The world is speeding up. What seemed unthinkable yesterday is now commonplace. And the world of eCommerce is evolving as well — competition is escalating, as are customer demands. People are examining many more criteria before buying anything from anyone online. It’s no longer just about providing the right goods at the appropriate price, it’s about user experience. In eCommerce, headless commerce is being termed as the ‘star of the show’ these days because it offers a “positive user experience” in many factors. Here is a detailed guide about headless commerce and how it can turn the tables for your business. What Is Headless Commerce? The term headless commerce refers to an eCommerce platform or solution that decouples the front-end from the back-end. For the non-technical users out there, this basically means that you have a lot more control over your eCommerce platform and can more easily manage lots of inventory or site changes without breaking your customers’ user experience (or impacting your sales). Large companies with complicated business regulations and ordering processes are more likely to be interested in headless eCommerce platforms than smaller businesses. They may also have a number of other systems that must seamlessly interact with the eCommerce platform, which makes headless commerce a necessity. How Is Headless Commerce Different from Traditional eCommerce? When front-end developers use a traditional eCommerce platform, they’re bound by that solution’s front-end architecture. They would have to alter the database, the code, and the front-end if they wanted to change the... --- ### Your A-Z Content Audit Guide > Whether it's social media, your website, or your content, implementing an audit at least once a year is a must. Today, you'll learn step-by-step how to do - Published: 2022-04-05 - Modified: 2023-07-19 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/content-audit-guide/ - Categories: Content Marketing Whether it's social media, your website, or your content, implementing an audit at least once a year is a must. Today, you'll learn step-by-step how to do a content audit that works - and we know it works because we've grown our traffic 10x over the past few years using content. And in-depth audits have helped us get there. In this guide, you'll learn: Where to find your site's content strengths Steps to repair content weaknesses How to improve website traffic, conversions, and sales We’ll cover the exact steps to take for a content audit that works. But first, is an audit right for you? Should you do a content audit? Not every website needs an audit. If you’re just starting or have a small site with a few dozen pages, a content audit won’t make a big difference. Instead, use the principles behind an audit to create high-performing content. But for most sites, an audit makes sense. If you’ve published content for years or just haven’t taken a closer look at what you’re doing and what you’ve been doing, a content audit is the best way to start. An audit will save you time and money by indicating where to focus your efforts. Not all content is created equal, and starting with low-hanging fruit pays big dividends. Content that’s just barely underperforming can be fast and easy to fix—and will deliver better results than you’ll ever see writing something from scratch. Finally, a content audit can help you pinpoint... --- ### 6 Types of Content to Create That Will Grow Your Email List > This article will discuss six types of content that can deliver the value your customers crave and grow your email list. - Published: 2022-03-31 - Modified: 2022-11-01 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/content-to-grow-your-email-list/ - Categories: Content Marketing Think of a day you willingly shared your email address on a website. What drove you to share the email without hesitation? Chances are that you shared the email in exchange for value: to get a helpful piece of information or make the most of an irresistible offer. You can use the same principle to grow your email list. In our experience, we have learned that customers find it easy to share their emails if doing so unlocks value. This article will discuss six types of content that can deliver the value your customers crave. We'll also show you how to gate the content to prompt customers to share their email in exchange for the value. Whitepapers Whitepapers give you a platform to explain difficult topics in your industry. They position you as an authority because they bring to light unique perspectives readers can't find anywhere else. 71% of marketers use whitepapers for various reasons, and building an email list is one of them. However, building your email list should include unique and quality information that interests your audience. If the readers think they will learn something special from the whitepaper, they won't hesitate to share their email to gain access. Take this Zendesk whitepaper, for example. Customers interested in understanding Zendesk ROI would hit the download button to read the whitepaper. However, Zendesk has gated this content such that a customer has to supply an email address to access the whitepaper. Webinars You can host a webinar to educate... --- ### Everything You Need to Know About Transactional Emails > In the world of eCommerce, transactional emails are everything. Here's what you need to know and some examples. - Published: 2022-03-30 - Modified: 2024-07-20 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/transactional-emails/ - Categories: Ecommerce Email marketing is essential for eCommerce businesses that need to stay in touch with customers to sell more products. But transactional emails are a form of email marketing that brings marketing, operations, logistics, and finance teams together to communicate important information with customers. What is a Transactional Email? A transactional email is an email your customer receives based on their account activity or a commercial transaction. These emails are notably customer-driven emails that are necessary to the transactions with your business, and a customer does not need to subscribe to receive them. For the same reason, customers cannot unsubscribe to these emails. Transactional emails initiate, confirm, facilitate, and conclude transactions related to a brand’s product or service delivery. A good example of a transactional email is the password reset request. When a customer forgets the login credentials and clicks the "forgot password" button, they receive a transactional email with the password reset link. Other examples of transactional emails include: Free trial end email Order confirmation Notification emails (shipping updates, shipping confirmation, or order refunds) Account creation Password reminders Abandoned cart email Product or service feedback Transactional email is a unique channel and very different from traditional email marketing. In most cases, you won't have to lift a finger to send the email. Instead, your systems automatically send the email immediately after the user performs a predefined action. A notable benefit of transactional emails is that they are emails the recipient is eagerly waiting to receive. In most cases, if the... --- ### Voice Search and What it Means for Your eCommerce Business > Voice search has been used for very simple activities. But, voice search capabilities are growing - with a huge impact on business. - Published: 2022-03-25 - Modified: 2023-08-16 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/voice-search-for-ecommerce/ - Categories: Ecommerce “Ok Google” is becoming a more common way for people all across the world to begin their internet experience. Digital voice assistants have mostly been employed for very simple activities in recent years, such as checking the weather, playing music, or turning on the lights. On the other hand, these capabilities are growing, and the business ramifications might be enormous. Voice search is no longer limited to digital assistants as voice recognition technology improves. Voice search and other voice capabilities are also becoming more popular on mobile devices, in retail, and on smart TVs. Conversational commerce is becoming more popular in a variety of ways. Instead of searching through various streaming sites manually for a specific show, Apple TV viewers may speak into their remote and obtain results from many apps at once. Voice search is also being used by retailers in their physical locations, allowing customers to instantly learn about product details and where they are in the store by speaking into an app. What Is Voice Search? Voice search is a type of advanced technology that employs voice-activated commands to conduct a search on a web browser, a phone, or any other application. It essentially consists of an open-domain short keyword query that may be used to find any material on the internet. Voice searches are carried out by Google Voice Search, Siri, and Alexa, among other voice assistants. It is a form of a dialogue system that entails multiple rounds of interaction. You can even tell the... --- ### 5 Tips for Better Customer Support > Stellar customer service retains customers, helps build a loyal following around your business and recoups customer acquisition costs. - Published: 2022-03-23 - Modified: 2025-05-13 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/5-tips-for-better-customer-support/ - Categories: Small Business Stellar customer service retains customers and allows you to tap into more value from them. It helps build a loyal following around your business and recoup customer acquisition costs. In fact, recent data show that 93% of customers will buy more if you offer remarkable customer service. While it may seem that maintaining adequate customer satisfaction is a no-brainer, it's important to also acknowledge that we live in a reality where blasting a company for bad practices is one of the easiest (and most popular) things for disgruntled customers to do. No one wants to be a brand that's the center of a ton of negative conversation, be it on social media platforms, forums, or anywhere else. At Benchmark Email, we pride ourselves on offering constant support for our users and potential users. We offer support for every plan and are readily available should our customers need assistance, have a pressing question, or just want to learn more about one of our products. It's through these efforts that we've learned what works best, so we thought we'd offer a few tips so you can build up your customer support efforts and keep your customers happy. 1. Listen to Your Customer Your customers want to feel heard, and that calls for you to sharpen your listening skills. When a customer calls in with a concern or complaint, don't interrupt them. Instead, give them your ear and show them empathy as they narrate their case. When customers feel heard, they tend to... --- ### How to Use Backlinks to Grow Your Email List > Backlinks can drive organic traffic for your brand.We'll show you how to leverage that traffic growth to build your email list. - Published: 2022-03-22 - Modified: 2025-06-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/grow-email-list-with-backlinks/ - Categories: Content Marketing Through the years, Google has been updating its algorithm to deliver personalized results to web searchers. Each update often prompts digital marketers to change strategies to rank. Amidst all changes, backlinks have remained a vital ranking signal. There’s no doubt backlinks will continue to have a significant yet measurable impact on ranking. And not just ranking. As Farzad Rashidi -- co-founder of Respona -- states, “Building links on quality websites opens the door for new opportunities and relationships. ” One such opportunity is the effectiveness of growing your email list at an early stage. Used effectively, backlinks can spread news about your brand, driving early organic traffic. In this article, we’ll show you how to leverage that traffic growth to build your email list. What Are Backlinks? Backlinks, also known as inbound links or incoming links, are links on third-party websites that point users to your website. Backlinks are indispensable for SEO. Search engines, such as Google and Bing, regard them as a “stamp of approval” between two websites. They are an indicator of how trusted and popular your website is with users, and they influence online ranking. When it comes to building links, quality and quantity matter. According to Neal Taparia, Founder of Imagine Easy Solutions, “Building links is about hitting the golden middle. ” Strive to strike a balance between the quantity and quality of backlinks. The sweet spot is building high-quality links at a high quantity. Characteristics of High-Quality Backlinks Here are some traits of quality backlinks:... --- ### Is Livestream Shopping The Future Of eCommerce? > Livestream shopping combines live video content with two-way conversation and the option for viewers to buy or save featured products without leaving the platform. - Published: 2022-03-16 - Modified: 2022-10-10 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/livestream-shopping-ecommerce/ - Categories: Ecommerce COVID-19 has had a profound impact on practically every element of our lives. The epidemic shifted how we connect daily, even with mundane chores like shopping. Shopping at brick-and-mortar stores came to a standstill in many areas — and many consumers are placing more focus on eCommerce even as stores open back up. In 2020, "Livestream eCommerce," or simply "live commerce," emerged as a new trend and digital channel. According to Coresight Research, the Livestream shopping market in the United States will reach $25 billion by 2023. Meanwhile, live commerce in China has grown at a breakneck speed, with sales exceeding $171 billion in 2020 and predicted to reach $423 billion in 2022. To put this in context, between 2017 and 2020, China's Livestream eCommerce market grew at a compound annual growth rate of almost 280%. Amazon established Amazon Live, an in-house QVC-style video shopping platform in the United States. American buyers, like their Chinese counterparts, are increasingly relying on influencers for buying advice, and Amazon has made use of its large network of influencers with the help of its new platform. Amazon's Prime Day event gave influencers the opportunity to Livestream promoted products and interact with customers. Walmart also launched influencer-driven live shopping on TikTok in 2020, which generated seven times more viewers than expected and increased Walmart's TikTok following count by 25%. Developing a digital experience that includes live commerce can help firms stay ahead of the curve in their eCommerce strategy. More than just an online buying... --- ### How to Use AI Copywriting Tools to Level Up Your Email Marketing > AI copywriting tools use artificial intelligence to create high-quality email marketing content for you automatically and in a matter of seconds. Learn how to take advantage of these AI copywriting tools to level up your email marketing! - Published: 2022-03-15 - Modified: 2022-11-02 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ai-copywriting-tools-for-email-marketing/ - Categories: Email Marketing Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay Email marketing is a great way to nurture your prospects and keep them engaged with your products or services. However, if your email copy is uninspiring, you run the risk of making your audience apathetic to your drip marketing efforts and either ignore your outreach or unsubscribe to your campaigns. Now, coming up with compelling copy time and time again over an extended email campaign is hard work, and sooner or later you'll experience writer's block as you run out of ideas and your toolbox of marketing tricks gets depleted. Fortunately, that's where AI copywriting tools come to the rescue. These tools use artificial intelligence to create high-quality email marketing content for you automatically and in a matter of seconds. Read on to learn how to take advantage of these AI copywriting tools to level up your email marketing! What Is AI Copywriting And How Does It Work? AI copywriting is a form of computer-assisted content generation that uses artificial intelligence to emulate the work of a professional copywriter. You first provide it with some guidance about what you're looking for and then it uses neural networks coupled with natural language processing to generate top-notch human-like copywriting. In essence, these computers are not "programmed" with the rules of writing. Instead, they’re trained to read, analyze and then replicate human writing by making them process millions of pages of text produced by professional copywriters until they become competent on their own. The Benefits of Using... --- ### How to Advertise Your eCommerce Store on Facebook > Facebook remains the most commonly used social media platform, with a whopping 2.8 billion active users. As an eCommerce business owner, this means when - Published: 2022-03-10 - Modified: 2022-03-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-advertise-your-ecommerce-store-on-facebook/ - Categories: Ecommerce Facebook remains the most commonly used social media platform, with a whopping 2. 8 billion active users. As an eCommerce business owner, this means when you use Facebook to advertise your eCommerce store, you can get wider reach, engagement, visibility, and ultimately more sales. According to Statista’s 2021 global survey, 98% of marketers use Facebook to promote their business. With over 24 million eCommerce websites up and running worldwide, advertising your eCommerce store on Facebook is a move you want to add to your list of marketing activities if you want to stay competitive. Below are five simple ways to take advantage of Facebook for your eCommerce store. 5 Ways to Advertise Your eCommerce Store on Facebook Define Your Target Audience Facebook is the king of social media, with over 59% active social media users. However, trying to reach everyone will spread you too thin — so it’s best to start by identifying your target audience on Facebook. To correctly identify who your target audience is, define: Who your buyers are What they are interested in Gender Age What their hobbies include What they do for a living Where they live The clearer you get, the better your messaging will resonate with its intended audience, and the more likely you’ll generate sales from your Facebook advertising. Create a Facebook Business Page The first account you can create as a user on Facebook is your personal profile. While using this for business purposes may sound appealing, your eCommerce store will benefit... --- ### Using AI For Email Personalization: A Complete Guide > With everything going digital, the number of emails sent and received globally per day is estimated to be around 333.2 billion and may increase to over - Published: 2022-03-09 - Modified: 2024-07-30 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/using-ai-for-email-personalization-a-complete-guide/ - Categories: Email Marketing, Marketing Automation With everything going digital, the number of emails sent and received globally per day is estimated to be around 333. 2 billion and may increase to over 376. 4 billion by 2025. But, are these emails just for casual communication among friends? Absolutely not! They’re also one of the best ways to make sales online. The return on investment from emails is massive. For every $1 spent, you can expect a return of $36. But you can’t expect these kinds of results with batch-and-blast emails. These days, the most effective emails are those that are personalized. What Is Email Personalization? In simple terms, email personalization means using subscriber data to send more personalized (or targeted) content. These emails make readers feel more connected with the sender, which tends to supercharge open rates, click-through rates, and conversions. You’ve likely been served a personalized email before. From those emails that address you by name - “Hey, John! ” - to those that remind you about an item from an abandoned shopping cart on an eCommerce site, email personalization helps brands stand out. For example, here are a few common ways that brands personalize their emails: Age Gender Position in the customer journey (prospect, new customer, die-hard fan, etc. ) City or geographic region Favorite type of content to read By purchase history Cookie Cutting, Privacy Protection, and Personalization Although personalization has become crucial to email marketing success, collecting subscriber data is increasingly difficult. The data you need for personalization is typically extracted... --- ### What You Need to Know About Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) > Privacy is the buzzword in the digital world today, and the protection of user data has become the core focus of many businesses. For this reason, Safari - Published: 2022-03-08 - Modified: 2023-11-22 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/mail-privacy-protection/ - Categories: Email Marketing Privacy is the buzzword in the digital world today, and the protection of user data has become the core focus of many businesses. For this reason, Safari and Mozilla have blocked third-party cookies from their browsers. Google Chrome, which has a market share of 63. 58%, plans to do the same by 2023. We’re all concerned about cookies, trackers in apps, and data gathered from other marketing tools. But, how concerned are we about securing our email inboxes? Is that even necessary? The answer is absolutely! Emails are a big bucket of personal information and can be leaky. This is why Apple launched its new feature, MPP (Mail Privacy Protection). What is MPP? MPP is a privacy protection feature launched by Apple on September 20, 2021, meant to give users a bit more anonymity when using Apple Mail. MPP hides the IP address of the recipient, which gives the user more privacy — but generates false email opens. This makes it hard for the sender to identify if their Apple Mail users have opened their email or not. The feature is available on iOS 15 and iPadOS 15, and it is yet to be available for MacBook. Although launched for Apple, MPP works for all the emails opened from the Apple mail app irrespective of whether the email service used is Gmail, Yahoo, or Outlook. It's important to note that Apple continues to refine its privacy features in response to concerns, including recent incidents like Apple data breaches, to offer... --- ### Is Combining SMS and Email Marketing the Secret Sauce to eCommerce Domination? > Combinging SMS and email marketing is a great way to follow up and personalize outreach with your eCommerce customers. - Published: 2022-03-03 - Modified: 2024-06-29 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/combining-sms-and-email-marketing-for-ecommerce/ - Categories: Ecommerce How many times have you received emails and SMS messages from your favorite brands this week? If you are into online shopping, you know what I am talking about. SMS and email marketing are two of the most powerful mediums eCommerce companies use to market to their audience. Each has its unique advantages, and when used effectively can drive up the sales of any online store. Text messages feel personal and (kind of) urgent. Simply put, we just cannot ignore text messages. We open them as soon as we see them. According to a survey, the open rate of text messages is over 82% in the US - three times higher than phone calls. On the other hand, in a survey conducted in August 2021, the email open rate was over 18% and over 20% of people open their emails within the first hour of receiving them. Today we’re going to explore how we can combine the two channels with the highest open rate to give your eCommerce marketing superpowers! SMS and Email Marketing: Two Sides of the Same Coin When it comes to Email and SMS marketing, brands that have an either-or mentality lose in the game big time. They are not marketing channels that are competing with each other. Instead, an eComm marketer would see that they complement each other. When they are used in conjunction the right way, the results increase significantly! Both email and SMS have some flaws that can be eradicated by using both channels... --- ### 6 Email Marketing Strategies for Small Businesses > Small businesses often have the lower hand. However, with these email marketing strategies, they'll be able to compete with the big dogs. - Published: 2022-03-02 - Modified: 2023-06-14 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-strategies-for-small-businesses/ - Categories: Small Business Email marketing has the best return on investment of all marketing channels. On average, every dollar you spend on email marketing can bring up to $36 in ROI. However, driving such a high return is easier said than done. You have to grasp the nuts and bolts of email marketing and strive to get every aspect right. As Gavin Laugenie, Global head of content, DotDigital states, “While email has proved just how critical it is, finding the right way to use the channel is essential. ” In this article, we’ll highlight six strategies to help your small business make the most of email marketing. Simple Email Strategies for Small Businesses 1. Segment Your Email An email list is the foundation of every email marketing strategy. While the email list comprises customers who care about your brands, not all share the same interest, intent, or preferences. If you send batch and blast emails to the entire email list, chances are the message won’t resonate with a section of the subscribers. LiveChat did a test with email blasts and segmented emails; the segmented email achieved 29% higher open rates than the blast email. Segmentation means breaking down your email list into a meaningful group of customers with similar traits. You can segment your email list based on customer preferences, interests, motivations, intentions, purchase history, geographical location, and more. These segments enable you to treat customers differently to boost email effectiveness. 2. Personalize Email Nowadays, subscribers are bombarded with all sorts of emails:... --- ### Beginner’s Guide To Inbound Marketing > Need a beginner's guide to inbound marketing? Look no further! Our blog posts dives into everything you need to know. - Published: 2022-03-01 - Modified: 2023-07-19 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/guide-to-inbound-marketing/ - Categories: Inbound Marketing No one likes a pushy salesperson. The feeling of being roped into buying something leaves a bad taste in anyone’s mouth, and it isn’t a great way for businesses to create long-lasting partnerships with new customers. Nowadays, customers want to feel fully informed and in control of their purchase decisions. They crave education and resources to help them determine if the product or service they’re looking for is the right one. That’s why inbound marketing is such a popular and effective tactic. What is Inbound Marketing? Inbound marketing is a way of expanding your business by cultivating meaningful, long-term connections with your customers and prospects. Unlike outbound marketing methods that focus on grabbing the attention of people, inbound marketing uses a more targeted approach on an individual level. Your brand grows only when your customers succeed. To help you make the most out of this marketing strategy, we’re bringing you a beginner’s inbound marketing guide, chock full of tips and tricks to make your efforts successful. Let’s get started. The Three Stages of Inbound Marketing There are essentially three stages of inbound marketing, which are also considered the buyer’s journey. These three stages present you with different touch-point opportunities. Attracting: Attracting the appropriate individuals by providing great material and engaging in dialogues that position you as a trustworthy adviser with whoever they like to work with. Content production and management are related to inbound marketing methods that appeal to your target audience and customer profiles. Create and distribute valuable material... --- ### 8 Important Notification Queues to Add to Your Email Monitoring Strategy > When should you send that email? Here are eight email notification queues to keep in mind that will tell you when to send the right email. - Published: 2022-02-24 - Modified: 2023-01-12 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-notification-queues/ - Categories: Email Marketing There are lots of ways you can keep your users and audience engaged. One that has proved to be very successful and an opportunity not to be missed is email marketing. With the number of email users set to rise to 4. 3 billion in 2023, there is the potential to reach millions of people almost effortlessly. Email marketing is a well-rounded strategy. With a well-crafted email campaign, you can connect with your audience, promote your brand, and increase sales. In addition, you can also share news, tell a story, sell products, or improve cart abandonment rates. What gives any email marketing strategy an edge is the ability to automate the process. Utilizing email marketing software means you can create efficiencies in your process, so your strategy maintains momentum while you’re busy doing other things. Automation doesn’t just happen, however. It needs email triggers and notifications in order to work properly. What Are Email Notifications? An email notification is a type of triggered email. The email is sent out automatically in response to a specific event or user action. For websites and SaaS applications, some of the most common include: Welcome messages Activation messages Account and security alerts Activity notifications Passwords resets For the consumer, these notifications are handy because they alert you that a post has been shared on social media, remind you that action needs to be taken, or ask for approval when paying for services and goods. For businesses, they are also a valuable tool. They draw... --- ### Long-Tail Keywords: Definition and How to Leverage Them > What are long-tail keywords and how can you leverage them to improve your SEO strategy? We dive into that and more in this blog post. - Published: 2022-02-23 - Modified: 2023-07-19 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/long-tail-keywords/ - Categories: Content Marketing When it comes to finding what you need on the internet, most people just do a simple search. But if you want to get as specific as possible, that’s when long-tail keywords come into play. There’s a lot to take into consideration when tapping into long-tail keywords and using them for your company’s SEO strategy. Let’s make a deeper dive into the search optimization theory as we explain the perks of long-tail keywords. What Are Long-tail Keywords? Long-tail keywords are longer phrases (at least three to five words) that people are more likely to use when searching for a particular piece of information on the internet. Long-tail keywords are usually niche-specific and can accurately address the user's search intent. They can be especially beneficial when you want to increase your site's visibility and organic traffic. Why Are Long-Tail Keywords Essential for SEO? Long-tail keywords are superior to generic keywords since they can benefit your content far better. And the well-written copy is essential for SEO since it can lead to an increase in traffic, conversions, and ultimately profits. Let’s check in detail how you can enhance your business using long-tail keywords. The Benefits of Long-Tail Keywords 1. Less Competition Since long-tail keywords are applied in niche-specific searches, they have a relatively low search volume. Meaning only particular types of people use this exact phrasing to express their search intent. Subsequently, not many businesses use or invest in these exact long-tail keywords in their content or PPC campaigns. When you have... --- ### What Are Product Recommendations and How to Use them In Your Email Marketing > We've all gotten product recommendations before. But are they successful? As marketers, should we be sending product recommendation emails? - Published: 2022-02-22 - Modified: 2022-10-05 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/product-recommendation-emails/ - Categories: Marketing When it comes to personalized, targeted messaging, product recommendations are generally at the top of the priority list — and for good reason. For consumers, product recommendations are a way to get a curated list of items they may find useful based on their individual needs and preferences. And for eCommerce marketers, they’re a creative way to generate more sales. Putting successful product recommendations to work for your business requires a bit of ingenuity and a bit of data analytics. Below, we’ll go over a few more of the key benefits of this type of marketing, plus tips for incorporating product recommendation emails into your current email marketing strategy. What Are Product Recommendations? A product recommendation is a suggestion or proposal of items a buyer would most likely want to purchase. In the eCommerce landscape, merchants put forward these suggestions in an app, webpage, or email. Here’s a great example of a product recommendation: Another example of a product recommendation is the “buy it with” and “product related to this item” sections on Amazon. com. From these examples, you notice that the recommendation blocks display vital product details like name price and even offer a CTA for the buyer to take action. The recommended items don’t just magically appear. Rather, you have to set an algorithm to pick the items from your website and serve them up for buyers based on their behavioral data, attributes, or situational context. Done meticulously, product recommendations can influence up to 49% of users to... --- ### How Well Do You Really Know Your Customers? Tips for Discovering Your Target Audience. > You may not know your target audience as well as you think you do. Performing routine audience persona audits is a must. - Published: 2022-02-22 - Modified: 2023-02-22 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/tips-for-discovering-your-target-audience/ - Categories: Marketing Knowing who you’re selling to is just as important as knowing what it is that you’re selling. And while you may think that you understand your target audience like the back of your hand, as strategies change and businesses grow, so do their audiences. Next thing you know, your ideal audience is no longer who you’re targeting, and you’re wondering why your marketing and sales efforts aren’t excelling the way they used to. To stay on track, it’s important to regularly audit your buyer personas to make sure that who you think you’re selling to is accurate and aligned with your goals. Below, we’re going to go over the basics of why knowing your target audience is so essential — plus tips for figuring out exactly who they are. What is a Target Audience? Your target audience is the people that you’re trying to reach with your marketing messages. This likely won’t include everyone: as you assess who your likely customers are, you might consider demographics like age, gender, geographic location, and interests. A buyer persona takes this even further by helping to create an actual character or profile that embodies the typical traits of your target audience. Having a defined target audience will ensure that communication is focused, meaningful, and effective; otherwise, you risk coming off as generic or irrelevant, which won't resonate with your desired prospective customers. What's the Difference Between Target Market and Target Audience? Knowing the difference between target audience and target market is key to... --- ### 7 Best Tips and Tricks for Using Google Sheets > Google Sheets is an incredibly useful tool that can be used in numerous ways. Here are seven tips and tricks for using it. - Published: 2022-02-16 - Modified: 2022-08-25 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/google-sheets-tips-and-tricks/ - Categories: Marketing Google Sheets is a handy tool for digital marketers, small business owners, and professionals in general. Whether you’re tech-savvy or not, there’s always a way or two this user-friendly Google app can streamline your workflows and processes. Google Sheets has numerous features, but in many cases, users don’t make the most of it. In this article, we’ll uncover some interesting tricks for getting more out of Google Sheets. Why Do People Use Google Sheets? Google Sheets has overtaken Microsoft Excel as the go-to spreadsheet tool. Over 2 billion people use Google Sheets on a monthly basis -- and the market share keeps on growing. Why are people relying on Google Sheets? First up, Google Sheets has a clean interface that makes it easy to use. It allows users to collect, edit, curate, organize and analyze simple or complex data. For example, marketers can use it to manage email lists and contacts for free. Moreover, Google Sheets is an ideal tool for distributed teams, thanks to its collaboration capabilities. Multiple users can edit and format a Google Sheets file in real-time. The good thing is that any change a user makes can be tracked -- so it’s easy to tell who edited what and when. Lastly, Google Sheets integrates with all Google Suite products and other third-party tools. For example, you can integrate Google Sheets with Benchmark Email to streamline your email marketing campaigns. If you really want to get the most out of Google Sheets, it’s important to know a... --- ### The 10 Best Free Email Marketing Tools > There's no way to do practical, consistent email marketing alone. Luckily there are free email marketing tools to help. - Published: 2022-02-15 - Modified: 2024-05-29 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/best-free-email-marketing-tools/ - Categories: Email Marketing It’s no secret: email marketing is an extremely powerful way to reach your customer base. All it takes is an effective strategy, which includes knowing your audience, peppering in some personality and a bit of help from a robust email marketing toolkit arsenal. There’s no way to do practical, consistent email marketing alone. The complex task of managing your lists, personalizing each email based on selected criteria, and creating templates that will quickly render on any device is best left in the capable hands of a computer. There are so many email marketing tools out there, though. Where do you even start? First, let’s take a look at some desirable features free email marketing tools should have. What to Look For in Free Email Marketing Tools Getting free email marketing software is different from a paid solution. Free tools come with usage limits, and you have to evaluate the limits to see if they suit your needs. Here are some factors to consider when shopping around for free email marketing software: Segmentation: The success of your email campaigns comes down to personalization, which is driven by proper segmentation. For this reason, ensure the free tool allows users to segment email lists based on various factors like customer needs and interests. Number of contacts: Some apps are generous and will allow you to manage an unlimited or a large number of contacts. Check the contact caps to ensure the tool of choice can accommodate your entire contact list. Number of emails:... --- ### How to Sell Your Product Using Benchmark Email > Benchmark Email has some exciting eCommerce features that will help our users sell their products more easily. Check them out! - Published: 2022-02-10 - Modified: 2025-05-12 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-sell-your-product-using-benchmark-email/ - Categories: Ecommerce 92% of buyers visiting your eCommerce website for the first time aren't there to make a purchase. They are there for other reasons: to discover a product, compare prices, and see store details. They usually purchase during subsequent visits. That's the harsh reality of the eCommerce arena and it shows why it's vital to entice customers to return to your website. The best way to nudge customers to come back is to reach out to them directly. This is where email comes in handy. In this article, you'll learn why email marketing is critical for eCommerce brands. Moreover, you'll learn how to create unique emails using our box-fresh tools to boost sales. Why Email is a Great Channel for eCommerce Businesses Ability to Personalize Email enables you to deliver an individual level-based shopping experience. A personalized email with the customer's name makes them feel like it's speaking directly to them. Customers love that. They love it more when you personalize the product offer based on their preferences. It shows you understand their taste and plays a huge role in inspiring them to buy from your brand. Reach Consumers Directly with Specific Product Recommendations Picture this: a customer visits your online apparel store and spends some minutes on the denim section page before dashing out. The interactions with your brand may have taken minutes but it leaves you with data that reveal the customer's interests and preferences. When sending this customer a win-back email, you won't send a generic grid of... --- ### 9 Best Social Media Plugins for WordPress > Wordpress is a great content management software. Here are some social media plugins that will increase the shareability of your content. - Published: 2022-02-08 - Modified: 2022-11-01 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/social-media-plugins-for-wordpress/ - Categories: Content Marketing Content marketing is essential for every marketing strategy. It helps your brand spread influence and knowledge, and it educates your audience. What’s more, when used correctly, content is the essential fuel your email marketing strategy needs. Part of ensuring your content is effective is having a solid content management system (CMS). There are tons of tools out there to choose from, but when it comes to flexibility and having the freedom to work well with other tools you’re using, nothing compares to WordPress. We love WordPress because it allows us to easily create and update various pages of our site, and through its numerous plugins, we can expand what we’re able to do with our high profile pages and blog posts. And when it comes to optimizing your content and getting it shared with the masses, having a variety of social media plugins to choose from can go a long way. There are hundreds of social media plugins available for WordPress, and choosing the right one is no easy task. Our guide is here to help you find the plugin that’ll work best for your WordPress website and match your goals and needs. What is a Social Media Plugin for WordPress? A social media plugin for WordPress is a piece of software that you literally plug into your WordPress website to make sharing your blog articles to social media platforms easier and less time-consuming. WordPress plugins are an affordable, effective, and quick solution to lending your website all the capabilities... --- ### 11 Email Marketing Experts Tell us What They Learned in 2021 and How It’s Shaping Their 2022 Email Strategy > 2021 taught us a lot. These 11 experts share what they learned last year and how it's shaping their 2022 email strategy. - Published: 2022-02-07 - Modified: 2023-04-12 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/2022-email-strategy/ - Categories: Marketing 2021 was not your average year. So much happened globally, and those global happenings changed the way we live, work, and do business. A lot of companies had to shift their approach to selling, and with so many events and networking opportunities canceled, we had to get more creative with our outreach and relationship-building efforts. On top of that, there were shifts made so that consumer privacy was more protected and controlled. This meant that marketers had to get more innovative with methods they used to learn about their customers, leads, and potential leads. So, what do all these shifts mean for email marketing this year? We asked X experts to provide us with their biggest 2021 lessons that they’ll be using to inform their email marketing strategies this year. Take a look at what they had to say. 1. Focus on Essential Metrics for Success Alex Souchoroukof, Digital Marketer for Moosend The pandemic brought many changes in the email marketing world, and 2021 was no exception. The most crucial lesson for me was the Apple Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) update. What is the significance of this update? When Mail Privacy Protection is turned on, it pre-loads email content and activates the tracking pixel which used to track open rates. This means that the open rate is no longer an accurate metric of success, especially if your email list has a substantial number of Apple Mail users. As a result, other metrics like click-through rate and conversion rate will be... --- ### How to Collect and Leverage Zero-Party Data to Personalize Your Email Marketing > Google's impending cookie cutting means marketers need to rely on other methods to gain insights on their customers, like zero-party data. - Published: 2022-02-03 - Modified: 2025-02-12 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/zero-party-email-marketing/ - Categories: Marketing Collecting first-party data, or information that is learned about customers based on behavioral analytics, was thought to be the next big thing. But consumers lost trust in their favorite brands after learning that companies were mining information about them without their conscious and explicit consent. Plus, third-party data collected from ad platforms, cookies, and some less than transparent tracking techniques will no longer be available for marketers to use after 2023. Brands have had to reimagine their marketing tactics. But the fact is many consumers are interested in sharing their data in order to create more personalized online experiences. Instead of hiding behind first and third-party cookies, companies should feel empowered to ask their audiences about their experiences and leverage that information to create more personalized email marketing campaigns. Zero-party data changes everything about collecting vital marketing data. Instead of working unnoticed behind the scenes like first and third-party data, zero-party data hinges on being upfront and honest with customers when asking for consumer info. Using zero-party data collection techniques to learn what your customers need from your business is a great way to improve customer retention and attract new audiences to your brand. Let’s take a closer look. What is Zero-Party Data? Zero-party data is any information that your customers share with you intentionally. Communication preferences, how the individual wants to be recognized, purchase intentions, and personal context are all examples of zero-party data. The best way to gain these insights from your customers is to directly ask them... --- ### How to Put Together Case Studies for Your Business > When converting leads to customers, it's important to show them proof of success. Here's how to put together case studies. - Published: 2022-02-02 - Modified: 2022-01-27 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-put-together-case-studies/ - Categories: Marketing Picture this: you walk into a swimming pool equipment store looking for a new automatic pool cleaner. Even before you talk to the attendant, you overhear a conversation between a pleased customer and the shop attendant: Customer: Hey, the automatic cleaner I bought last week works excellently. Attendant: That’s great! Did it solve the problems you were experiencing? Customer: Yes, it did. I wish I had known about your products earlier. There’s a pretty good chance you would want to buy the same automatic cleaner the “elated customer” bought, right? That conversation is like a scaled-down version of a case study. It demonstrates how a product or service solves a real problem for a customer. And, when other costumes catch wind of that experience, it makes them want to try it. Case studies are just like word-of-mouth advertising. It’s that third-party credibility that potential customers trust because they know that these other, satisfied customers have nothing to gain from encouraging others to support a business. Case studies can be gold not only for your inbound marketing efforts but for your email marketing strategy, too. If you’re wondering how to create great case studies, fret not. In this article, we’ll walk you through. Four Steps to Creating Case Studies For Your Business 1. Establish the Case Study Objective You should first stipulate the case study objective. Remember: each case study is part of your overall sales and marketing strategy. As a result, the objective should align with your overarching sales and... --- ### Why Does Email Design Define the Success of Your Campaign? > Email design is a huge component of whether or not your email campaigns are successful. Here are some design tips and examples to follow. - Published: 2022-02-01 - Modified: 2023-04-12 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-design-successful-campaign/ - Categories: Email Marketing Human beings are visual creatures. We are hard-wired to respond better to information when it is represented using visual media than plain text. Good content is certainly worth its weight in gold, but when it is accompanied by mediocre design, it doesn’t leave even half of the impact it was destined to. The same holds true in the realm of email marketing. No matter how many hours you spend poring over your email subject lines, copy, and CTA phrases, you’ll never get the desired results unless you dial up your design game as well. Simply put, the success of your email campaigns rests heavily on your design. In today’s article, we explore the underlying reasons behind the same. How Email Design Contributes to Success Adds Visual Appeal of Your Emails Emails with visual elements are any day aesthetically more pleasing than those composed using plain text. As a result, good email design paves the path for increased engagement. People process visual information 60,000 times faster than text and find it easier to remember too. Therefore, the simple act of adding a hero image to your email places you in a much better position to captivate your readers’ imagination. Design allows you to implement a visual hierarchy in your emails, making it much easier for your recipients to spot the information they’re looking for. Take a look at these email examples that have rather bewitching hero images. Makes Your Campaigns More Impactful At the end of 2018, the total number of... --- ### 7+ Sales Funnel Templates to Skyrocket Your Email Marketing Game > Sales outreach isn't as easy as it seems. But these email templates will help you capitalize on your funnel to see some results. - Published: 2022-01-26 - Modified: 2023-01-12 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/sales-funnel-email-templates/ - Categories: Sales You’ve probably heard a lot about email marketing recently. Whether you have a solid email marketing plan or are looking to make one better, using a sales funnel template will not only save you money but will help you close more sales. Want to learn more? We’ll be listing our favorite email sales funnel examples and templates below. What Is a Sales Funnel and What Are the Sales Funnel Stages? A sales funnel is the journey potential customers take in moving from prospect to customer. The stages your potential customer goes through in the funnel are broken down into five steps: Stage 1: Awareness Stage 2: Interest Stage 3: Evaluation Stage 4: Engagement Stage 5: Commitment/Purchase Make sure you track performance with a metrics dashboard to see how effective your email marketing funnel is at converting. Most prospects won’t purchase after just one email. That’s why you need a funnel. Generally, your email marketing strategy will include a series of emails that do the following: Nurture a relationship with your potential customers/email subscribers Educate your subscribers on the benefits of your service or product Direct encouragement to buy services or products you sell 7 Great Sales Funnel Examples and Templates There is a sales email funnel for every business and every situation. Here are some of the most popular templates for email marketing strategies. You might find that combining these templates or using different techniques for different customers is the most effective. 1. AIDA The AIDA sales funnel template is... --- ### 11 Quick and Long-Term SEO Tips to Get Your Site to Rank > Nailing your SEO strategy requires some quick and easy tips, along with long-term tactics. Check out 11 SEO tips here. - Published: 2022-01-20 - Modified: 2023-02-23 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/quick-seo-tips/ - Categories: Content Marketing SEO is a technical endeavor, making it seem pretty intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s also often considered a long-term strategy, one that you don’t see results from immediately. However, there are simple steps you can take today (yes, today) that will allow you to see pretty astonishing results in less time than you’d think. While most SEO strategies can take time to implement, there are some that can be done while you have a 15-minute break between tasks. A small effort today and another next Friday, for example, can help give you that nudge in the right direction. You no longer have to put off your SEO efforts because you simply don’t have the time to prioritize them. Let’s talk specifics. Quick SEO Tactics You Can Implement Today 1. Reshare Evergreen Content Via Your Newsletter Next time you send out your email newsletter, share evergreen content from your site. It’s easy to dismiss older posts as less important, but if they have relevant information that your followers will care about, they’re definitely worth resharing. Plus, that older content has existed longer, meaning it’s had more time to rank. The more time that people spend on your older articles, the higher your site will rank because it shows Google that you’re providing users with content they crave. 2. Check-In On Evergreen Content Along with sharing evergreen posts, put a strategy in place to update older blog content on your site once or twice a year. While actually updating... --- ### 4 Strategies to Improve Email Engagement for Your Retail Brand > Your retail brand shoud be using various email strategies to help improve engagement and conversions. Here are some strategies to use. - Published: 2022-01-19 - Modified: 2022-01-14 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-engagement-for-retail/ - Categories: Ecommerce With more people online and utilizing social media to help ease the pandemic boredom, retail companies have a lot of opportunities to capitalize on online engagement. However, nothing beats email marketing, as it’s a direct line to these online consumers, and it’s a form of marketing that people actually opt into. Getting a customer to subscribe to your newsletter is only the first step; you have to get them to engage with your content by clicking on your promotions, purchasing new items, or forwarding your emails to their friends and family. As we all know, getting attention is great, but keeping it is even better. Here are three strategies to further improve email engagement for your retail brand. 1. Offer Incentives Incentives are a great strategy that can be implemented at various stages of the buyer’s journey. When someone visits your site, offer a discount if they enroll in your email marketing. Once they subscribe, you can email them or text them the discount code that can be applied at checkout. This not only helps initiate a sale, but you’ll effectively grow your email list so you can continue to engage with these new purchasers. Take advantage of holidays, birthdays, or company anniversaries to send your customers special discounts or promotions. Or, offer a special discount code for them to share with a friend that you can track. This is also a great way to grow your list and get more subscribers tapped into your retail brand. Andre Oentoro from... --- ### Vertical Content: What It Is and How to Implement It > What is vertical content and why should you prioritize it in your marketing strategy? We explain all that and more in this blog article. - Published: 2022-01-18 - Modified: 2023-01-27 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/vertical-content/ - Categories: Social Media Among the marketing trends through the years, vertical content doesn’t receive the recognition it deserves. You’d think that, because of the popularity and usage of mobile devices, marketers would be all over how people can leverage vertical content in their overall marketing strategy. Unfortunately, that’s not the case, as this content type continues to fly under the radar of most brands. Thankfully for you, this post tackles everything you must know about vertical content, its importance, and how you can observe and implement it in your upcoming social media campaign. What is Vertical Content? Vertical content is a media type consumed vertically on the screen. It is unlike horizontal content that is seen on desktop computers and television. This content type is a natural progression that stems from the growing popularity of mobile devices. Because more people are using smartphones, which generally have a vertical orientation, they are now browsing content online using the default vertical orientation of mobile devices. As a result, apps and websites are highly encouraged to adopt a mobile-friendly design. It provides mobile users with a more seamless user experience, which makes sense since there are more smartphone users now than ever before. Snapchat is one of the first platforms that leveraged vertical content with Stories. It allows you to take a photo or video from your phone vertically and upload it to your feed. Since then, other social platforms have jumped ship to vertical content. TikTok and Instagram are currently two of the most popular... --- ### How to Do Restaurant Email Marketing Right > Own a restaurant? You should be utilizing email marketing to grow and engage your patrons. Here are some tips. - Published: 2022-01-13 - Modified: 2024-03-13 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/restaurant-email-marketing/ - Categories: Email Marketing If you’re not doing email marketing for your restaurant yet, you’re missing out. Email is a cost-effective, easy-to-use channel for reaching customers and converting them into regular patrons. It can help you generate foot traffic, foster loyalty, and ultimately boost sales by keeping your tables booked and online orders busy. Read on to learn more about restaurant email marketing and how to do it successfully. How to Grow Your Restaurant’s Email List Before you start a successful email marketing campaign, you need a hefty list of contacts to send your emails to. But how can you create such a list? Let’s have a look! Landing Page opt-In Form Having an opt-in form on your website is one of the easiest ways to get people to subscribe to your newsletter. Create a landing page dedicated to this form where people can input their contact information and agree to receive promotional emails from you. To make it worth their while, draw them in with freebies and benefits, such as discounts for online delivery or access to exclusive cooking tips provided by your chef. Make it clear that you’ll be using their emails to send them promotional messages, so they don’t feel duped. Also, always give them the option to opt out whenever they want to. This ensures you’re abiding by basic email marketing rules and regulations, including GDPR compliance, which protects your customers’ privacy and data. Pop-Ups Another way to draw website visitors’ attention to your email sign-up form is to create... --- ### 5 Signs Your Website Isn't Optimized > If your website isn't optimized, then it won't do its job properly, which is to engage and convert visitors to leads. - Published: 2022-01-12 - Modified: 2023-07-05 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/signs-your-website-isnt-optimized/ - Categories: Inbound Marketing Getting more visitors to your website is crucial when you’re looking to consistently generate leads. However, if your website isn’t optimized, all that increased traffic goes to waste and say goodbye to boosted revenue and conversions. When money and business growth are on the line, identifying the areas in which your website isn’t optimized for success is crucial. But websites are intricate, and there’s a lot of room for error. This is why we figured we’d make your job a little bit easier by identifying key areas for you to look into first. Read on to discover five telltale signs of a poorly optimized website, as well as some tips for how to put everything back on track. 1. Low Subscriber Rate The subscriber rate equals the total number of conversions divided by the total number of website sessions multiplied by 100. If, for example, your website has 100,000 sessions every month that generate 1,000 subscribers, then: Your conversion/subscriber rate equals = (1,000/100,000)*100 = 1% The average subscriber rate varies between industries, but good rates range between 2% and 5%. If your blog is getting a steady stream of traffic but isn’t hitting a desirable conversion rate, that’s definitely a sign it’s not properly optimized. Some of the things you can do to improve the subscriber rate include: Create an irresistible value proposition for your CTAs Ensure your blog posts focus on topics and areas your audience is genuinely interested in Add a newsletter pop-up form to pages that see... --- ### 5 Things You Need to Know About Benchmark Email > When it comes to our email marketing software, we're pretty confident we have what you need. Here are the benefits of using Benchmark Email. - Published: 2022-01-06 - Modified: 2022-08-25 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/things-you-need-to-know-about-benchmark-email/ - Categories: Email Marketing Email remains a top-performing channel for marketers. It’s no surprise that 64% of marketers use email to drive their marketing campaigns. Unfortunately, though, only 8% report any significant improvement in email marketing strategies. The problem? Well, we can attribute the dismal performance to a number of reasons. Still, in most cases, it boils down to the basics -- poorly planned email campaigns, bad sending habits, and unreliable email marketing tools. If your emails aren’t getting to the subscriber inbox, the open rates are on a downhill trend, and engagement has dropped, fret not. Benchmark Email has you covered, and in this article, we’ll tell you why you need it to get your email campaigns off and running using our software. 1. It’s Free Benchmark Email is the perfect tool for small businesses or freelance marketers that are just getting started. To begin with, the generous free plan gives you the features you need to grow and develop. Unlike other email tools that limit the number of subscribers you can manage on a free plan, Benchmark Email lets you have unlimited contacts. You can send 250 emails per month, and that’s not all. Other benefits include: Drag-and-drop email builder Basic drip campaigns eCommerce tools and integrations Lead capture to grow sales Simplified email newsletter sending Another perk? Benchmark Email is built to scale with your business. In case you outgrow the free plan, you can upgrade to a premium plan to unlock more automation options and remove all usage limits. 2.... --- ### 6 Best Social Media Tools for Your 2022 Strategy > Take your social networks to the next level in 2022. Here are some of the best social media tools to look into. - Published: 2022-01-05 - Modified: 2023-01-05 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/social-media-tools-for-2022/ - Categories: Social Media Will 2022 be the year that you level up your social media strategy? Marketing trends come and go, but social media serving as a major determining factor of success definitely isn’t going anywhere any time soon. There are 4. 55 billion active social media users around the globe, representing 57. 6% of all people on the planet. And of that number, 44. 8% are using social media to search for and engage with brands. That’s a pretty captive audience — and one that any business should be seeking to connect with as part of their larger marketing strategy. Social media marketing is far from a one-size-fits-all endeavor. However, there are certain tools that any business can be using to boost their social presence and improve their performance outcomes, and we’re sharing six of our favorites. The Connection Between Social Media and Site Visits If you’re working with a limited marketing budget, it makes sense that you’d want to put your dollars toward the areas most likely to make an impact on overall sales. And if that’s the case, we get why it might seem a bit backward to focus your resources so heavily on platforms where users aren’t actively shopping for your products and services. So why is it worth it? Aside from the rise of social eCommerce (poised to be one of the top social media trends of 2022), it’s important to consider the strong link between your social pages and your sales pages. Social media actively drives traffic... --- ### What is Phygital, and How Does it Apply to Email Marketing? > What exactly is phygital marketing? This new term (and idea) is quickly becoming a favorite way for consumers to buy products. - Published: 2021-12-29 - Modified: 2021-12-22 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/what-is-phygital-marketing/ - Categories: Marketing Have you ever imagined a hybrid of physical and online worlds where buyers can shop both in-person and online? It sounds like a peripheral concept, right? Well, brands like Amazon, Nike, Magik Book, and Pokemon Go have made the blended environment a reality. Your brand can be a front-runner, too, in implementing the phygital approach. But what exactly is phygital, and how does it apply to a memorable customer experience? Read on to learn the nitty-gritty details about this new and trendy marketing term. What is Phygital? Let’s begin at the top. Phygital is a compound term that combines two words: Physical and digital. It’s a relatively new term that probably caught on in the marketing world during the COVID19 pandemic. In the marketing realm, phygital refers to using technology to blend the physical and digital customer experiences. Over the last few years, companies have strived to deliver an omnichannel marketing experience that removes customers’ frustration, friction, and churn. A lot of that has been happening online, with brands seeking to provide a personalized experience on online channels that customers use. It’s easy to understand why. According to Google statistics, about 63% of shopping begins online. However, 52% of Americans aren’t ready to abandon their in-person shopping habits, with 31% indicating they will continue to shop in-store. As a result, focusing on online channels only would mean sidelining those customers that still value in-store shopping. Phygital offers the best option to draw from the best of both worlds. It enables... --- ### Customer Profile Analysis: Methods and Hacks to Boost Your Sales Process > If you want to give your sales process a boost, then you need to be utilizing customer profile analysis techniques. - Published: 2021-12-28 - Modified: 2023-06-07 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/customer-profile-analysis-methods/ - Categories: Sales An ideal customer profile (ICP) is essentially a hypothetical narrative of the type of companies that would get the most value from your product(s). These companies tend to have the fastest sales cycle, the greatest customer retention rates, and the highest number of evangelists for your business. Such a hypothetical description of a perfect-fit customer can inform your entire marketing and sales process, helping you allocate your resources to those prospects who will benefit the most from your offerings and, in turn, provide the most value to your company. Read this article to find out how customer profile analysis can help your sales process. Sources of Customer Data for Your Customer Profile Analysis Understanding your customers is critical to succeeding with your sales targets. How will you better cater your services and products to them without properly knowing their individual profiles? To create an ICP that fits your business, having the right data is key. The question is, where can you gather this important information? Here are five great sources to capture customer data for your customer profile analysis. 1. Existing Customers While not every customer is an ideal one, your existing customer base is the best place to source data. So, survey your existing customers to discover which of them: Drive the most value for your business Get the most value from your business Are happiest with your product(s) These are your top customers. And to do this, you need to consider: Customer lifetime value (CLV) Their ROI with... --- ### 6 Tips for Creating More Shareable Content (With Examples) > Content is more successful the more it's shared. Here are some tips for making your content more shareable (examples included). - Published: 2021-12-22 - Modified: 2022-08-25 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/shareable-content/ - Categories: Content Marketing There are lots of benefits to a well-planned content marketing strategy. Whether you're after raising brand awareness, building authority, boosting organic traffic, or increasing conversion rates on your website, you'll find that there are a few approaches that always work better than others. For one, focusing your attention on quality instead of quantity might not get you overnight results, but it's sure to support your business in all the ways that actually matter. Secondly, by ensuring that you spend your time, energy, and money on content that excites your target audience, you're more likely to create a loyal following that cares about your products and posts. And, finally, by producing your content with shareability in mind, you're setting your business up for success by making it natural for your audience to share the value of your posts (and thus champion your brand as the go-to in your niche). So, if you're ready to take your content marketing strategy to the next level by creating highly shareable posts, here are a few great tips on how to achieve the effect you're after. 1. Consider the Word Count One of the easiest ways to maximize the chances of having your blog posts shared is to pay attention to the word count. Backlinko's content study from 2019, which analyzed 912 million blog posts, found a strong correlation between post length and the number of social shares it stands to achieve. Apparently, the sweet spot for maximizing social shares falls between 1,000 and 2,000... --- ### A Beginner’s Guide to Effective Email Templates > Email templates make the life of an email marketer so much easier. To help you navigate them, here's a beginners guide. - Published: 2021-12-21 - Modified: 2023-01-18 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/beginners-guide-to-email-templates/ - Categories: Email Marketing Writing an email can be a daunting task. It’s not the length of the content that makes it difficult, as opposed to other forms of long-form content, like blog posts. However, emails can be tough because they’re more personal, impactful, and tell a lot of things in a few words. Penning a heartfelt welcome email or writing a follow-up email may not take a lot of time, but it has to be done just right. Being a short form of communication, words have to be chosen wisely too. Whether you’re an email marketing manager, a student, or a business owner, coming up with the right words every time can be tricky. To save time and make writing emails comparatively less challenging, email templates are very useful. If you think you can go without emails altogether, think again. There are more than four billion email users worldwide, and the count is expected to rise by another billion by the year 2025. Bottom line: if email marketing isn’t a part of your overall marketing strategy, you’re restricting yourself and diminishing a ton of opportunities. Luckily, email templates make email adoption a total breeze. Let’s examine more closely how using email templates will make your life easier. What is an Email Template? Think of email templates as ready-to-eat food products: Open the packaging, pour it in a vessel, and your food is ready (all the while you’re scrolling through your Instagram feed). Email templates follow a similar concept. An email template is a... --- ### 12 Best Lead Generation Techniques for Small Businesses > Your small business needs to be securing reguar, consistent revenue. Here are five lead genertation techniques to try. - Published: 2021-12-20 - Modified: 2025-05-13 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/lead-generation-techniques-small-businesses/ - Categories: Small Business A steady stream of leads is vital for any small business. It allows you to grow your email list, customer base, and increase revenue year over year. But without a lead generation strategy, you'll lose valuable market share to those that have refined this process. The good news is there is more potential than ever to reach your audience. If you're wondering what strategies work to generate more leads, you're in the right place. We're going to cover some of the best lead generation techniques that you can implement today to attract more prospects. What is Lead Generation? A lead is anyone who has expressed interest in your company's products or services. With the right nurturing, these individuals will eventually become paying customers. Lead generation is the process of attracting prospects through various marketing channels. The goal is to generate interest in your products or services. It's a vital practice because it supports business growth. It allows you to maintain a healthy pipeline that you can nurture to bring in sales and increase revenues. An effective lead generation process is also an important part of the overall value chain's (activities that organizations perform to increase efficiency) success. If one channel continues to deliver mediocre results, it doesn't make sense to keep pouring money into it, does it? Many businesses make the mistake of marketing to anyone they can. What ends up happening is they collect leads that aren't a good fit for their products or services. Their sales team wastes... --- ### How to Put Together Interesting Abandoned Cart Emails (and Examples) > Are you aware of the benefits that come with abandoned cart emails? Here's how you can use them effectively to win back missed sales. - Published: 2021-12-16 - Modified: 2023-01-18 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/6-ways-to-make-your-cart-abandonment-emails-more-interesting/ - Categories: Email Marketing Online shoppers are notoriously fickle, and why shouldn’t they be? There are so many options and avenues at their fingertips that there’s no sense in wildly committing to the first products they see. The multi-step checkout process allows them to toy with potential purchases — chalk certain items down as likely buys while they look around for alternatives. From the standpoint of a seller, of course, this can be extremely frustrating. Just when a site visitor has heaped their cart with products and taken the first step in the checkout phase, it all goes up in smoke. The interested party disappears from the site, leaving behind all those items. To combat this, every sensible online merchant automates cart abandonment emails to trigger when this happens. The goal? To tempt back the near-misses and turn those abandoned carts into sales. But they’re so common that they easily get dull and predictable. If what’s on your site doesn’t do enough to hold someone’s attention, you won’t get anywhere with a boring email. So, if you want to optimize the results you get from your cart abandonment email campaigns, you need to make them more interesting. What is an Abandoned Cart Email? An abandoned cart email is an automated message sent to a prospect’s email address when they’ve put items in an online shopping cart and then left the page without making a purchase. The idea is to re-engage with a potential customer at an opportune time — namely, at the point where... --- ### How to Sell Your eCommerce Business With Email Marketing > If you want your eCommerce store to take off, you have to have a well thought out eCommerce email marketing strategy. - Published: 2021-12-15 - Modified: 2021-12-09 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ecommerce-email-marketing-strategy/ - Categories: Ecommerce Email marketing can be your best friend when it comes to promoting your eCommerce business. But to make it happen, you need to make sure you’re doing it right — and that you’re taking advantage of all the various email opportunities available to you. There are four billion email users around the globe, and that number is expected to jump to 4. 6 billion by 2025. That’s a huge advantage for eCommerce businesses, and especially small ones, since, with just one marketing tactic, you have the ability to reach a huge pool of potential customers. And in an age when the competition is both fierce and constant, it’s important you’re putting to use any tool you have for staying top of mind with — and converting — your audience. Ready to make the most of your email marketing strategy? Here’s what you need to know about email marketing for eCommerce businesses, including helpful tips for making every email count. What is eCommerce Marketing? eCommerce marketing is any sort of promotional activity that your business does for the purpose of selling your goods or services. Email marketing is just one type of eCommerce marketing, with other tactics such as social media, print media, and blog articles all contributing to this same overarching goal. As for why emails are such a popular marketing medium (about nine out of every ten marketers use them for organic outreach), there are two big reasons: emails are inexpensive and extremely effective. For every $1 that your... --- ### Email Marketing in 2022: Trends and Useful Tools > 2022 is almost here. Here are some key email marketing trends to have on your radar and tools you should look into using next year. - Published: 2021-12-14 - Modified: 2023-01-05 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-trends-and-tools/ - Categories: Email Marketing Is email marketing still effective? Of course! 99% of users check their email every day, or even several times a day. Despite what you may think, people keep reading emails and are ready to interact with interesting content being shared with them. Sure, there is a widespread belief that social media and chatbots have pushed email marketing into the background. However, in reality, there is no full-fledged alternative to the power of email newsletters. The situation is also influenced by the ever-evolving email industry. Marketers are regularly introducing new methods and email strategies that continue to push engagement and results, maintaining email marketing as the most reliable channel of communication with customers. In this article, we’ll dive into new email marketing tools and trends so you can ensure 2022 starts off on the right foot. Trends to Develop and Optimize Your Email Campaigns Let's analyze what email campaign methods will be relevant in 2022. AI Technologies While artificial intelligence is developing, many experts are skeptical about it. Indeed, for all the promising nature of the technology, it shows rather modest results. However, AI already has an important area of its application. Data. There is so much that no person is able to process all the information. On the other hand, AI can do it. How can artificial intelligence be used in email marketing? Here are some ideas: Conducting surveys, analyzing the results and preparing optimized reports Performing analytical forecasts of results Processing large amounts of customer data Creating Email templates... --- ### 16 Things to do Before and After Publishing a Blog Post > There's a lot you need to do to ensure your blog post is successful. Here are some things to do before and after publishing. - Published: 2021-12-09 - Modified: 2025-05-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/things-to-do-before-after-publishing-a-blog-post/ - Categories: Content Marketing There's a blogging industry motto - publish more blog posts to get more traffic. That's why most beginners focus solely on publishing more content regularly without analyzing if the post is optimized or focusing on a plan after it gets published. As a result, their websites don't grow as much as they hoped. It isn't just about writing a blog post and publishing new pieces of content regularly. There are several tasks you need to perform before and after publishing a blog post. These tasks will ensure your article is well-optimized for both readers and search engines - whether you want to improve conversions or organic traffic. In this article, we will discuss the 16 most important things to do before and after publishing a blog post. Let's get started. What to Do Before Publishing a Blog Post Don't start writing your blog post yet! Make sure you run down this list of things to do first. 1. Keyword Research Before you start writing anything, perform keyword research on the topics you want to cover. By doing so, you can see the keywords or phrases your audience usually searches on Google. For this, you can use tools like SEMrush. Enter your primary target keyword, for example, "Bluehost alternatives," and it will give your many valuable metrics such as total monthly searches, keyword difficulty, related keywords, etc. From the results, you can target one or more keywords and start writing on them. 2. Create an Outline An outline is like the... --- ### How to Calculate Email Marketing ROI > If you want to know exactly how much ROI you're seeing from your email marketing efforts, use this calculator. - Published: 2021-12-08 - Modified: 2021-12-03 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-calculate-email-marketing-roi/ - Categories: Email Marketing Are you getting the best return on your email marketing efforts? Emails are one of the most effective digital marketing strategies for brands. But if you want to make the most of them, you need to know what’s working, what’s not, and what your overall return on investment (ROI) is. Not only will this help you optimize your tactics for better conversions, but it will also ensure that you’re not wasting money on campaigns that are falling flat with your audience. Below, we’re covering what you should know about your email marketing ROI, including the quickest ways to measure it. What is Email Marketing ROI? Your email marketing ROI is how much revenue you bring in from your emails compared to how much you spend. On average, email generates an astounding ROI of 4,200% or $42 for every $1 spent. This makes it one of the most — if not the most — cost-effective marketing tactics. It also means that if you’re not tracking your email ROI, you might be falling short of what you could be achieving. Why It’s Important to Track the Return on Your Email Marketing Tracking the ROI of your various strategies is just good marketing. Both print and digital campaigns run on data, and if you don’t dive into it, you’re missing out on key insights that can help you boost performance and sales. This is particularly true with email marketing since the return potential is so high. Ultimately, tracking your email marketing ROI does... --- ### 7 Important Ways to Get Your Online Business Ready for the Holidays > Is your online business ready for the holidays? This time of year, while wonderful, can be chaotic if you aren't adequately prepared. - Published: 2021-12-07 - Modified: 2024-09-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/holidays-online-business/ - Categories: Marketing It’s the most wonderful time of year! Christmas is one of the biggest shopping seasons for retailers in-store and online. And while competition in the eCommerce space is pretty tight throughout the year, this is even more true during high-volume shopping periods. Brands need to stand out from the crowd in order to win sales and create long-term relationships with new customers. The period between December 15 and 24 typically accounts for the bulk of all Christmas sales. That means there’s not much time left to get ready for the influx of orders, so we’ve put together a checklist to help you get prepared this holiday season. We know the days and weeks leading up to the holidays are a whirlwind for online retailers, but there are some tips that can make this years’ shopping season a little easier (and more profitable). Stand Out This Holiday Season Getting your store ready for the holidays takes a lot of dedicated planning months in advance. But even the weeks leading up to Christmas present plenty of opportunities to spruce up your store and make connections with consumers. Here are some tried and tested tips to help eCommerce businesses prepare for the busiest shopping days of the year: Learn From Last Year Before you do anything else, think back to last year’s holiday shopping season. Understanding what went well and what could have gone better is the first step to creating better processes moving forward. Here are some questions to ask to get... --- ### The Pros and Cons of Using Affiliate Marketing to Grow your Business > When it comes to affiliate marketing, there are advantages as well as things to keep in mind. Here are the pros and cons to consider. - Published: 2021-12-01 - Modified: 2023-09-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/affiliate-marketing-pros-and-cons/ - Categories: Marketing Business growth is synonymous with creativity. One of the hardest parts of going into business is finding creative ways to let the world know that you are in business (and that you offer something they need). Even companies that have been in business for years can struggle to get their name out into the marketplace on a grander scale. For small to mid-size businesses, multi-million dollar ad campaigns are just not in the budget. Creative marketing is your key to success, and one of the easiest ways to do this is through affiliate marketing. If you are new to affiliate marketing and would like to explore it further, we have outlined some of the pros and cons to help you decide whether it is right for your company. What Exactly is Affiliate Marketing? Affiliate marketing is a simple way for brands to generate income by allowing other businesses to advertise products on their website through ads, sales of affiliate products, or through other incentives programs. There are essentially two forms of affiliate marketing: Having other brands advertise your products on their sites, social media properties, and to their customers Advertising the products of other brands on your website and to your customers One of the most prominent examples of affiliate marketing is by way of influencer marketing. Social media influencers use affiliate marketing to earn money by endorsing a company's products and sharing them with their followers. By mentioning a product or business in their videos or blogs, they generate... --- ### 10 Best Content Writing and Editing Tools to Help You Become a Better Writer > Want to be better at content marketing? You need to add to your toolkit. Here are 10 of the best content writing and editing tools. - Published: 2021-11-30 - Modified: 2024-01-18 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/content-writing-editing-tools/ - Categories: Content Marketing As a marketer, you’re not only focused on generating leads for your inbound funnel, but you’re also a content writer. Whether it’s for your paid ads, blog posts, or to fuel your email marketing, you know that content is essential for almost every aspect of what you do. And if you want y9our content to be seen and engaged with, it’s essential that it’s unique, error-free, and SEO-optimized. However, constantly producing that type of content could be a challenging task. Maintaining a consistent content strategy typically includes numerous blog posts a month, guest content for online publications, as well as landing pages, social media posts, and paid advertisements. Regularly checking each piece of content you create for writing errors, uniqueness, and readability can take you hours or even a full day’s worth of work. Luckily there are tons of content writing and editing tools to help you improve your writing skills and assist with getting more done in less time. This article will share ten of the best content writing and editing tools to help you become a better writer. Whether you're looking for ways to improve your grammar, find inspiration, or want some extra words, these helpful tools will have something for everyone. What are the Best Content Writing and Editing Tools? 1. SEMrush Writing Assistant Do you want to write better content that's also SEO-friendly? Then look no further than the SEMrush writing assistant tool. The SWA tool helps content writers create high-quality, unique, SEO-optimized content that ranks... --- ### Opt-In Email Marketing: How to Create Permission-Based Email Lists > The best way to reach engaged, eager prospects is to faciliate opt-in email marketing. Here's what it is and why it's crucial to implement. - Published: 2021-11-23 - Modified: 2024-07-23 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/double-opt-in-email-lists-creating-permission-based-lists/ - Categories: Email Marketing Many email marketers view a growing email list as proof of success. After all, a large list implies that hundreds or thousands of people have signed up to receive your emails. But how many of those email addresses have actual value? If a large chunk of your emails isn’t opened, are automatically deleted, or bounce back with an error message, then the quality of your list may not be very high. This is why opt-in is so important. You want your email subscribers to indicate that they want to receive emails from you. If they do, then they’ll be more engaged with your email marketing and actually look forward to hearing from you. Opt-in isn’t only good for your email engagement; it also aligns with basic email marketing rules and regulations. What is Opt-In Email Marketing? The crucial part of the term “opt-in email marketing” is opt-in. As opposed to direct marketing — where businesses use flyers or advertisements to reach as many people as possible, regardless of those people’s interest in the business — opt-in marketing requires people to give their consent to be marketed to. It’s permission-based marketing, meaning users have given their permission for brands to contact them when they sign up. Why is Opt-In Important? Not only does opt-in marketing feel less icky than spamming people willy-nilly, but it’s also much more effective. When your subscribers have opted in to hearing from you, they’re less likely to send your messages to the spam folder and more... --- ### Online Forms and Pop-Up Forms: What's the Difference? > There are various different website forms out there to consider using. When it comes to online forms and pop-up forms, what's the difference? - Published: 2021-11-17 - Modified: 2022-06-21 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/online-forms-and-pop-up-forms/ - Categories: Inbound Marketing Website forms come in different forms, each great for different reasons. Their commonality, however, is that they’re great at gathering key information on your website visitors and encouraging them to sign up for your email list. In this blog post, we’ll be talking specifically about two kinds of website forms: online forms and pop-up forms. Both online forms and pop-up forms are important when it comes to converting leads on your website. But they differ in how they get the job done, as well as in the benefits they offer. A comprehensive marketing strategy will include both of these tactics. However, understanding how, when, and why to employ an online form vs. a pop-up form (and vice versa) is key to making them work. To help you do it, we’ve put together a quick breakdown of what each type of form is and what it can do for you. Here’s what to know. What are Pop-up Forms? Pop-up forms do exactly what they say: pop up on the page at a time and place that you designate in advance. The goal is to catch leads at the most opportune moment possible, targeting both timing and placement in order to increase the form’s conversion capabilities and move more leads down the funnel. Why Pop-up Forms are Beneficial While it’s true that pop-up forms provide a momentary disruption to a user’s experience on the page, many marketers will tell you that their benefits outweigh the interruption. Here are some of the strategic... --- ### Apple's New Hide My Email Feature: What it is and How it’s Changing Email Marketing > What is Apple's new Hide My Email Feature and how will it affect your email marketing practices? Read on to find out. - Published: 2021-11-16 - Modified: 2022-07-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/apples-hide-my-email-feature/ - Categories: Email Marketing An ongoing priority for B2B marketers is the successful value exchange between them and their intended audiences. B2B brands provide value to their audiences via research and content with lead generation forms and email signup promos. In return, B2B brands nudge form completers toward conversions and improve the way their audience perceives them. The value exchange B2B marketers enjoy between their intended audience is an invaluable one when it comes to forming ongoing customer relationships. Lead gen website forms and promotional email signups solidify this ongoing relationship when people opt-in to receive a brand's promotional messages. So, what's the problem? Sometimes, a B2B brand's intended audience provides non-corporate email addresses on their signup or lead-gen forms. This, unfortunately, undermines a brand's ability to identify a lead as well as the company they represent, which is crucial to creating a seamless customer journey that increases conversions and makes customers happier. Some B2B marketers have ultimately decided that it's no longer worth accepting non-corporate email addresses on their forms. To that end, let's quickly discuss the main factors that are currently influencing B2B marketers' decisions to accept non-corporate addresses; specifically, we’ll dive into Apple's new and improved 'Hide My Email' feature, how to use it, and its most notable pros and cons. What is the ‘Hide My Email’ Feature, and How Does it Work? Apple's latest efforts to drive consumer data privacy and protection through its services and products have resulted in a trifecta of privacy services for iCloud users. Among this... --- ### Here's How To Get More People To Fill Out Your Email Survey > It's not always easy to get people to fill out your email suveys, but they're crucial for making your business more successful. - Published: 2021-11-11 - Modified: 2024-06-29 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-get-people-to-fill-out-email-survey/ - Categories: Email Marketing When it comes to email surveys, you have to tread lightly. About a third of survey recipients tend to leave them unfinished, and the majority will dump them in their trash folders if they contain the word "Survey" in the subject line. However, surveys are critical for remaining competitive. They’re a necessary component in understanding your consumer's needs and making improvements to your products and marketing plans. It’s not just that surveys run the risk of being time-consuming and boring for the recipient; spending time putting them together can be futile because marketers aren’t sure how many people will actually fill them out. So, to simplify things and assist you in gaining critical consumer feedback, here are some best practices that will not only encourage your consumers to open your survey emails but also complete them. 13 Best Practices To Get Your Customers to Fill Out Your Email Surveys 1. It's All About the Subject Lines The email subject line is the first impression your recipients have of your email. It can be the deciding factor in whether or not your emails are opened. It's important to make the subject line stand out to set the tone for your survey. Before you craft your subject line, take note that surveys aren’t everyone’s cup of tea. No one wants to answer those "Make the Company Better" surveys, and if your subject lines mention the word "Survey," I'm afraid to say that you've already lost half the battle. Try to write a... --- ### How to Use Google Analytics to Track the Success of Your Email Campaigns > With the iOS15 privacy rollout, you need a better way to track the success of your email campaigns. Enter: Google Analytics. - Published: 2021-11-09 - Modified: 2024-07-19 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/google-analytics-email-campaigns/ - Categories: Email Marketing Are you sick of hearing about Apple’s iOS 15 update that rolled out recently? Us too. But unfortunately, something tells us we’ll all be discussing it for quite some time. This update changed email marketing. If you didn’t do much to prepare for this rollout, then you may be dealing with some unfortunate repercussions with your email marketing strategy right now. The rollout essentially made it so that Apple Mail users can now opt-out of certain email tracking. This means you may be experiencing things like: Inaccurate tracking of email open rates Limited access to IP addresses Lack of email segmentation capabilities around subscriber location Difficulty accessing real email addresses Needless to say, you should be making some changes to the way you track success from your email marketing. Luckily, there are different email KPIs to focus on, as well as other approaches for you to look into when deciding which campaigns are effective and which fall flat. And, at Benchmark Email, we made it even easier to link your email campaigns to real, measurable metrics. Let’s discuss how you can use Google Analytics to track the success of your Benchmark Email campaigns. Ready? The Perks of Using Google Analytics Let’s face it; not everyone has a big marketing budget. Accessing tools that offer backend website analytics can be an expensive and lengthy process. Each tool comes with its competitive advantages, and next thing you know, you’re signing up for something that has tons of features you don’t even need.... --- ### 6 Ways to Perfect Your eCommerce Journey Map to Create a Memorable Customer Experience > Making sure your eCommerce journey map is set up correctly and capitalizes on the right opportunities will benefit the customer experience. - Published: 2021-11-04 - Modified: 2023-07-19 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ecommerce-journey-map-customer-experience/ - Categories: Ecommerce Marketing in 2021 is all about providing the best customer experience possible. With so much competition out there, providing a first-class experience is the only point of differentiation for brands. A clear eCommerce journey map helps you achieve this. The results of creating a great eCommerce journey map are plain to see, as they lead to repeat site visits, brand loyalty, and ultimately more sales. It will also help you see where your marketing strengths and weaknesses lie, as well as unify strategies between different consumer touchpoints. In this article, we’ll look at an eCommerce journey map in detail below, cover the stages of the customer journey and then break down their creation into six manageable methods. What is an eCommerce Journey Map? An eCommerce journey map details a customer journey from start to finish. The beginning will be a potential customer’s first interaction with a brand, such as viewing an advertisement or discovering the brand through a Google search. The endpoint on this journey map is a sale. There will likely be many touch-points between these two places. Different customers can join the customer journey from different points on the map, depending on where they sit in the sales funnel. Consumers may also join the journey from different platforms, such as advertising, a website, or social media post. Stages of the eCommerce Customer Journey The eCommerce customer journey has three main stages. Bigger brands with massive product ranges, huge advertising budgets, and great swathes of content may find it... --- ### How to Create a Pillar Page that Ranks > Pillar pages are fundamental to an effective SEO and content marketing strategy. Here's how to create a pillar page that ranks. - Published: 2021-11-02 - Modified: 2023-03-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/pillar-pages/ - Categories: Content Marketing Pillar pages should be an integral part of your content strategy. Creating pillar pages is one of the best ways to strengthen your SEO strategy, boost your website traffic, and generate more inbound links to your website. A pillar page is generally a detailed guide or helpful resource on a specific topic. Most successful websites have multiple pillar pages, and these are often the main sources of new traffic. Here's what you need to know about how to create a pillar page that ranks and why it's important. What Are Pillar Pages? A pillar page is a high-quality piece of long-form content that gives readers a broad overview of a key topic. Articles and guides between 2,000 to 2,250 words usually perform the best when it comes to Google search rankings, but some pillar pages are even longer. Pillar pages are somewhat like a table of contents and often include internal links to pages that go in-depth on important subtopics. These are incredibly helpful for organizing your content, building links, and helping your readers find the information they need. Creating pillar pages is also an important part of a successful content strategy. Especially as your pillar pages can significantly help build your Google search rankings and generate more inbound links from other websites. How Should You Put Pillar Pages Together? Pillar pages help break down complex topics into easily readable sub-sections. For example, check out our pillar page on email marketing. This gives users a detailed yet easy-to-digest guide on... --- ### Email Deliverability 101: How to Get Your Message to Go Through > Here are the basics of email deliverability, including what email deliverability looks like, best practices, and which factors affect it. - Published: 2021-10-28 - Modified: 2024-07-01 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-deliverability-101/ - Categories: Email Marketing, Benchmark Recommends You have a message to get out, and it is probably an important one. Email marketing campaigns are designed to draw customers to your business, introduce new products and services, and share important announcements, and it is key that your customers actually receive your emails and open them to learn more. We have put together a guide to help you learn everything you need to know about email marketing deliverability, so you be sure your emails reach your recipient's inbox. What is Email Deliverability? Email deliverability is essentially the process of getting your email messages into the inboxes of the customers and subscribers you are trying to reach. Emails are an important marketing strategy of any business, and they can mean the difference between turning a profit and losing revenue. The first step to getting emails delivered to your customers is to create a way for them to sign up to receive your newsletter and other correspondences; this can easily be achieved by ensuring that an email form populates when someone visits your website. The visitor to your website will be prompted to enter their email address, which can then be automatically entered into your email contact list using your company's integrated CRM software. Why is Email Deliverability Important? Your email marketing success is dependent on your customers receiving your email! Your marketing team works hard behind the scenes to create a visually appealing email message that comes complete with colorful graphics, a catchy subject line, easy-to-read information, and a... --- ### 7 Customer Retention Strategies for Business Growth > Here are some customer retention strategies that will help you maintain revenue and see your small business grow. - Published: 2021-10-27 - Modified: 2023-07-05 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/customer-retention-strategies/ - Categories: Small Business Every business that has ambitious growth plans does everything within its capacity to acquire new customers. After all, more customers mean more revenue, isn’t it? Or, is that so? Turns out a business can continue to grow exponentially and also keep its costs down if it manages to retain customers. This is not wishful thinking. This is a solid fact unearthed by several studies. One study found that improving customer retention from 5% to 25% could result in business profitability improving from 75% to 95%! This staggering amount of business growth is a result of customer loyalty and ad hoc improvements. That said, acquiring a new customer is expensive and involves significant effort compared to retaining an existing customer. But is customer retention so difficult? Despite its best efforts, churn remains one of the biggest challenges for every business. This is irrespective of the size and nature of the business. The threat of competition offering better products and services at lower prices is real and omnipresent. Of course, there are several other reasons why customers decide to leave. Some of them are changes in their preferences, unmet expectations, better offers, etc. Given the fact that repeat buyers can provide more revenue for the business and that retaining customers is difficult, it is necessary to pay more attention to one business metric: Customer Retention Rate. Breaking Down Customer Retention Rate Customer retention rate is a metric that measures the number of existing customers who continue to be customers of the business... --- ### What are Core Web Vitals and Why You Should Care? > What are core web vitals? Why are they important? How can you tell if your website has good core web vitals? - Published: 2021-10-21 - Modified: 2022-10-28 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/core-web-vitals/ - Categories: Inbound Marketing When it comes to optimizing your website, you do so for various reasons. It’s important that your site is set up to generate leads, optimized for SEO, encourages more email subscribers so you can grow your email list, and that it provides an optimal user experience. You may not have heard of it before, but Core Web Vitals are especially important for increasing the experience of your users. Let’s dive into what Core Web Vitals are and what you can do to make sure your website has good Core Web Vitals. What are Core Web Vitals Web Vitals is an initiative by Google on how to provide a great user experience (UX) for the web. Core Web Vitals, a subset of Web Vitals, helps you to judge your website’s UX against a distinct set of UX metrics. Google intends to evolve Core Web Vitals over time. However, as of 2021, the current set of Core Web Vitals focuses on the following three areas of UX: loading, interactivity, and visual stability. These three areas are measured as Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), First Input Delay (FID), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS). Why Core Web Vitals Are Important In May 2020, Google announced that Core Web Vitals would be incorporated into Google’s Search Ranking Signals. What that means is your website’s Core Web Vitals will influence how well your website ranks in Google Search, along with many other ranking factors. Google began introducing Core Web Vitals to Google Search in June 2021 and... --- ### Affiliate Marketing 101: A Guide to Everything You Need to Know > Do you know everything you should about affiliate marketing? Here are the details and why you should consider an affiliate marketing program. - Published: 2021-10-19 - Modified: 2024-01-16 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/affiliate-marketing/ - Categories: Marketing For a small to medium-size business, affiliate marketing is an easy way to earn some extra revenue while keeping inventory and labor costs to a minimum. It is a marketing strategy that allows you to offer more to your customer base while capitalizing on the efforts of a brand partnership. Interested in learning more? Here is a quick guide to everything you need to know about affiliate marketing and affiliate email marketing. What Exactly is Affiliate Marketing? Affiliate marketing is a unique partnership between two or more companies in which one company promotes a product or service of another company and receives a small percentage of the sale if their directed traffic clicks through to the product or service and purchases it from the affiliate. Let's take a quick moment to examine Google AdSense as an example. Once you have established your company's website, you can monetize it by partnering with Google AdSense or a similar brand to place ad banners or boxes on the various pages of the website. Google manages what ads show up in the boxes, and your company receives a small monetary incentive each time a visitor to your website clicks on one of the ad boxes to be redirected to the affiliate website. In its early days in the dot-com scene, Amazon used affiliate marketing brilliantly to build its business. Amazon created an affiliate marketing program in which it invited other businesses to sell books and other merchandise through the Amazon website, and Amazon took... --- ### The Art of Sharing Milestone Emails with Your Subscribers > Does your brand create and send milestone emails to your subscribers? Here's why they aren't a bad component to add to your email strategy. - Published: 2021-10-14 - Modified: 2021-10-07 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/milestone-emails/ - Categories: Email Marketing Celebrate good times — c’mon! The milestone email is one of the different types of emails you should be sending, and it’s the easiest and most fun message to send out to your customers. You’re celebrating them for doing business with you, and you’re celebrating important company milestones along with them. Many businesses don’t know how to send milestone emails as part of their email marketing strategy or aren’t sending them at all. If that’s true for your company, you could be missing out on a big opportunity to strengthen your relationship with your customer. Milestones are a good time to remind your leads and customers of the value they can get from your business. By celebrating positive moments with your customers, you create a feel-good “community” effect that may lead to more referrals. There are two types of milestone emails: one for your brand and one for your customers. Each benefits your business in different ways. Let’s break down each to uncover why you should be incorporating these emails into your email marketing strategy. Brand Milestone Emails If you have exciting news, share it! Don’t you love when you have exciting news to share with your friends over text? You know they’ll understand and be happy for you. The same philosophy can be applied to your brand. Milestone emails for brands show customers and leads how well business is going while building good faith, brand awareness, and advocacy. What does your company define as a milestone? Strategize and start... --- ### How to Use Infographics to Generate Leads > Using multiple lead generation efforts is always a good idea. Here's how you can use infographics to generate leads. - Published: 2021-10-13 - Modified: 2025-05-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/infographics-lead-generation/ - Categories: Lead Generation Infographics are powerful visual communication tools. They have the ability to communicate information in an engaging way while holding the viewer's attention and persuading them to act. Bringing up infographics in a conversation likely leads to associations with creating brand awareness, increasing user engagement, and driving website traffic. What you may be surprised to hear is that infographics are also extremely effective in generating leads. In fact, conversion rates for brands that use visual content are seven times higher than those that don't. In this article, I'm going to explain how you can use infographics to generate qualified leads for your business. 1. Address a Pain Point Picture this: a potential customer arrives on your website, browses around, and leaves without engaging with your content. That's a lost opportunity right there. To make them stay and convert them into a lead, you need to offer something meaningful. Create an infographic that your target audience can derive value from. The infographic should address a pain point and imparts useful information while positioning your brand as the expert in the niche. Here are some ways to find customer pain points: Conduct email surveys and original research. Speak to your sales and customer service teams. Do keyword research to find commonly asked questions in your niche. Browse relevant forums and online communities. Monitor social media comments and reviews. You can also create an infographic to supplement another content offer, such as an eBook or whitepaper. Take this infographic Zendesk created to drive traffic... --- ### Turn Your Emails to Gold: How to Increase Your Email CTR > There's gold hidden in your email marketing, you just have to uncover it. Read on for tips on how to increase your email CTR and find gold. - Published: 2021-10-07 - Modified: 2022-08-26 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/increase-your-email-ctr/ - Categories: Email Marketing There’s gold at the end of the rainbow when it comes to your email marketing — you just need to make sure you’re on the right track towards finding it. Email has one of the most impressive ROIs of all marketing endeavors at $38 earned for every $1 spent. That alone should be a huge incentive to get it right. However, there are many less tangible benefits that are equally worth your pursuit — including increased brand awareness and recognition, higher conversion rates, and a more satisfied, more engaged audience. Of course, these benefits don’t happen overnight, nor are they a guarantee. To make email marketing work for you and reach that elusive pot of gold, you need to strategize. Set your sights on specific tactics and outcomes that can take your emails to the next level and help you get more bang for your buck when combined with other best practices. In this guide, we’re focusing on one of the metrics that play a huge role in the overall success of your email marketing: your click-through rate. We’ll be covering why it’s so important, along with simple things you can do to create your own luck and get more clicks that matter. What is an Email Click-Through Rate? Your click-through rate (CTR) refers to the ratio of people who click on a link in your email versus the number of people who saw it. For example, let’s say you send out 10,000 emails and get 2,000 leads to a... --- ### How to Include User-Generated Content in Your Emails > User-generated content can enrich your email marketing and lead to better results. Here's how to include it in your emails. - Published: 2021-10-05 - Modified: 2025-05-30 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/user-generated-content-in-your-emails/ - Categories: Email Marketing We all know that email marketing is a powerful tool. It's been around for decades and has proven to be the most effective way of communicating with your audience. But lately, it seems like many marketers have forgotten about the importance of keeping their emails fresh and exciting. The solution to this is simple - include user-generated content in your emails. User-generated content will keep your customers engaged, excited, and eager to continue reading what you have to say next time they get an email from you. The importance of User-Generated Content (UGC) User-generated content is a powerful thing. Not only is it entertaining for your audience, but it's also very useful because your customers are the experts on what they like and don't like. That means that if you're sending them email newsletters about a certain topic, they'll be able to tell you which emails were helpful and which weren't based on their preferences. Including user-generated content has another advantage - it greatly reduces marketing costs. When you include information that was generated by real users rather than paid professionals in marketing firms, your company will appear more credible to your readers. Your brand won't seem like a "sales" business trying to sell products or services to people at every opportunity. Instead, it will seem like the friend who cares about his/her other friends (customers) and is trying to provide them with the information they need. How to Gather User-Generated Content for Use in Marketing Emails The first step... --- ### Content Marketing: How to Put Quality Over Quantity > When it comes to content marketing, it's not about how much you can churn out. It's more about the quality of the piece. - Published: 2021-09-29 - Modified: 2023-03-23 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/content-marketing-quality-over-quantity/ - Categories: Content Marketing There are a few things in life where having more is better, even if the quality leaves something to be desired (see: pizza). But most of the time — and especially when it comes to your content marketing — it’s quality, and not quantity, that really counts. With so much content out there, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the key to competing is to churn out as much as you can. But to do so goes against the purpose of content marketing in the first place. Because in reality, if you really want to stand out and rise above the noise, you have to be producing content with value. And unless you have a team of people fully dedicated to researching, writing, and editing your work, publishing too much and too often probably means your content is lacking the care and substance it requires. If you’re going to do something, you may as well do it right. So with that in mind, here’s how to ensure that you’re always putting quality first when creating content for your brand. 1. Don’t Rush the Brainstorming Process There are endless topics under the sun to write about, but only a small subsection of those are going to be relevant to your brand. It’s important that you come up with content ideas that are (a) based on your own brand authority and (b) interesting to the audience that you’re trying to appeal to — otherwise, you’re just going to end up confusing your... --- ### Sales and Marketing Software Leader, Polaris Software, Doubles-Down on Customer Interactions, Surpasses 1 Million Users > SAINT LOUIS, MO, September 23, 2021 -- Polaris Software, a leading provider of sales and marketing software, announced today that the company has - Published: 2021-09-23 - Modified: 2022-08-25 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/sales-and-marketing-software-leader-polaris-software-doubles-down-on-customer-interactions-surpasses-1-million-users/ - Categories: Uncategorized SAINT LOUIS, MO, September 23, 2021 -- Polaris Software, a leading provider of sales and marketing software, announced today that the company has surpassed 1 million users through its global base of over 25,000 customers. Growth has been spurred by the demand from SMBs to market online and through strategic acquisitions. Polaris Software revenue grew by 23% in Q2 YOY and earlier this year, Polaris Software acquired contact management app, Contacts+ to fuel customer growth and bring new ways for users to ignite relationships. Polaris Software plans to leverage the intuitive contact management and intelligent contact enrichment features of Contacts+ to enhance customer profiles in their other products, BenchmarkONE and Benchmark Email, in 2022. The feature enhancements will give users more tools for increasing valuable interactions with their customers - a pillar of Polaris Software’s strategy. “In January, we championed Customer Interactions as our pillar for 2021,” says Polaris CEO, Jonathan Herrick. “We have a hyper-focus on helping our customers have more human interactions with their customers. ” Following the Contacts+ acquisition, Polaris shifted their customer interactions focus in Q2 to invest heavily in email deliverability for Benchmark Email. The deliverability initiative increases the number of emails to get delivered to the inbox, decreases global bounces by 2. 5 million per month, and increases the number of opens globally by 10. 4 million email opens per month. “We’ve launched substantial changes in Q2 & Q3 that will have a huge impact on connecting our customers to their customers,” Herrick says.... --- ### Why No One Is Opening Your Emails > It's frustrating when no one is opening your emails. But don't just sit there, do something about it. Here are some culprits to low opens. - Published: 2021-09-23 - Modified: 2021-09-17 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/why-no-one-is-opening-your-emails/ - Categories: Email Marketing Building a large email list is an important part of email marketing, but it’s only the first step — you need your subscribers to open and read your emails too. Are you crafting great emails, but having trouble getting your subscribers to open them? The good news is that you can re-engage your subscribers by following a few simple steps. According to Adobe, the average office worker spends five hours a day opening emails. In order to capitalize on this, it’s important to make sure your followers trust the value your emails will provide. Study your consumer demographics and target your list with content that appeals to them. Let’s cover some of the indicators as to why people may not be opening your emails. Apple’s iOS 15 Update The iOS 15 update puts privacy controls front and center for Apple and Apple Mail users. One of the major features that iOS 15 provides is that it allows users to mask their IP address so that marketers cannot access whether or not their opening emails (and where they’re opening emails from). Granted, users have to opt in to these features and be an Apple and Apple Mail user, but that doesn’t mean other email providers, like Gmail, may not offer something similar in the future. If this makes you unsure of how you’re going to track the success of your email marketing, make sure you look into other email KPIs you should be tracking. Low Click-Through Rate If you’re noticing your... --- ### Scaling Marketing Content: A Proven Way to Optimize Your Results at Lower Costs > Are you looking for a way to scale your marketing content and don’t know how? This article looks at all you need to know and more. - Published: 2021-09-22 - Modified: 2023-01-12 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/scaling-marketing-content/ - Categories: Content Marketing Staying updated in the fast-paced world of digital marketing may be challenging. Yet, it's crucial to adopt the latest strategies, practices, and innovations for worthy results. As such, it becomes vital for marketers to master content scaling to improve quick lead generation. However, content scaling remains an equally trying skill to execute – as you may know. Considering the resources, time, and mental energy it takes to craft unique marketing content, this difficulty is understandable. Outsourcing content creation is a viable alternative but not without its shortcomings, particularly failure to meet deadlines. Therefore, that leaves content creators with a clear option: master content scaling to deliver excellence within a budget. Fortunately, this walkthrough provides comprehensive step-by-step illustrations that may help scale content faster, better, and more affordably. Keep reading. Six Practical Steps to Produce Streamlined Content Marketing results don't always justify the costs incurred during the campaign. The use of small business marketing tools delivers profits only when it gets to the target audience. Let's find out how to do that. 1. Define Your Specific Content Type Correctly defining the content type to create requires adequate information on the target audiences, including their needs, optimum solutions, and how best to reach them. Therefore, in-depth research and business analysis are critical as both help identify trends, opportunities, and threats. Typically, most businesses prefer blogs and videos thanks to their relative simplicity and effective audience reach. You can choose any of these blog content subtypes: Case studies: to simplify understanding of a... --- ### How to Create a Company Email Newsletter in 10 Simple Steps > Your company newsletter doesn't have to take a ton of time. Here's how to create a newsletter in just 10 simple steps. - Published: 2021-09-21 - Modified: 2021-09-21 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-create-a-newsletter-design-in-less-than-5-minutes/ - Categories: Email Marketing Have you noticed that in recent years brands have started asking you for your email address before you’ve even ordered anything? Sometimes they’ll even incentivize consumers with a sign-up discount or loyalty program. Companies don’t just want to take your email address and call it a day — they want this information so they can build a relationship with you through their email newsletter. Email newsletters are a great way to maintain regular contact with your clients. They’re also inexpensive, compared to other forms of promotion. Especially when you consider the return on investment that email marketing delivers. The generally accepted stat is that for every $1 spent on email marketing, you earn $38. Let’s dive into some basics first, then discuss the how-tos for creating a company email newsletter. What Is an Email Newsletter and Why Do You Need One? An email newsletter is a series of emails, sent on a consistent schedule, around a central focus ranging from industry news to product updates and everything in between. Some brands use newsletters to inform email subscribers of sales or partnerships, while others are more content- and education-focused. No matter how you focus your company newsletter, it will serve as a touchpoint with your customers, a consistent form of communication that keeps you top of mind and reinforces your brand identity. But don’t we all get too many emails? Won’t customers be annoyed by your newsletter every week? Not if it provides value. As long as your newsletter meets your... --- ### Write Guest Blog Articles for Benchmark Email! > Are guest blog articles part of your content marketing strategy? Check out our blog guidelines to see if you might be a fit for our blog. - Published: 2021-09-21 - Modified: 2022-08-25 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/marketing-professionals-write-guest-blogs-for-benchmark-email/ - Categories: Content Marketing - Tags: Email Marketing, SEO, online marketing, Social Media, chris brogan, guest blogging At Benchmark Email, one of our biggest goals is to create high-quality content that speaks to our audience's needs. Part of reaching that goal means including the thoughts and real-life experiences of thought leaders within the space. We accept blog content from guest contributors, however, we're selective with the process because our audience deserves the best! If getting your content placed in online publications is part of your content marketing strategy, then we want to hear from you. But, there are some guidelines to keep in mind: How to Blog for Benchmark Email We're looking for serious, tactical content that deals with the following topics: Marketing and sales best practices Social media strategies SEO Online tools & applications Growing your company Inbound marketing PR & content marketing Email marketing Guidelines for Benchmark Email Bloggers If content isn't a fit, then it just isn't a fit, bottom line. We ask that contributors follow a process and guidelines to ensure a successful placement. Blogs must be at least 1,000 words. We do accept longer-form content as well, but anything over 1,500 words is too long. Blog topics should pertain to your expertise and speak to our audience of SMBs, marketing teams, and business owners. Blogs must be factual and helpful, not an advertisement for your product or business. Any overtly promotional content will be rejected. Images aren't mandatory but encouraged. Images always spice up an article and can provide concrete examples. If Guest Blogging Isn't Your Style... If writing articles isn't your... --- ### The Importance of Email List Maintenance > Email list maintenance can determine your deliverability and whether or not your emails are truly resonating with your recipients. - Published: 2021-09-16 - Modified: 2024-07-23 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-list-maintenance/ - Categories: Email Marketing, Benchmark Recommends Most of us know that building our email list is important, but many people focus too much on growth and wind up neglecting maintenance. Email marketing campaigns aren’t ‘one and done,’ and neither is your list. Just like your home, your body, and your relationships, your email list requires upkeep to stay healthy. Regular review and revision of your list is key to ensuring that all the right people are receiving your messages in their inboxes — instead of their spam folders. Why Maintenance Matters A healthy, up-to-date email list is worth the time it takes to maintain. In addition to weeding out disinterested parties (and therefore improving your conversion rate), the quality of your email marketing list is crucial to your deliverability. The presence of unsafe or typo-filled email addresses on your list is one of the top ways to hurt your deliverability, and the lower your engagement, the more likely your messages will land in spam. Strategies for Keeping Your Email List Healthy Now that you understand the importance of maintaining a healthy list, here are some of our favorite ways to do it! 1. Get Explicit Consent Whether or not it’s mandated by law, getting permission from your subscribers to email them has always been an email marketing best practice. Keeping your list limited to people who’ve agreed to be on it fosters brand loyalty and keeps your unsubscribe rate low. Plus, engagement is likely to be higher since your subscribers know your email is coming and... --- ### The Art of the Upsell Email > There's an art to sending an upsell email that is successful. Here are some tips you should use, along with examples. - Published: 2021-09-15 - Modified: 2023-06-28 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/upsell-email/ - Categories: Marketing Everyone loves to get free cake on their birthday. That elated feeling of getting an unexpected gift is one of the best parts of celebrating. Receiving upsell emails with a special offer is similar to getting a prize on your big day. Except you get a surprise from a brand that you love for being a loyal customer. The key to closing on upsell emails is to know your customer well so you can make sure that whatever upgrade or add-on you’re about to offer them will truly serve their needs. This is easiest with existing customers who are already familiar with your business. Targeting is crucial: the more you learn about your customer’s preferences, the better you can personalize your recommendations. Use tools like integrated CRM and marketing automation to store each individual’s customer order history, which enables you to better predict their potential future purchases or interests. Each buyer’s journey will be unique to them based on past purchases or interactions they’ve had with your business, but the bottom line is that if you’re providing a quality service or product, the customer will want to stay with you long-term. Just like discounts and promotions, hyper-personalized upsells can be a reward for your loyal customers, improving their experience with the products they already own and encouraging them to keep their business with you. Why Upsell Emails Are Good for Business Upsell emails build on the existing relationship you have with your customers and the stronger that relationship is, the... --- ### iOS 15 and Email Marketing KPIs to Focus On > With Apple's iOS 15 comes a need for marketers to focus on other email marketing KPIs aside from open rate. - Published: 2021-09-14 - Modified: 2021-09-13 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ios-15-email-marketing-kpis/ - Categories: Email Marketing If you aren’t yet aware of Apple’s iOS 15 rollout and how it impacts your email marketing, then we’re here to tell you you’re behind. Time to play catch up! This rollout changes how email marketers are able to track the success of their campaigns. Before we dive into that, let’s touch base on what Apple’s iOS 15 privacy features include: Mail Privacy Protection: Users can select privacy features that will essentially mask IP addresses and prevent third parties from being able to track email opens. iCloud+: This is a subscription add-on for Safari users that allows them to block sites from tracking them. It also allows users to see which websites their information is being sent to. Hide My Email: This is a feature within the iCloud+ enabling users to give sites "fake" email addresses. Keep in mind that these features are only available to Apple Mail and Apple device users. What’s more, these users will have to opt-in to these features in order for them to be applied. And, since some of these features are paid, people may not be jumping to use them. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t start adjusting your email marketing KPIs so you can be better prepared to more accurately measure and track success. The most threatening update is the Mail Privacy Protection feature. The biggest metric that this feature affects is open rate, and when you consider how much marketers rely on that metric to determine the success of their email marketing,... --- ### B2B Sales Prospecting: A Quick Guide > Having a steady stream of leads means having a reliable source for customer conversions. But it all depends on your B2B sales prospecting. - Published: 2021-09-08 - Modified: 2023-10-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/b2b-sales-prospecting/ - Categories: Sales A business needs to have a steady stream of buyers to find success. This requires seeking them out actively, but when you do, you need to make sure they’re likely to do business with you long-term. It all comes down to how you go about prospecting your leads. In this guide, we’ll discuss what B2B sales prospecting is, why it’s crucial to a healthy inbound funnel, ways you can find quality leads, and tons of tools to help you along the way. What is B2B Sales Prospecting? In B2B sales prospecting, you find potential business customers and apply strategies that compel them to do business with your company. These businesses may often make large purchases or turn your company into one of their suppliers, ensuring large one-time sales or long-term profits. Why is B2B Sales Prospecting Important? Here are some other reasons why B2B marketing is important for business: You can secure huge deals and recurring profits. Dealing with other businesses is not a small-time, one-off affair. Here you have the opportunity to get a big sale in one go or land long-term deals. You get industry recognition. The more you work with other businesses in your niche, the more word of your brand spreads across your industry, meaning more business opportunities for you. You get to build better, more lasting relationships with your customers. A good B2B marketing strategy will help you build strong relationships with businesses that stand to gain something from your company. How to Find B2B... --- ### 6 Tips On How To Triple the ROI on Your Lead Generation Efforts > Lead generation plays a huge part of increasing ROI, but how you go about doing it is key. Here are some tips that will triple your ROI. - Published: 2021-09-02 - Modified: 2023-11-10 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/triple-roi-lead-generation/ - Categories: Lead Generation Leads are the lifeblood of any business, and a good lead generation strategy is key to long-term growth. Marketers and agencies focused on ROI are great at crunching the numbers and acquiring new leads. Unfortunately, quality leads often get lost as the workflow continues on. Interested prospects get left on read, long-term customers fall off after a long period without communication, and yet the ROI is still going up. If companies want to see tangible growth that is accurately reflected by their ROI, then a holistic approach to lead generation is imperative. Acquiring new leads, following up with interested prospects, and implementing an air-tight lead generation workflow are all vital to tripling ROI. Increasing the number of customers certainly raises the numbers. However, there is much to gain from increasing the dollar amount in sales per customer over time. Even if a business creates an online ad campaign that gets record clicks, these leads can quickly cool off if their lead generation strategy doesn’t include retention and multiple touchpoints throughout the acquisition stage and customer journey. Let’s take a look at nine out of the box strategies that can help marketers triple their ROI: 1. Nurture Campaigns As browsers are increasingly doing away with third-party cookies and allowing more ad blocking capabilities, companies are in need of new means to target potential customers and increase the number of times consumers come into contact with their brand. Additionally, more customers are moving toward technologies, like voice search, that many marketers are... --- ### Your iOS 15 To-Do List from Benchmark Email > With iOS 15 on the horizon, now is a great time to use the reliable open rate data you have today to clean up your subscriber list. - Published: 2021-09-01 - Modified: 2023-01-18 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ios-15-to-do-list-from-benchmark-email/ - Categories: Uncategorized We already noted earlier this summer that Apple’s iOS 15 update is just around the corner - likely mid-September. As Apple rolls out new privacy protections for users, email service providers (like Benchmark Email) will have less data on some users. We’re excited to tackle this challenge head-on with the rest of the email marketing community. As marketers and as a software company, we’ve had to pivot time and again to changes in the digital landscape. This time is no different, and we look forward to innovating new ways to track engagement and get the most out of every email sent to your valuable contacts and subscribers. How will iOS 15 impact email marketing? If you’re like most businesses, you rely on email marketing to reach subscribers, prospects and customers to grow revenue and propel sales. You also most likely use email open rate as one of the metrics that determines the success of your email templates and the health of your email list. With Apple’s iOS 15 update, users will have the option to opt-out of email tracking - including when and where they open their emails. Experts predict that most will do so, as we saw with the iOS 14 update. With that last update, only 5% of users in the US opted-in to having applications like Facebook track their activity, meaning the other 95% of users opted not to be tracked. According to Litmus, Apple iPhone accounts for nearly 50% of all traffic to email clients. Which... --- ### How Email Marketing Can Be Used to Ease Customers During Supply Shortages > There are a lot of supply shortages right now, leading to stressed out businesses and angry customers. But email marketing can help. - Published: 2021-09-01 - Modified: 2021-08-18 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-supply-shortages/ - Categories: Email Marketing For so many of us, the pandemic has led to an increase in online shopping—we’ve been stuck inside, so of course, we’re scrolling through our favorite eCommerce sites trying to find a hint of joy. It's a totally natural coping mechanism for these uncertain times. But it wasn’t expected. Retail businesses and shipping companies across the world were hit hard by the surge in orders that COVID brought about. Supply chains ground to a halt, causing shortages of everything from toilet paper and hand sanitizer to lumber and paint. The Current State of the Customer Experience Between the sudden call for social distancing, the loss of a large percentage of their workforce, and manufacturing and inventory shortages due to the unprecedented nature of the demand, many companies struggled to meet consumer expectations. The customer experience became less than desirable. Customers became frustrated as their orders were met with backlogs and long shipping times, if they were even fulfilled in the first place. Complaints piled up in customer service email accounts. Social media was full of users tagging brands with stories of extreme delays. The effects of the pandemic on the business world are unlikely to be short-term. As Harvard Business Review put it, “the economic turmoil caused by the pandemic has exposed many vulnerabilities in supply chains,” but consumers' expectations aren’t going to adjust to make business owners’ lives easier. If anything, they’ll only continue to increase. So what can you do to keep your customers happy as you work... --- ### What is Search Intent and How Can You Optimize it? > Websites that focus on search intent optimization answer questions your customers have. Let's dive into everything regarding search intent. - Published: 2021-08-31 - Modified: 2022-08-25 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/what-is-search-intent/ - Categories: Content Marketing What is Search Intent? With the evolving digital world and consumers knowing what they want, it gets harder to engage them, and thus, search intent has become a hot topic for marketers. Search intent refers to the reason behind a searcher’s query on a search engine. Creating content to satisfy search intent has emerged as the biggest goal for Google since it not only means a better user experience, but the traffic caused by it also increases ad revenues. In content marketing, search intent should be a major part of the strategy. Why? Both mobile and voice search cater to audience's short attention spans, so the faster your content answers readers’ queries, the higher the chances are they’ll stick around. Why is Search Intent Important? Optimizing search intent ensures that users engage with your content for a longer period of time. This not only acts as a positive signal for Google to boost your website higher in ranking, but it also helps you raise brand awareness through the rankings, which drive relevant leads and prospects to your site. The more familiarity users have with your brand, the more relevant you become to them, and consequently, the more conversions and retention you can drive your way. What is Search Intent Optimization? Search intent optimization means giving the right answer at the right time and in the way your target audience needs it! That is, it is about meeting your audiences’ immediate needs and winning their hearts. It has become one of... --- ### Webinar Landing Page 101: How to Convert More Visitors Into Email Leads > Here's a deep dive into how to put together a webinar landing page that converts more visitors into email leads. - Published: 2021-08-25 - Modified: 2025-05-12 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/webinar-landing-page-101/ - Categories: Inbound Marketing To ensure the success of your webinar, you must get as many people as possible to sign up for it. The more people that sign up to attend your webinar, the more people you have to add to your email list and introduce your product or services to. Which is why it's crucial you put together an effective landing page. To create a highly converting page that turns visitors into email leads, it's always helpful to find a couple of good examples. While doing so doesn't guarantee you'll convince every visitor to join your webinar, the tips you'll gather should help maximize your conversion rate and help secure as many webinar attendees as possible. Let's cover some tips for putting together a webinar landing page that sees a lot of traffic and sign-ups, as well as some stellar examples. Determine Your Target Audience It's nearly impossible to target everybody with your webinar invitation, and honestly, you don't want to. You need to focus all your energy on getting the attention of people who will be most interested in your topic and make great potential customers. To discover your target audience, refer to your website's Google Analytics data. It will show you the demographics of your visitors, such as age, gender, geographical location, and more. To get additional insights about your visitors, you can embed surveys on your website. In those surveys, ask visitors what topics they want to see covered more on your site. This is also a great email... --- ### How to Update Your Old Blogs for SEO in 2021: 6 Tested Tips > There's a ton to gain from taking your old blog posts and giving them an SEO refresh. Here's how to go about doing it. - Published: 2021-08-23 - Modified: 2023-12-22 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/update-old-blogs-for-seo/ - Categories: Content Marketing You know how you keep getting notifications about updates being available for your smartphone apps? Well, your website wishes it could do the same for your blog posts. While some of your content may be evergreen and high-quality, other articles you wrote a year ago probably contain information that simply isn’t true anymore. But does that mean you should remove these posts? Of course not. There’s a much better strategy, and we’ll show you how to implement it. No need to hire an SEO agency. Read this article to find out how to update your old blogs for SEO and make them relevant again. 1. Cover the Topic More Thoroughly When updating your old blog posts, go back to the original outline and see if you could add new sections and subheadings to cover the topic more comprehensively. Many experts agree that adding to your word count - if it’s quality and relevant content, of course - is one of the best ways to skyrocket your older posts back to the top of search results. It’s important to remember that your job isn’t done after you hit the publish button - regular updates are crucial if you want to maintain the quality of your posts. 2. Merge Several Blog Posts A longer form is more likely to perform better when it comes to ranking than several short forms. There’s a simple solution to this - merge your posts! You can do this for shorter articles that cover the same or... --- ### 5 Crucial Transactional Emails Every Online Store Should Optimize > There are five transactional emails every eCommerce store should be utilizing. Here they are, and why they're helpful. - Published: 2021-08-18 - Modified: 2023-02-15 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/transactional-emails-2/ - Categories: Ecommerce Imagine how many online shops are competing with your business. Even if you don’t include eCommerce giants like Amazon, eBay, and Etsy, you’ve still got a lot of digital competition out there. So what can you do to make sure people shop with you? We’re seeing an increasing number of people ditch the global brands, favoring independent retailers in their stead. This is down to customer experience. Small businesses can offer a more personalized approach than global companies as they’re not working on the same scale. As it turns out... customers love this! An easy way to implement a personalized marketing strategy is via email. Connect with your customers, build relationships, increase retention and grow your online shop from the ground up with a killer email marketing campaign! Here’s how to do it. Why Online Shops Need Email Marketing When it comes to marketing your online store, email campaigns offer the best return on investment (ROI). Just check out some of these statistics. When compared with the other channels you’re considering, email has the highest percentage of company respondents deeming it an excellent or good channel for delivering a high ROI. Source As you can see, email comes out on top, closely followed by SEO. A good marketing strategy would mix several tactics to ensure maximum returns. You might want to think about running some paid and organic search utilizing an enterprise SEO agency or spending some time creating valuable content for your audience. Whatever tactics you choose to add... --- ### How To Manage Your Email Campaigns for Ultimate Success > Managing your various email campaigns requires an efficient process. We put together a step-by-step guide so you can do it right. - Published: 2021-08-17 - Modified: 2024-10-22 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/manage-email-campaigns/ - Categories: Email Marketing, Benchmark Recommends The magic of email marketing and what it can do for your marketing strategy doesn’t happen all on its own. While we all know that it’s important to create drip campaigns that cater to your audiences’ needs and provide them with resources that will help them navigate toward a decision, content is only one piece of the puzzle. When it comes to your email campaign management, it’s to strategize beyond the basics, optimizing not just your content but the ways that you manage your campaigns from the inside out. To get the results you’re looking for, you’ve got to start with the foundation of your email marketing strategy. Here’s how to maintain success and facilitate appropriate campaign management so you can connect, engage, and convert. Build Your Email List You can’t send out email newsletters without a list of subscribers ready to receive them, but how do you gather those email addresses? There are a number of ways to capture customer data to create your email list. Make sure that you make it as easy as possible to sign up for your email campaigns. This includes adding forms to your website that capture leads as they interact with your existing content and creating gated assets that encourage sign-ups from interested prospects. Equally key to your email marketing campaigns is to ask the right questions when you bring on a new contact. Make sure you ask things like name, email, industry, job title, company name and size, marketing budget, and anything... --- ### How To Start An Email Newsletter With Benchmark Email > Email newsletters are a key component of your email marketing strategy. Here's how to start an email newsletter using Benchmark Email. - Published: 2021-08-12 - Modified: 2021-08-06 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-start-an-email-newsletter/ - Categories: Email Marketing Email newsletters are an extremely popular route of communication for the majority of businesses. In fact, if you just check your email inbox, there is almost a 100% chance that you have received some sort of newsletter in the past couple of days. In fact, over 80% of B2B marketers make use of email newsletters for their content marketing. And there is a very good reason for that. In this article, we’re going to be looking exactly at how an email newsletter can benefit your business, some essential qualities of a well-performing newsletter, and even an easy-to-follow process for starting your own newsletter with Benchmark Email. What is an Email Newsletter? An email newsletter is the sum of the words that make up the term: the concept is the same as a regular newsletter. But, instead of appearing at your doorstep or your mailbox outside, email newsletters are distributed through (you guessed it) email. An email newsletter is just one of the types of emails you should be sending, but unlike other emails, it can have multiple purposes. The primary purpose, however, is to deliver informative content to the subscribers. It can also be used to let your users know about any changes within your company, new features added to your software, the release of new products, or for upselling opportunities. Email newsletters are sent out in certain time intervals: daily, weekly, monthly, etc. They are a great way to engage with your users, and by sharing snippets of your... --- ### Email Segmentation 101: What it is and How to Put it in Practice > Everything you need to know about email segmentation is covered in this blog post. Including ways to segment your list. - Published: 2021-08-10 - Modified: 2024-01-23 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-segmentation-4-ways-to-divide-your-list/ - Categories: Email Marketing, Benchmark Recommends As Matt Blumberg puts it, “Reaching the inbox isn’t your goal, engaging subscribers is. ” And sending mass, generic emails aren’t going to get you there. To keep subscribers engaged, you have to send personalized emails that feel like messages between friends. It all starts with email segmentation. This article covers what email segmentation is and how it’s critical for creating personalized emails. Read on to learn how to segment your email lists. What is Email Segmentation? Email segmentation is a prioritization technique where you categorize email contacts into different groups based on predefined criteria. Segmentation enables you to put customers who share the same characteristics in one group. For example, you could divide your email list according to customer interest, location, purchase history, customer type, and more (we’ll get into this later). Doing so makes it easy to personalize your campaigns and ensures every message is relevant to each subscriber. Sending emails that resonate with the specific pains, desires, and needs of the subscriber will boost engagement. Studies have shown segmented email campaigns yield a 90. 7% higher click-through rate than non-segmented campaigns. Alex Souchoroukof of Moosend says that for seasoned marketers, segmentation is very much a beginner’s technique, but you’d be surprised how many marketers neglect these tactics in their own campaigns. “It is a nice and excellent idea for subscribers to share their email address with you, but you don't optimize the full potential of your email marketing campaigns when you don't segment your email address lists.... --- ### Your Step-By-Step Guide For Writing A Blog Post > A lot goes into prepping and publishing a blog post. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to write a blog post. - Published: 2021-08-05 - Modified: 2023-01-12 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-write-a-blog-post/ - Categories: Content Marketing It’s never too late to step up your blogging game. Blog posts help bring more traffic to your website and generate new leads. They also help you establish authority within your industry. This explains why 86% of content marketers use blogs as part of their strategy. Whether you’re just getting started with blogging or are trying to amp up your efforts, we’ve put together this quick guide to blog posts — including what they look like, how to write one, and how to make sure your posts perform. Let’s get started. What Is a Blog Post? A blog post is a piece of writing that you publish on your website. It can be on any topic, though for the sake of content marketing, it’s best to stick to topics that are relevant to your brand. According to experts from content creation companies like EssayTigers when done right, a blog post can boost organic traffic, help you build brand awareness and bring in new leads, and, with a proper call-to-action, lead to conversions and sales. Types of Blog Posts There are lots of different types of formats for blog posts, and it’s a good idea to mix up the type of content you produce — this helps keep your blog fresh and also allows you to see what formats are most successful with your audience. Before you dive in head-first on your blog content, consider putting together a content strategy so you can use it to guide each blog post you... --- ### What is Programmatic Advertising? > Are you familiar with programmatic advertising? Read our blog post for a deep dive into programmatic advertising and its benefits. - Published: 2021-08-04 - Modified: 2021-07-30 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/programmatic-advertising/ - Categories: Marketing As marketers, there’s a lot we have to do for the success of our companies. We have to make sure our websites are set up for an optimal customer experience and that they add to a great inbound marketing strategy. We have to create content, publish and distribute it, and come up with campaigns that move our prospects towards a sale. And of course, we also have to effectively advertise our companies on various channels. That’s where programmatic advertising comes in. If you’re not familiar with programmatic advertising either in concept or in practice, then now is as good a time as any to learn more about it. Below, we’ll cover what programmatic advertising is and why it’s such an important strategy to consider, plus where to go if you’re ready to get started. What is Programmatic Advertising? Programmatic advertising is the real-time practice of buying and selling ad inventory. Instead of carefully researching and pricing out every dollar of ad spend, companies work with an automated system to instantly jump on the best ad impression opportunities around the web — often within just a few seconds of them becoming available. The Advantages of Programmatic Advertising If you’ve spent a lot of time doing AdWords research, then it’s probably not hard to see the benefits of handing the task over to robots. Automated advertising, just like automated email marketing, isn’t a replacement for human insight, nor is it a guarantee of successful outcomes. Instead, you manage, monitor, and modify your... --- ### Here's How Inbound Marketing Drives The Ultimate Customer Experience > Find out how you can use inbound marketing to create the ultimate customer experience, and what kind of benefits come with doing so. - Published: 2021-08-03 - Modified: 2023-04-26 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/inbound-marketing-customer-experience/ - Categories: Inbound Marketing Customer expectations have changed since the beginning of 2020. Research shows that consumers have become more thoughtful and selective since the pandemic. They want to build a connection with the companies they’re buying from. So, where does inbound marketing fit into all this? When done right, inbound marketing provides consumers with tailored content at each stage of the customer journey. As a result, the entire buying experience is relevant to the individual buyer, which improves the overall customer experience. In this article, we’re going to take a look at this in more detail, outlining how you can use inbound marketing to drive the ultimate customer experience. But first, let’s start from the top: What is inbound marketing? What is Inbound Marketing? Inbound marketing helps potential customers find your company by connecting them with valuable and tailored content. Unlike outbound marketing, it forms a connection with the audience. This could be in the form of ads, social media posts, emails, blogs, videos, webinars, or even landing pages with a direct call widget. But how exactly can you tailor your marketing to consumers? One word: Data. Companies collect data about their customers and use it to provide a personalized experience. That data could be anything from age and location to how consumers behave on your website. All of it helps paint a picture of what consumers want when they’re figuring out what to buy. Does Inbound Marketing Enhance the Customer Experience? Yes, it does. But it’s not as easy as you might... --- ### 3 Wellness Brands Sending Great Emails > The best way to get motivation for your campaigns are to see what other brands are doing. Here are some great emails from wellness brands. - Published: 2021-07-29 - Modified: 2022-10-21 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/wellness-brands-emails/ - Categories: Email Marketing Has there ever been a hotter moment for health and wellness brands? It seems like every year, people are becoming increasingly conscious of their lifestyle and habits. And experiencing a pandemic has meant that the market for healthy living has opened up in an entirely new way — people are willing to invest in their well-being more than ever before. When it comes to marketing, this sector faces some specific challenges. Authenticity is a critical factor in customer communication, and the foundation of the customer-brand relationship is trust. Once this is established, there’s no limit to how creative brands can get by offering their services or communicating digitally with their clients. Email marketing is an opportunity for personalized content, and this is its biggest strength. Here are some ideas that will help your subscribers open, read and click through your emails: Offers and discounts Scientific, data-backed information Updates relating to your product or service Personalized recommendations Online services, like booking appointments and buying products Testimonials that add credibility to your brand The health and wellness industry is diverse — products and services range from supplements and alternative therapies to fitness and rehabilitation. Here are some brands that are doing a great job at connecting with their customers through email campaigns. 1. Vital Proteins After becoming ubiquitous on social media, Vital Proteins has become a trusted name in collagen supplements. They also take a refreshing, creative approach to their emails, with light-hearted headlines and edgy design. Vital Proteins uses a combination... --- ### How To Implement an Effective and Seamless Email Marketing Strategy > Successful email marketing entails so much more than just whipping up some content and pressing send. Having a comprehensive strategy is crucial. - Published: 2021-07-28 - Modified: 2024-01-23 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/why-having-an-email-marketing-strategy-is-important/ - Categories: Email Marketing, Benchmark Recommends 2021 has a special significance for email – it’s been 50 years since email began! Who would have thought that it would revolutionize the world and business as it has? In honor of this momentous birthday, let’s learn how to strategically use email to take your business to the next level. But first, some fun facts. Even though email was invented in 1971, the first time it was used as a marketing tool was in 1978 by Gary Thurek. There is still debate as to whether his first email campaign could be considered spam rather than marketing. He emailed 400 users about his product and claimed to generate $13 million in sales, along with a lot of complaints! Later, in 1999, Seth Godin proposed an ethical way of using email for marketing. His proposal got him kicked out of the Direct Marketing Association. Yes, email marketing was that radical an idea! The story ended well, though, with Godin today being a star in the same association’s hall of fame. Today, there are 3. 9 billion email users around the world. And Godin’s ideas came to fruition – 90% of marketers consider email engagement the top measure of their content performance. From a customer’s perspective, 59% of them say emails affect their purchase decisions, and 80% of marketers agree that email affects customer retention numbers. There’s no doubt that your email campaigns can deliver outstanding results if you implement them properly. But how exactly do you do that? In this article,... --- ### How to Promote Your Live Streams with Email Marketing > You put a lot of effort into your live streams, so it's crucial that you promote them. Here's how to do so with email marketing. - Published: 2021-07-22 - Modified: 2022-11-02 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/promote-live-streams-email-marketing/ - Categories: Marketing With more than half of the world's population using email, it's one of the best ways to get your message in front of your customers and potential customers. Over the years, social media and messaging apps have been predicted to supersede email, but 50 years after the first email was sent, it's still going strong. In fact, in a survey of content marketers by the Content Marketing Institute, it was found that email was still the most preferred method of generating leads for their business. Dollar for dollar, you'll get better returns on an email marketing campaign, with $38 gained from every dollar spent. Email is great for reaching out to potential collaborators and your audience - we know that - so how can you use the power of email to promote your live stream event? There are some tried and true email tactics you can use, including: Using details and specifics. Getting the tone right. Using engaging content. Formatting your email correctly. Want to know more? Let’s get into it. Tactic #1: Be Specific About Your Event Dates The first tactic you need to know to get the word out about your video live streaming event is to include all the specifics your audience needs. Dealing with hundreds of replies asking exactly when your live event is and which time zone it's in will eat up your valuable time. Even if you think your event is super local, like a town hall meeting or live streaming a local play,... --- ### The Different Types of Emails and Why You Should be Sending Them > Are you maximizing on your email marketing? Make sure you're including these types of emails in your email marketing strategy. - Published: 2021-07-21 - Modified: 2024-01-23 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-6-types-of-emails-you-should-be-sending/ - Categories: Email Marketing, Benchmark Recommends Are you knocking it out of the park with your email campaigns? Any marketer would rarely answer yes to that question. No matter what your strategy looks like or how effective you think they are, email marketing mistakes happen, and results, open rates, and conversions can always be improved. There are different types of emails, and the ones you end up creating matter. If you aren’t sending emails your audience finds relevant, they’ll disengage and possibly unsubscribe altogether, which can affect your deliverability over time. An effective email marketing strategy goes a lot deeper than just a casual message to your email lists once in a while to let them know you’re still around. If you want to create emails that engage, delight, and convert, you need to be diversifying your efforts with emails that span a range of formats, purposes, and frequencies. This includes creating emails that cater to the various email lists in your arsenal. So avoid rapid unsubscribes and uninterested audience members. Below are ten essential types of marketing emails you should be incorporating into your email strategy and why they’re beneficial for not only you but your email subscribers as well. 1. Welcome Email A welcome email is so successful because customers are expecting it when they sign up and because they’re excited about your brand. This is when first impressions really count and when your customers are most engaged, so spend time and resources on creating an amazing first email. Some brands take it a... --- ### iOS 15 and How it Will Change Your Email Marketing > What do you need to know about the iOS 15 update? Everything. Here's how the iOS 15 update changes email marketing. - Published: 2021-07-20 - Modified: 2022-08-26 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ios-15-update-email-marketing/ - Categories: Email Marketing Marketers have been spoiled by the internet. Digital marketing, social media, and email marketing afford us tons of luxuries when it comes to tapping into our audiences and reaching them directly with our products or services. We’ve had it pretty good. Until now. As I’m sure you’re well aware, Apple will be releasing an iOS 15 update, which will change the privacy protections of its users. While this probably delights tons of users and makes a lot of consumers feel better about the security of their information, it will definitely disrupt the marketing industry, which relies heavily on accessible user data. Before you fully freak out, let’s examine everything about this update; how it will change the way you market your brand and how you send and track your email marketing. What is the iOS 15 Update? The release won’t happen until Fall 2021 (although that will be here before we know it). Basically, Apple will offer users of its Mail app the ability to select “Mail Privacy Protection” and limit the amount of data available to brands and companies that send them emails and use tracking pixels. More specifically, when users select this privacy option, email marketers will no longer have access to information like: When or where their emails are being opened Results from hidden pixels IP addresses, which means no more linking users to their other online activity Will iOS 15 Kill Email Marketing? Email marketing has been around forever. And it loves reinventing itself and claiming... --- ### Why Your Email List isn’t Growing: A Troubleshooting Guide > You need to build your email list in order to grow your business. Here are some reasons why your email list isn't growing (and solutions). - Published: 2021-07-15 - Modified: 2022-08-26 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/why-your-email-list-isnt-growing/ - Categories: Email Marketing If you’re a savvy email marketer, you know that your job is not only to create stunning and effective email marketing campaigns, it’s also to build a loyal, high-quality subscriber list of people who want to hear what you have to say. There’s no point at which you should rest on your laurels: it should be a continuous process of cleaning up your list and growing it. If your list seems to be stagnating, assessing these key points can help you troubleshoot and solve your issues. 1. You’re Not Tracking Site Activity Your website is a key source of email opt-ins, so don’t ignore its potential. Track your site’s activity to see where visitors are spending more time, what they’re skipping over, and which signup boxes they’re using the most and the least. These insights will help you understand what kinds of content can attract more people to sign up and where you should place your subscription form for maximum impact. Another important metric to track is your website traffic sources. Are your visitors discovering your site through a specific blog article that shows up in their search? Are they clicking through your social links? Keeping on top of this data will help you create more content that attracts traffic. It will also help you think of more creative ways to increase your website traffic, which will lead to more opportunities to convert that traffic to email subscribers. 2. You’re Not Using Pop-Ups There are various different website forms out... --- ### Ways to Create Visually Appealing Email Design > Make your emails more visually appealing and see your engagement rise because of it. Here are some tips for great email design. - Published: 2021-07-14 - Modified: 2024-02-27 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-design/ - Categories: Email Marketing, Benchmark Recommends Visually appealing email design can engage your target audience, showcase your brand message, and encourage subscribers to click your CTA. Since email marketing generates 40 times more leads than social media, it’s one of the most effective ways to boost conversion rates. This makes good email design more important than ever. But how can you create great email designs and newsletters that are both visually appealing and packed with helpful content? In this guide, we’ll share the most important elements of a memorable email layout. We’ll also discuss the types of visuals you can use that will step up your email marketing. 8 Essential Email Design Elements Start your designing process by creating an email template. This will act as the foundation for your email blasts. Create two to three templates to use for different types of messaging. Your templates should include the following elements: 1. Email Header The email header design is the first thing your readers will see. This is why it needs to be attractive and pull readers in. The following email header design is simple, but with the brand logo at the forefront, there’s no question who the email is coming from. The banner also outlines what to expect from the email content, which is a great way to entice recipients to keep reading. When you create your email template design, ensure you leave room for a branded header. The header doesn’t have to change very often, so one or two designs should be enough. 2.... --- ### What Is Email Throttling and How Does It Affect Email Marketing? > What is email throttling and how does it affect your email marketing? And how do you avoid it happening to you? - Published: 2021-07-13 - Modified: 2024-08-30 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/what-is-email-throttling/ - Categories: Email Marketing Email deliverability is one of the most critical factors for a successful email marketing strategy. After all, if your emails don’t even make it to the inbox, then they can’t inspire the action you want from your recipients. In this blog post, we’ll cover what email throttling is and how to avoid it. What’s Email Throttling? Email throttling is what happens when the receiving Internet Service Provider (ISP) limits the amount of email they can accept from the sender during a specified period. During throttling, your Email Service Provider (ESP) sends emails to a bunch of people, but only for the first few sends. The ISP prevents the delivery attempts of the subsequent emails, causing a soft email bounce. The refusal to deliver your email is usually temporary and may be accompanied by error messages such as: User is receiving mail at too great a rate right now; please try again later. Mail undelivered User’s mailbox is over quota You have reached your daily sending quota Even though the terms ‘email throttling’ and ‘deferral’ are used interchangeably, they differ slightly. During throttling, the ISP blocks the delivery attempts for your emails altogether. However, in deferral, the delivery attempt is successful, but the ISP temporarily rejects it and asks that it be sent later. What Causes Email Throttling? ISPs usually set limits on how much mail they can receive from a sender during a specific timeframe. When you cross the threshold, the ISP rejects your delivery requests, resulting in increased bouncebacks.... --- ### 4 Brands That Have Upped Their Audience Social Media Engagement > Building your social media engagement takes time and requires an effectie strategy. Here are four brands that know what they're doing. - Published: 2021-07-08 - Modified: 2023-06-28 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/brands-social-media-engagement/ - Categories: Social Media We’re always looking for new tips, tricks, and hacks for engaging with social audiences — and sometimes, the best place to look is at the brands that are already doing it right. You can learn a lot from what others have done to ace the game, and you can also pick up plenty of insider advice that you can then put to use in your own social media strategy. There are nearly 3. 36 billion people around the world using social platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat, and that number is expected to increase to almost 4. 41 billion over the next handful of years. And while you can’t engage with all of them, you can take steps to ensure that you reach and connect with more of the audience that matters to your brand. So who’s doing the best job of it? Here are four brands that have taken their audience social engagement to the next level, plus some takeaways that are worth adapting for your own needs. 1. Depop Instagram: 718K followers Facebook: 68K followers What it is: Depop is a peer-to-peer eCommerce site with 18 million users worldwide. They specialize in fast fashion alternatives and cater to a mostly GenZ audience. Why it excels on social: The Depop brand is built around social connectivity, so it’s really no surprise that their social media strategy excels at user-generated content. The brand makes impressive use of the content their users share, repurposing it to their own followers to double... --- ### How to Perform Effective Keyword Research > Your keyword research is at the heart of your SEO strategy. If you want your SEO strategy to be rock solid, here are some keyword tips. - Published: 2021-07-07 - Modified: 2023-03-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/keyword-research/ - Categories: Marketing Getting one of those coveted top spots on the search results page requires more than just a dose of good luck. In addition to high-quality content, you’ll need a targeted keyword strategy that’s specifically geared to connect with your audience. The better job you do choosing your keywords, the better chance you’ll have of popping up at the right time (and in the right spot) for a conversion. And with your site ranking high in search results, you have an increased chance at driving traffic and converting that traffic, growing your email list in the process. Seventy-one percent of marketers said that strategic keywords are their number one tactic for their SEO strategy. And considering that 70% of marketers see SEO as being a more effective form of digital marketing than PPC, there’s clearly a good reason to put effort into choosing your keywords wisely. Keyword research is an essential part of any content and SEO strategy — and it’s a bit more involved than just brainstorming what questions your audience might be asking online. In this blog post, we’ll go over how to perform effective keyword research so you can increase your rankings over time and get your content in front of prospects and leads. Know Your Industry Start out by identifying the general words and phrases that define your industry. These will serve as a jumping-off point for your keywords and can also be used to guide your overall content strategy later on. You probably already have a... --- ### 5 Types of Post-Purchase Emails to Boost eCommerce Sales > If you're looking to boost eCommerce sales, make sure you try these five post purchase emails to send your customers. - Published: 2021-07-06 - Modified: 2022-08-26 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/post-purchase-emails/ - Categories: Ecommerce In recent years, multichannel marketing strategies have established themselves as the cornerstones of contemporary digital marketing. In our current digital era, marked by this multichannel approach to brand communication, email marketing has risen to the occasion, becoming one of the most popular digital touchpoints and lead conversion tools. However, eCommerce brands sometimes struggle to keep customers engaged and interested after the purchasing process has ended. Luckily, email marketing can solve this problem. When it comes to email marketing strategies, no other approach keeps clients engaged, like post-purchase emails. Due to their engaging nature, post-purchase emails should be considered among the best email trends to look out for in 2021. If you’re thinking of implementing post-purchase emails as part of your marketing strategy, have a look at these five types to boost eCommerce sales. 1. Upselling and Cross-Selling Emails Also known as “product recommendation emails,” these messages are used to keep customers engaged in the purchasing cycle by giving them recommendations based on previous sales. Although upselling and cross-selling are not exactly the same, both strategies can be grouped due to their similarities. However, for clarity, let’s consider the key differences between the two: Upselling is a sales strategy used by sellers looking to entice customers to purchase more expensive items or spend extra money on upgrades and other add-ons. The ultimate goal is to generate more revenue. Premium options like same-day shipping or higher quality products are common examples of upselling sales techniques. Cross-selling is the process of pairing different... --- ### How Triggered Emails can Take Your Conversions to the Next Level > If you're looking to increase conversions (who isn't?) then it's time to tap into the power of triggered emails. - Published: 2021-07-01 - Modified: 2023-08-03 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/triggered-emails-conversions/ - Categories: Ecommerce eCommerce sales continue to set a new benchmark with each passing year. It is intriguing to know that 23% of small business owners feel the need to strengthen their eCommerce capabilities to survive in the post-pandemic world. It has become important to reach a larger audience and cater to the changing customer behavior to make sure that your eCommerce business drives conversions and flourishes. To beat the competition in the eCommerce industry, you must invest enough time and resources in your marketing strategy. Many marketers underestimate the power of emails and focus exclusively on social media marketing to promote their eCommerce products. However, that’s not the right thing to do. While social media posts are more like ‘spray and pray’ communications, email allows you to send customized messages to the subscribers at the right time. Triggered emails take the eCommerce email marketing strategy to the next level by serving as a source of passive revenue. So, which are the automated workflows that form a crucial part of eCommerce email marketing strategy? Let’s take a look. Triggered Email Workflows for eCommerce Industry 1. Welcome Emails Let me share some interesting statistics with you: On average, welcome emails drive 320% more revenue compared to other promotional emails. Another study has revealed that: The fact that your subscribers wait for welcome emails can be held accountable for this huge difference. The welcome email sets the foundation of your brand reputation and rapport with the customers. Use this opportunity to introduce your brand, share... --- ### Why Your Marketing Emails Aren’t Converting > Having trouble with your marketing emails? If they aren't doing a great job at converting leads to customers, here's why. - Published: 2021-06-30 - Modified: 2021-06-25 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/marketing-emails-converting/ - Categories: Email Marketing Not impressed with the performance of your email marketing efforts? Among all marketing channels, email has the highest potential to deliver growth, revenue, and ROI. So if your emails aren’t converting, you’re missing out on a big opportunity to increase your lead pool and your sales. In most cases, the problem with emails that don’t convert can be traced to your own email strategy — and not your audience. To turn your emails around, you’ll need to take a careful look at what you’re doing in order to take steps to resolve the issues. With that in mind, here are some of the most common reasons why emails fail, plus actionable advice for nipping them in the bud. Reason #1: You’re Not Looking at the Data Emails, like all marketing endeavors, need to be informed by data. Email marketing and automation platforms offer a ton of analytical resources and reporting that can assist you in tracking and testing how your emails are performing. And if you’re not digging into all of it, you’re likely unaware of key insights about where your strategy is falling flat. If you’re not already, start making A/B testing and data analytics part of your regular email marketing process. This is the only way you’ll be able to see what works versus what doesn’t — both of which can inform future decisions for more productive output. Reason #2: Your Copy is Boring We hate to be the ones to tell you this, but there’s a chance... --- ### 4 eCommerce Content Marketing Strategies to Boost Sales > If you're looking to boost sales look no further than your content marketing strategy. Here are four eCommerce tips that work. - Published: 2021-06-29 - Modified: 2023-01-05 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ecommerce-content-marketing-strategies/ - Categories: Ecommerce Content marketing has proven to be a reliable way to grow your eCommerce store. Want to build awareness and generate leads for your store? Content marketing will help you do this at scale. Want to outdo your competitors and rank higher on Google? Look no further — it is your best bet. However, we've been hit by a pandemic that left 51% of business owners on the brink of applying for bankruptcy. There's a lot of uncertainty as to when this will end, so it's easy to question whether content marketing will continue working for you. And instead of putting your budgets on hold, it's time to shift your content marketing efforts to focus on the content assets you already have to get more out of less. Here's how to do that: 1. Meet Your Customers Where They Are With the lockdown and the pandemic, consumer behavior has changed. On average, an internet user spends close to 6. 5 hours online every day. Data from Google reflects this trend through the products people are searching for online: Image Source: Think with Google Even with the pandemic, your consumers still have needs. They have just evolved to make their lives easier while spending time at home. From products to help run great virtual meetings to ergonomic desk chairs, or meeting schedulers, consumers are looking for specific items to boost their at-home workplace too. Think with Google has launched a new tool — Rising Retail Categories — to help you know what... --- ### Mobile Eye-Tracking and What it Tells Us About Our Emails > Let's dive into what mobile eye-tracking is and how it can help shape the way you go about putting your emails together. - Published: 2021-06-24 - Modified: 2021-06-24 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/mobile-eye-tracking/ - Categories: Email Marketing Did you know that nearly 81% of emails are opened on mobile devices? More and more, your subscribers are using mobile to read and engage with your email content. And while you already know that this means your emails have to be optimized for mobile through features like subject line and preheader length, image sizes, and layout, there’s more to excelling at mobile email marketing than just the obvious stuff. Case in point: mobile eye-tracking, an emerging way to track and optimize your emails that sounds like science fiction but is already here and ready to go to work for your brand. So what’s it all about? Here’s what you need to know about mobile eye-tracking — including how it can inform your email marketing strategy and make it a whole lot more effective. What is Eye-Tracking? eye-tracking, sometimes referred to as eye tracing, is a process that measures how a user’s eyes navigate a page. By analyzing both the position of the eyes and their movements, this tool can tell you exactly how users are engaging with your email. Equally important, eye-tracking can tell you how people are responding to certain key features, such as your email’s visuals, text, and layout, as well as responses to things like faces and numbers. Considering that so many people are using mobile to open emails and 80% of them will delete an email if it doesn’t look good on their device, it’s clear why a tool like this would have so much... --- ### How to Grow Your Subscriber List Using Benchmark Email > Our email automation tool offers you some great features that will help you not only engage your audience, but grow your subscriber list. - Published: 2021-06-23 - Modified: 2024-09-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/grow-your-subscriber-list/ - Categories: Email Marketing You know how it goes — the bigger your subscriber list, the better your email marketing campaign will turn out to be. On the flip side, with a less than stellar email list, your email marketing campaign is never going to skyrocket, regardless of how great your content is. There’s a lot riding on building an extensive and high-quality list, and that begs the question: where do you even begin? Every marketer knows that they need to work on growing their contact list, but not everyone knows how to do it as efficiently as possible. It can be quite a daunting task, too, especially when your goal is to organically grow your list to tens of thousands — or even hundreds of thousands — of subscribers. Enter email marketing automation, every marketer’s best friend when it comes to tackling this oh-so-important task. With the word “automation” attached, it’s a given that things are about to get interesting, not to say easier than ever, and we’ve got some tips on how to make it happen. The Importance of a Subscriber List to Your Inbound Marketing Funnel If you had to guess, what’s more effective: sending an email to someone who’s never heard of you before or agreed to be contacted, or sending an email to someone who purposefully signed up for information? The jury is well decided on the fact that people aren’t big fans of cold, disruptive outreach campaigns. On top of that, building your subscriber list in any way... --- ### Social Media Emails Done Right (How to Embed Social Posts and Events) > Bringing your social media channels together with your email marketing can be a simple strategy that reaps tons of benefits. - Published: 2021-06-22 - Modified: 2024-09-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/social-media-emails-done-right/ - Categories: Social Media Did you know that social platforms saw an increase of 1. 3 million users every day in 2020? And the number of active email users in 2023 is predicted to reach 4. 3 billion. Now consider the results if you combine the two. If you’re online, you can’t ignore either social media or email marketing. Both are indispensable to your overall digital marketing strategy. Both offer a feel of transparency, let you engage your audience more personally, and provide an incredible way to facilitate outreach. This article will help you embed all the popular social platforms in your email and reap a double benefit. How to Embed Social Media in Your Email It’s clear just how beneficial it can be to streamline both your email and social media marketing. Syncing these two platforms will help you: Build a profound sense of trust with your clients Extend the reach of your campaigns Recognize the industry supporters Increase the number of subscribers on your email list Encourage your target community to subscribe to your social channels Promote content to both social media followers and email subscribers simultaneously What’s more, embedding social media posts in your email campaigns will save your marketing team tons of time. As a result, it will help them focus only on more productive tasks requiring complete attention and taking the weight off overworked team members. If you make these two platforms work together, they will make a powerful pair. Keep reading to find out the best practices to... --- ### How to Get Other Sites to Link to Your Content (and Why You Should) > Improving your company's SEO involves various different methods, including acquiring backlinks. Here's how to get backlinks the right way. - Published: 2021-06-17 - Modified: 2023-08-05 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-get-backlinks/ - Categories: Content Marketing Content marketing as a strategy centers around the idea that providing value to readers will eventually convert them to customers. But, content creation isn’t just about the direct funnel from Google to your site to sales. Your content can and should help your peers, too – even those who might be seen as your competition. A more collaborative attitude can lead to ‘authority links’ – where a piece of content from an organization with a certain amount of clout links to your content for supporting evidence or further information. Authority links are great for boosting your search engine optimization (SEO) and improving your brand awareness, which in turn helps grow your email list and the return on your lead generation – and the good news is you have more control than it might seem over whether you acquiring backlinks target or not. It might feel like you’re just blogging into the ether and nobody is sharing your content, but fear not: there are ways to get other sites – great, popular, well-ranked sites – to link to your site, and it’s not as hard as it might seem. Why You Want Authority Backlinks Any link to your content will improve your SEO – boosting your content up the ranks of a Google search, for example – but the ‘authority’ part isn’t an empty qualifier. The more highly-ranked the linker is, the more that link means for your ranking, because according to the logic of search engines, quality sources only link... --- ### Is Your Email Blacklisted? Here's How to Find Out > Having difficulty getting your emails to the inbox? You could be blacklisted. Here's what being blacklisted means and how to check if you are. - Published: 2021-06-16 - Modified: 2024-08-13 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ip-gets-blacklisted/ - Categories: Email Marketing No one wants to end up on the email blacklist. If you’re struggling to reach people with your emails, there’s a small (but not insignificant) chance that you’ve somehow found your way onto a spam blacklist. These prevent your emails from ending up in your subscribers’ inboxes, which, as you might expect, is going to have a majorly negative impact on your ability to succeed with email marketing. There are hundreds of spam blacklists, and unfortunately, they sometimes catch the good guys along with the bad. So how do you know if you’ve been blacklisted? We’ve put together this quick dive into blacklists for email marketers, including how to check if you’ve been blacklisted and what to do if you have. What is Blacklisting, and Why is it Bad? An email blacklist is a tool that servers use to decide which emails should be considered spam and which shouldn’t. You have blacklists to thank for why you’re not constantly clearing out fake promos and financial “opportunities” from foreign princes in your inbox. They’re also why you might be struggling to reach your audience. Essentially, each blacklist serves as a filter that helps servers trap spam and keep it in the junk folder where it belongs, with various ways of parceling out the spam from the other emails being sent. This is why you might know blacklisting by its other common name: spam trapping. For the most part, blacklists do an excellent job at their intended purpose. But the ways that... --- ### 5 Emails for Summer Campaign Inspiration > These 5 brands send great summer email campaigns. Take a look and take a note for some ways you can spice up your summer campaigns. - Published: 2021-06-10 - Modified: 2022-11-01 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/emails-summer-campaign/ - Categories: Email Marketing Summer is here! It’s the time of year for taking time off from work and setting up much-needed vacations. Taking advantage of the warmer weather (or traveling to climates with warmer weather) is what summer is all about. And while it all may seem like fun and games, summertime is also synonymous with declining sales. After all, fewer people in the office means fewer people available to be sold to. If this sounds all-too-familiar, don’t lose hope. Tackling the summer sales slump just requires a creative approach and smart email campaigns. Before we take a look at them, these are some of the basics that you need: Have a subject line that hooks your reader and is relevant to their experience of summer. Use visuals that are on-brand but also capture the season’s fresh and fun vibes. Keep your messaging light and bright! These brands have checked off all the boxes and have added some extra oomph into their summer emails. Here are some of our favorites and why we think they work. 1. BaubleBar – Take Advantage of the Summer Holidays Holidays that fall during summer are always celebrated with a little more enthusiasm – people get together outdoors, splurge on new outfits, and freshen up their homes. And with the pandemic hopefully on its way out, all of this is going to be embraced with even more enthusiasm than before. BaubleBar got it right with this Memorial Day email. Check out the summer vibes and the product showcase... --- ### A Step-By-Step Guide for Adding Gifs in Your Emails > Make your campaigns more engaging and fun with gifs. Not sure where to start? Here's a step-by-step guide for adding gifs in your emails. - Published: 2021-06-08 - Modified: 2022-10-21 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/getting-it-right-gifs-and-memes-in-email-campaigns/ - Categories: Email Marketing - Tags: email, campaign, meme Do you say G-IF or J-IF? We haven’t made up our minds either – but what we know for sure about GIFs is that they’re a fun, interesting, and effective tool to make your emails engaging. If you’ve been on the fence about including GIFs in your brand emails, here are some numbers about them that may sway your decision: Using gifs can increase your click-through rate by 26% (Email Institute) Emails with GIFs saw a 12% increase in revenue when compared to static emails (BlueFly) 51. 28% of email marketers now use GIFs (Litmus). Growing popularity is proof that it works! 53% of customers want to see more video-based formats from brands (Hubspot) GIFs started inching towards the limelight after a wildly successful email campaign by Dell back in 2012. They decided to break the mold and take a risk, which paid off. The response was better than they’d hoped – a 103% increase in conversion and a 109% boost in revenue. Are you convinced? If you want to start using GIFs in your campaigns, read on to learn how you can use this simple animated format to leave a lasting impression and move your customers to action. The Dos and Don’ts of using GIFs in Your Emails (with Examples! ) Yes, GIFs work – if you use them right. Here are some dos and don’ts to help you get started: 1. DO keep Them On-Brand Experimenting is great, but a GIF or animation that is entirely off-brand could... --- ### Understanding the Marketing Mix Concept - The Four Ps > In order to effectively marketing and sell your product, you have to fully understand the marketing mix concept, and the "4 Ps." - Published: 2021-06-03 - Modified: 2022-08-26 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/marketing-mix-concept/ - Categories: Marketing What makes a successful marketer? One who succeeds in determining the right product and positioning, setting the right price, and using the right method for promoting it. Unfortunately, these achievements are not an easy feat and require a lot of research and effort to make work. If you aren’t able to achieve even one of the four elements mentioned above, a promising service or product can fail and lead to substantial losses. This is why the marketing mix concept is important. It takes a product and puts it in front of the right people at the right time, shaping a successful product offering. What is the Marketing Mix? Businesses have always used a variety of marketing tools and methods to sell and promote their products. However, the marketing mix concept goes as far back as 1948. Professor James Culliton of Harvard University published an article, “The Management of Marketing Costs,” describing marketers as the “mixers of ingredients. ” Later, his colleague, Professor Neil Borden, published a reflective article that was influenced by Culliton’s idea of “mixers,” popularizing the concept of “marketing mix. ” Some of the detailed ingredients of the marketing mix within Borden’s article included: Product Price Planning Distribution Branding Packaging Promotions Eventually, these several items were classified as the 4 Ps of marketing. The Purpose of the Marketing Mix The marketing mix, or “4 Ps,” was developed and formalized over the years by experts to safeguard the creation and execution of an effective and successful marketing strategy. Using... --- ### Permission-Based Selling: What Is It and Why Does It Work? > You've heard of permission-based emails, but have you heard of permission-based selling? Here's what it is and how to use it. - Published: 2021-06-01 - Modified: 2021-05-27 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/permission-based-selling/ - Categories: Sales Most people receive a lot of emails every day. Sifting through what’s relevant and what’s not is a big job that, for obvious reasons, has been dialed back into a rote process: Do I know this sender? Did I ask for this? No? Click delete and move on. This method works great for culling our own personal inboxes, but when you’re trying to reach — and convert — a prospect, you don’t want to risk going straight to the trash folder. Herein lies the beauty of permission-based selling. By getting permission first, you increase your chances of not only getting eyes on your message but of getting a positive and productive response. And this same rule of thumb applies to other modes of outreach, too, including phone calls and in-person drop-ins. You’re probably familiar with permission-based email marketing, but what about permission-based selling? Here’s what to know, including what makes it so effective. What is Permission-Based Selling? Permission-based selling is a sales strategy that revolves around getting direct permission from a lead for outreach before engaging via phone, email, or other sales-driven mediums. The principles behind this tactic are similar to those behind opt-in email marketing, with the idea being that a lead who gives their express permission to hear from you is more likely to be interested in what you have to say — and what you have to sell. At least 50% of your prospects aren’t a good fit for what you sell, and among those who are,... --- ### 5 Best Omnichannel Marketing Practices to Grow Your eCommerce Business > Relying on one channel to grow your business isn't feasible or smart. Here are give omnichannel marketing practices to try for growth. - Published: 2021-05-27 - Modified: 2025-05-12 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/omnichannel-marketing-practices/ - Categories: Ecommerce Consumers engage with their favorite brands through multiple channels. They're using a combination of web, social media, email, and live chat to buy products online. And they're doing so from different devices - smartphones, tablets, and desktops. It's more important than ever for businesses to align their marketing strategies to create a more consistent shopping experience and increase engagement. Implementing an omnichannel marketing strategy is far from easy, but it can help you retain more customers and boost your bottom line. In this article, we'll look at omnichannel marketing best practices that you can implement to grow your eCommerce business. What is Omnichannel Marketing? Omnichannel marketing is the process of providing a seamless shopping experience across all digital channels to your customers. The goal is to strengthen your brand message and drive more profitable action. Here are some examples of omnichannel marketing: A customer buys a product online and picks it up in-store, where a rep has everything ready for them. A customer receives an SMS message alerting them about an ongoing sale while in-store. A customer sees a retargeting ad on Facebook with a product they added to their shopping cart but didn't complete. A customer receives an offer from SwagBucks via email and completes their purchase through a mobile app. Each channel complements one another as the customers seamlessly move from one touchpoint to the next. Why is Omnichannel Marketing Important? Consumers today aren't just relying on a single channel to make a purchase. A global survey on... --- ### 4 Ways Instagram and Email Marketing Can Work Together > There are some creative ways you can promote your Instagram in your email marketing, and your email marketing on your Instagram. - Published: 2021-05-20 - Modified: 2023-08-16 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/instagram-and-email-marketing/ - Categories: Social Media When you’re just starting a business, Instagram might be the first platform you think of to help build your brand — it’s unbeatable in terms of growth and brand discovery. But as your brand gets bigger, you’ll realize that it shouldn’t just be all about the likes, follows, and views. You have to find a way to speak to your customers directly; you have to get into their inbox. Why? Because on social media, you’re relying on algorithms and timing to get your message across. But with email marketing, your message will be hand-delivered. For optimal success, your marketing strategy must include both. But how do Instagram and email marketing work off one another? The answer may not be so clear, so we’ve listed four of the best ways to bring your Instagram and email marketing together. Let’s dive in. 1. Flaunt Your Feed A lot of effort goes behind creating an Instagram feed that’s on-brand, so why not promote it on other channels, such as your email list? People enrolled in your email marketing are already engaged. They’re customers and potential customers who may not be following you on Instagram just yet, but you know that they want to see more content from you (because why else would they opt-in to your email marketing? ) Most companies would have a standard social media follow button placed on each newsletter’s footer, but this may not be enough to capture attention. Instead, include a snapshot of your Instagram feed in your... --- ### How to Harness Facebook Video Ads to Grow Your Email List > Facebook video ads are a great marketing tool at your fingertips. Here's how to use them to grow your email list (and why you should). - Published: 2021-05-19 - Modified: 2025-05-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/facebook-video-ads-grow-email-list/ - Categories: Lead Generation Email marketing is one of the most effective digital marketing strategies that help small businesses to grow and maintain their client roster. It is a conversion-rich strategy to keep your customers up to date about your business and foster a better relationship with them. Email marketing also promises a lucrative return on investment -- it is estimated that for every dollar spent towards email marketing, the average returns are around $42. It is also the third most popular content distribution channel, ranking right after social media and corporate websites. However, while getting started with an email list is indeed challenging, growing the email list is a bigger issue for many. Pinning your hopes on sign-up forms or organic traffic to your website alone may not be sufficient for building a solid email list. Moreover, if you are solely dependent on social media to get more people to discover your business, you are up against an unpredictable algorithm to determine the fate of your content and the number of people who view it. That's why you need an effective strategy that increases your subscribers, and utilizing the power of Facebook video ads can help. Let's take a closer look at Facebook video ads as one of the most effective methods to grow your email list and how you can create ads that are attention-grabbing. Why do Facebook Video Ads Make it Easier to Acquire More Subscribers? Facebook video ads are paid ad placements where a video features on pre-arranged locations of... --- ### The Loss of Third-Party Cookies is a Bigger Issue Than You Think > What does the loss of third-party cookies mean for marketers and digital advertisers? We break it all down in this blog article. - Published: 2021-05-18 - Modified: 2021-05-13 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-loss-of-third-party-cookies/ - Categories: Marketing If you have a well-developed digital marketing and advertising strategy, you’ve probably already been warned about the impending death of third-party cookies. Depending on your news source, however, you will likely have one of two quite extreme views on this subject. Either, according to some, the end of third-party cookies is an apocalypse for online business, or, according to others, it’s not something we should be that worried about. The truth, as ever, lies somewhere in between these extremes. In reality, the loss of third-party cookies is going to have a huge impact on how we perform web page tracking – more perhaps than how the GDPR affects online business. Luckily, there are also ways of mitigating this impact, and even of emerging from this crisis with a stronger company than ever before. In this article, we’ll strip away the hype and show you how to prepare for the death of third-party cookies. What are Third-Party Cookies? Let’s get the basics out of the way first, so everyone is up to speed. Third-party cookies (sometimes referred to as just 3P cookies) are small files that store data about a user’s web experience across a range of websites. As explained in this step-by-step guide to webpage tracking, third-party cookies can be used by advertisers to gather personal information on website visitors that can then be used to target ads more narrowly. Though third-party cookies are not going to be banned outright, as of next year, they will not be supported on... --- ### The Correlation and Impact of SEO on Lead Generation > SEO influences your lead generation efforts in more ways than one. Read our blog post for a deep dive into the correlation between the two. - Published: 2021-05-13 - Modified: 2025-05-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/seo-and-lead-generation/ - Categories: Lead Generation Lead generation isn't easy by any means, and it's one of the most challenging aspects of marketing that businesses face online. It may not be a major challenge getting followers or views on social media, but driving traffic to your site and turning visitors into potential customers is another game entirely. How do you optimize your site to not just fulfill a viewer's immediate need but collect their info? It takes more than the power of persuasion to make a visitor a lead. Strong lead generation requires a dynamic SEO strategy designed to meet your current needs and help you acquire enough customers to help your business grow. Sustainability and growth have to be handled parallel; if you try to prioritize them together, one always suffers. SEO allows you to satisfy returning customers while gradually attracting new ones as well. In addition, search engine optimization for lead generation also helps you build brand awareness. What Is Lead Generation? Potential customers are leads that you follow and target to convert into paying customers. Those who land on your site aren't automatically guaranteed to become a customer. The process of converting another viewer into a customer is called the buyer's journey, and it occurs through a personalized sales funnel that you develop. The sales funnel addresses the various questions that arise as people move toward a purchase and can enter at any stage, and you need to have a firm grasp on how each one differs in order to provide the most... --- ### Top Lessons From Fashion Brands That Create Runway-Worthy Emails > The best way to learn is by example. Here are some great email examples, and lessons, from top fashion brands. - Published: 2021-05-12 - Modified: 2022-08-26 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/fashion-brands-emails/ - Categories: Email Marketing Vaccination cards are being flaunted, and people are stepping out again just in time for summer! After a whole year of lounging around at home in sweatpants, people are ready to update their spring and summer wardrobes, making it the perfect time for fashion brands to show up big in customers’ inboxes. Fashion is the most obvious outward reflection of an individual’s style. It’s visual and personal, which makes for incredible email marketing opportunities. But if you aren’t in the fashion business, there’s still tons you can learn from what brands are doing and how they’re appealing to their audiences. Which is why we’ve rounded up some of our favorite fashion brands that are winning the email marketing game, along with key lessons any brand can use for their email strategy. Let’s dive in. 1. ASOS Knows How to Incentivize ASOS is fun, fresh, and quirky — and their emails reflect this about their brand. One of ASOS’s most successful email strategies is the use of incentives. They give you clearance sales, birthday promos, festive offers, and more. Email is their way of communicating offers earlier than anyone else and with more context. Check this email out, for instance. They not only have an attractive up to 70% off offer, but they’ve also segmented this further into items under GBP 15, 20, 25, and 30 — which gives subscribers an even more tempting incentive to click through to. Source Another clever move is the mention of popular brands that are... --- ### Stop it Before it Happens: 8 Tactics to Avoid Declining Sales > Summer is notorious for being slow for sales. Here are some ways you can avoid declining sales proactively. - Published: 2021-05-11 - Modified: 2022-02-09 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/avoid-declining-sales/ - Categories: Sales Summer is great for a lot of things, including long days at the pool or beach, boisterous backyard barbecues, and catching up on all the sunshine you missed over the winter months. What summer is not so great for, unfortunately, is sales. The reasons for the summer sales slump vary but seem to boil down to the fact that people are more busy enjoying the weather than engaging with businesses. Likewise, your sales team may be equally eager to get out into the sun, and in turn, a bit less invested in their day-to-day tasks. Maybe you’ve noticed the summer slump yourself. Or maybe you’re dealing with declining sales at a different time of year and for different reasons. Either way, if your sales are down, then you need to be taking specific steps to remedy the situation. There are also things that you should be doing to avoid slumps entirely and keep your sales on pace regardless of what’s going on around you. Here are eight things that you can do to prevent declining sales and to help ensure you’re doing everything you can to meet or exceed your goals. 1. Understand Why Sales Slumps Happen We’ve mentioned one type of dreaded sales slump, but summer trends aren’t the only thing that may be at play when you start to see your sales dip. There are lots of different attributable reasons why your sales might be going down, and in order to remedy them, you need to be able... --- ### How to Use Visual Content to Boost Your Customer Base > Creating visual content is great for creativity and boosting engagement with your audience. Here's how it can increase your customer base. - Published: 2021-05-06 - Modified: 2023-08-22 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/visual-content/ - Categories: Content Marketing One of the major lessons marketers have learned over the last year is that text-heavy content isn’t enough to generate interest. Visual content is the way forward. There is so much more content available online now. Put yourself in your customers’ shoes—what would they prioritize when there are so many choices? The answer is visual content. Text, as descriptive and powerful as it is, requires labor from the user. The harder a user has to work, the less likely they are to engage with the content. It is a marketer’s job to ensure that customers don’t have to do that work. Circumvent that problem by using visuals, especially since 65% of the population learn visually. With increasing data literacy among marketers, brands are now able to design more powerful and memorable visuals. So, what is visual design? What is Visual Content Design? All the visual elements that are included on blogs, websites, landing pages, apps, social media, and even newsletter ideas fall into the category of visual design. These can be subdivided into more categories. For example, blog banners, brochures samples, flyers, posters, and social media posts. We will break down the primary types of visual content in marketing below. How Important is Visual Content in Marketing? What is the purpose of visual content marketing? To drive and scale brand awareness, business growth, and revenue generation. Visuals also help break up the monotony of text to increase user retention on a page. Not to mention the impact visual content can... --- ### Get Your Business Blooming with These Spring Email Ideas > Spring has sprung! Here are some great spring email ideas and examples for you to incorporate into your email strategy. - Published: 2021-05-05 - Modified: 2023-01-12 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/spring-email-ideas/ - Categories: Email Marketing As the winter cold dissipates and the vaccine continues to roll out, more people will be heading outside. We’re entering the season of farmer’s markets, outdoor dinners, sight-seeing, and vacation planning. For businesses, Springtime is a breath of fresh air and time to reassess goals and strategies. Brands that have already begun focusing on how to make the most of this opportune time will be miles ahead of the rest. With people currently engaging in and planning for different ways to spend their money, it’s prime time for businesses to get their attention. This means making sure you ramp up your marketing strategies, outline your sales plan, and map out your email marketing so you can capitalize on the commerce possibilities that come with the changing season. Instead of relying on old tactics to garner attention, it’s time to incorporate more fresh ideas into your email marketing strategy. And what better way to do that than to check out some great examples? We’ve pulled together some great Spring email templates and ideas for you to use as inspiration. Let’s take a look! 1. Awaken the Senses Spring is the time to embrace the new season, one filled with fresh smells, blooming florals, and vibrant colors. After a year that felt more like a never-ending day playing on repeat, we all need something novel to shake things up. Use the fresh feelings associated with Spring to inspire your email campaigns and appeal to the sense of your readers Source In this... --- ### What is the Difference Between Earned, Owned, and Paid Traffic? > We break down three of the main web traffic sources: earned traffic, owned traffic, or paid traffic, and why each are important. - Published: 2021-04-29 - Modified: 2023-04-12 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/earned-owned-and-paid-traffic/ - Categories: Inbound Marketing Growing your email list means you have more and more leads to engage with, nurture, and potentially convert to new customers. There are various ways to grow your list, but most of them involve increasing your site traffic. And when evaluating your site traffic and determining where it’s coming from, it’s important to be able to tell the difference between three of the main sources: earned, owned, and paid. Identifying your traffic sources is key for determining where you need to put your resources and where your resources are currently going the furthest. And because your traffic will likely be achieved through a combination of earned, owned, and paid mediums, you’ll need to be able to differentiate what’s coming from where. Let’s dive into each avenue and break down what they look like so you can better identify the most promising channels for generating site traffic and ultimately growing your email list. What is Earned Traffic? Earned traffic comes from web content produced by outside sources. Earned media can be stimulated by paid and owned media since someone might see a paid or organic ad and then share information about your company via digital word of mouth. In large part, though, earned traffic remains out of your hands. Examples of methods that generate earned traffic include: Social media posts from other brands or accounts that mention your company and link back to your site content Industry blogs or online publications that include links back to your blog content or site... --- ### 10 Kinds of Content You Should Already Be Creating > If you're late to the content game, it's time to play catch-up. Here are ten types of content you should already be creating. - Published: 2021-04-28 - Modified: 2023-01-05 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/content-you-should-already-be-creating/ - Categories: Content Marketing You probably already know that content marketing can do amazing things for your business. There are tons of content marketing tools you could be using, but none are much use if you don't know what types of content you should be focusing on. Whether you’re just getting started with a content marketing strategy or you’re trying to refine an existing one, focus on the types of content that meet your needs both in terms of tactic and identity — i. e. , content that helps you rank and reaches your core audience while also furthering brand integrity and relevance. With that in mind, here are the ten types of content you should definitely be incorporating into your strategy. 1. Long-Form Blog Posts Give your readers some credit when it comes to their attention span. There are plenty of people out there who are eager to engage with long-form content. And it definitely doesn’t hurt that the search engines like it, too. Longer content (think 2,000 words and up): Gets more links, social shares, and organic traffic Ranks higher in Google’s search results Holds engagement longer Don’t try to make all blog posts clock in at 2,000+ words, but do try to incorporate long-form content like how-to guides and in-depth analyses to take advantage of those benefits. 2. Short-Form Blog Posts Short-form content is concise and to the point, which makes it great for things like getting that coveted featured snippet or racking in traffic for a commonly queried search phrase.... --- ### Proven Psychology Tactics To Drive Sales With Content Marketing > Marketers actively use psychology to sell. It is much more effective to use background knowledge in human behavior than trying to figure out every - Published: 2021-04-27 - Modified: 2022-08-26 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/proven-psychology-tactics-to-drive-sales-with-content-marketing/ - Categories: Content Marketing Marketers actively use psychology to sell. It is much more effective to use background knowledge in human behavior than trying to figure out every customer and hope for the better. By learning psychology tactics, marketers are able to sell more, connect with customers on all levels, and show that they truly understand their struggles and desires. Overall, psychology in marketing helps to make more informed decisions and connect to bigger audiences with better outcomes. Content marketing can use some knowledge in psychology too. These psychology tactics will help you to build trust, keep prospects engaged and stay even for the long reads, and sell effectively with words and design. 1. Refer To Emotions Every marketer knows that there are two tactics: addressing the fear of loss or creating urgency that builds a motivation to buy. Content marketing is a perfect platform to use those. Both pictures, words, and hard numbers are used to build a perfect picture or become the Ghost of Christmas Future. For example, when the company is focused on fitness and weight loss, they are likely to show a great “after. ” They actively use stories of people who found their love, got a promotion, or gained confidence after they focused on their health. Consequently, you can encourage people to achieve their goals by sharing success stories or studies on how life can become better after putting your health first, traveling, digitizing healthcare, etc. , and then add that your product can help them in the process... --- ### Website Forms 101: The Various Types, Where to Put them, and How to Make Them Effective > Learn everything you need to know about website forms, including the various types, where to put them on your website, and more! - Published: 2021-04-21 - Modified: 2024-01-23 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/website-forms-101/ - Categories: Inbound Marketing, Benchmark Recommends Website forms are essential for your inbound marketing strategy. Used strategically, they can turn a regular site visitor into a lead you can nurture and eventually convert to a customer. And if you’re one of the 63 percent of businesses that report generating traffic and leads as their biggest marketing challenge, you’d be hard-pressed to find any reason why you shouldn’t be using forms on your site. Like any good marketing tactic, web forms have to be done right if they’re going to get you results. Keep reading to learn what you need to know about the three most common types of website forms you should be using, including where they belong on your site and how to make sure they’re effective. Types of Website Forms Among today’s businesses, 74 percent are utilizing web forms for lead generation, and nearly half cite them as being their top-performing lead generation tool. Not too shabby for something that’s super easy to set up and keep active on your site. There are three primary kinds of website forms, and each type serves the same purpose - to help you generate leads. However, they do so in different ways. Embedded forms – These are static forms that have a permanent place somewhere on your website, generally in a footer or sidebar. Value proposition forms – These are forms that offer distinct and defined value in exchange for a user’s contact information, such as forms that precede gated assets. Pop-up forms – These forms “pop... --- ### 5 Marketing Strategies You Should Adopt in 2021 > When it comes to marketing strategies, it's good to tap into various marketing trends that are likely to dominate in the months to come. - Published: 2021-04-20 - Modified: 2022-02-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/marketing-strategies-2021/ - Categories: Marketing We’ve covered email marketing trends for 2021, but that’s just one piece of the marketing strategy puzzle. It’s never a bad idea to have a firm grasp on the bigger picture by tapping into various marketing trends that are likely to dominate in the months to come. And with how unpredictable 2020 was, having an idea of what’s around the corner sounds pretty wonderful, doesn't it? A lot of businesses saw their marketing strategies turned completely upside down as consumers and brand-consumer relationships changed seemingly overnight. They had to quickly adopt new tactics, new tones, and new best practices in order to ride out the storm. At last, there is seemingly a light at the end of the tunnel. And as we make our way there, it’s important to acknowledge what your business has overcome and to look ahead to what’s next. Here’s what we see on the horizon as you plan out your 2021 marketing strategies. 1. Don’t Assume Everything is Going to Go Back to “Normal” “We're not going back to the same economy, we're going back to a different economy. ” These are the words Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell stated in a (virtual) speech at the Bay Area Council Business Hall of Fame Awards Ceremony in November, and we’re inclined to agree. The consumer trends and behaviors that have proliferated as a result of the pandemic — think booms in eCommerce spending, at-home experiences, and virtual social connectivity — are unlikely to be going anywhere soon,... --- ### 10 Tips for Better User Feedback > The happier your users are, the longer they'll be customers. Here are three great tips to ensure you get better user feedback. - Published: 2021-04-15 - Modified: 2024-05-29 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/10-tips-for-better-user-feedback/ - Categories: Email Marketing It takes a village to grow a successful business. And that village includes not just the people who build and sustain your brand, but the people who benefit from it as well — your customers. Getting customer feedback via email outreach can be integral to helping your company improve customer experience in several key areas, including support, retention, acquisition, sales, and marketing. After all, who better knows how good of a job you’re doing (or not doing) connecting with your customers than your customers themselves? We’re covering the basics of email-driven feedback to help you learn how to gather the responses necessary for lasting success. Here’s what to know. Feedback Starts with Getting Your Message Through the Door You can’t collect feedback if you can’t get in front of users in the first place. The average email marketing open rate is only 19. 96 percent, and you’ll need to match (or better yet, exceed) that if you want to get enough meaningful feedback. Some ways to do it: Clearly state your business or name. Make sure your subscribers easily recognize who the email is from. Create compelling subject lines. Stand out while giving an accurate summary of what your email is about. Use the preview pane to your advantage. Include a call to action that compels recipients to open your email. Analyze your stats. See what day and time you get the highest open rates, and use this information to your advantage. Your recipients are busy, so send timely follow-ups... --- ### Experts Speak: Email Marketing Trends to Look Forward to in 2021 > The experts have spoken! Check out these six email marketing trends from industry experts that you've got to incorporate into your strategy. - Published: 2021-04-14 - Modified: 2022-10-21 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/experts-speak-email-marketing-trends/ - Categories: Email Marketing Time and again, email marketing has proved its effectiveness, proving the speculations of its death wrong. According to Litmus, emails bring an ROI of $42 for every $1 spent. This is the biggest testimony that email is very much alive and outshining all the other marketing channels. What started off as a simple medium for internal communication has grown to be one of the most successful platforms to reach out to prospects or customers and promote your products or services. To understand more about how email marketing will change in 2021 (and beyond), we approached 29 industry stalwarts and asked them about the trends to look forward to. Let me tell you about some of the most interesting insights that they shared with us: 1. Avoiding Tone-Deaf Emails During Times of Turbulence Magan Le (Content Marketing Manager, Litmus) Empathetic and emotional messaging is the need of the hour and this trend will continue to gain pace even in the days to come. According to Magan Le, many individuals and businesses are still going through tough times. Therefore, email marketers should make sure that the tones of their email reflect sensitivity and consideration for the readers. It is of utmost importance to pivot your messaging according to the situation and keep optimizing your email marketing strategy. Here is an email by Really Good Emails that expresses grief and urges people to stop the hate. It is a brilliant way of letting the readers know that they care for the people around... --- ### Top-Notch Email Examples from 6 Shoe Brands > We love getting emails when they're creative and thoughtful. Check out these six shoe brands that send top-notch emails. - Published: 2021-04-13 - Modified: 2023-01-12 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/top-notch-email-examples-from-shoe-brands/ - Categories: Ecommerce As consumers, our inboxes are filled with emails from eCommerce brands we’ve previously purchased from. Emails include various promotions, sales, and new products, all aimed at garnering interest and revenue. If you’re anything like us, some emails quickly get the “unsubscribe” heave-ho, while others bring us joy and anticipation. Why is that? What sets the good emails apart from the ones we can’t wait to unsubscribe from? Sure, the product plays a part, but there are tons of contributors to a successful eCommerce email. And in the retail world, brands are getting more creative than ever to win over the attention and engagement of their customers. Particularly, shoe brands are finding clever ways to step onto their customers’ radars and are undoubtedly seeing more successes because of it. Email marketing has been around for a long time. Using a fresh approach with the right tools is the best way to maintain the pep in your step needed to push the envelope and attract more customer engagement. Let’s see what we can learn from these six shoe brands that are taking creative email marketing seriously. 1. Dr. Martens – Spark Intrigue With the Subject Line Doc Martens define the counterculture lifestyle and have been doing so for years. It’s what they’re known for, and by tapping into that brand identity, they’re able to play around with a theme that’s both on-point and interesting. Their subject line, “Stretch the rules,” does double duty here. It gives a nod to the brand’s identity,... --- ### How Many Emails Should I Be Sending? > You know you should be sending emails to nurture leads, but still you find yourself asking, "How many emails should I be sending?" - Published: 2021-04-08 - Modified: 2021-04-01 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-many-emails-should-i-be-sending/ - Categories: Email Marketing Finding the sweet spot when it comes to email marketing is as much about nailing frequency as it is about choosing the right days and times. Promotional emails should feel organic — and definitely not overly forced. If you send too many in too small of a time period, you risk coming off as overly pushy — which can be a major turn-off for your subscribers and could result in higher opt-out rates. The key: focus on a cadence that doesn’t inundate but that keeps you top of mind. This requires that you find a balance between the various types of emails that you’ll be sending out and prioritizing content that offers the highest conversion rates so that you can get the biggest payout for your efforts. Below, we’re breaking down what you need to know to find that elusive sweet spot and hit it on the mark when it comes to your email frequency. How Often Are Marketers Sending Emails Before looking at your own best practices, it might be helpful to look at what others are doing. Here’s what a Databox survey found when they asked marketers how often they were sending out their email campaigns: 33 percent on a weekly basis 26. 67 percent multiple times per month 13. 33 percent multiple times per week 13. 33 percent once per month 13. 33 percent daily Based on this data, you can see that “weekly” and “multiple times per month” were the most common frequencies (though we’re assuming... --- ### Striking the Right Chord: 4 Tools for Mapping Content and Tone to Each Buyer Stage > Each stage of the buyer's journey requires specific kinds of content. Here are the content tools you should add to your toolkit. - Published: 2021-04-07 - Modified: 2023-06-07 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/tools-for-mapping-content-and-tone/ - Categories: Inbound Marketing Even the most beautiful music, if it’s played for the wrong audience, won’t resonate. A crowd that’s expecting to hear a concerto will probably walk out on you if you choose to perform a jazz standard instead. This same principle holds true for your sales and marketing content. If your content fails to strike the right chord––that is, appeal to the right customers with the right message at the appropriate time––you run the risk of reaching absolutely no one at all, much like a classical violinist in a room full of hip-hop fans. You could have the strongest, most impactful, most informative content around, and you’d still be grasping at straws. Your messaging and your audience would be consistently mismatched, making your content more or less dead on arrival. To start conducting a better content strategy, it’s essential to optimize your content by “mapping” your material to its ideal buyer and to the precise moment in the buyer’s journey where it will have the greatest effect. And though this might seem like a complex alchemical process, there are lots of tools out there that can help. (You may even be using some of them already. ) Here’s an overview of four top solutions for making your content sing by hitting all the right notes with your customers. #1: Inspire Awareness with Automation Consider this scenario: Your team writes a standard “Get to Know Us” email designed to generate awareness for a new product or service. You then use your email... --- ### The Quickest Ways to Become an Email Marketing Fool > This April Fools’ Day, make sure your emails don't make you look the part. Here are the quickest ways to become an email marketing fool. - Published: 2021-04-01 - Modified: 2021-03-25 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-quickest-ways-to-become-an-email-marketing-fool/ - Categories: Email Marketing Imagine being able to talk to thousands of potential and loyal customers one-on-one. That’s what email marketing does for you. It remains one of the most popular forms of marketing, thanks to its high ROI and incredible reach. Email marketing doesn’t work like magic, though. You need to have an actionable strategy, gather valuable insight, and create compelling content to make your emails dazzle (pun intended). Emails have been shown to influence 50. 7 percent of customers when it comes to their buying decisions. So how can you tap into this? You’ll need to make sure you do some things right – and make sure you don’t do other things wrong. Our list of top email marketing mistakes will help you chart a path through the incredibly rewarding avenue that is email marketing. 1. Sending Your Email to the Junk Folder If your customers don’t see your email in their inbox, that’s a pretty reliable indicator that your campaign will fail. Good news is there are ways to prevent your brand from ending up in the junk folder. You could ask your subscribers to whitelist you, but that involves them taking action, and you can’t always rely on this. Instead, make sure your email content is as least-spammy as possible. Here are some tips: Stay away from words like ‘free’ in the subject line. Include alt text for all your images so the spam filters can decode what they are. Use email addresses that people have given you willingly to... --- ### How to Deliver an Exceptional Customer Experience with Email Marketing > In the age of information overload, it can be tricky to grab and retain your customers’ attention for a prolonged period of time. They are targeted by - Published: 2021-03-31 - Modified: 2024-05-18 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-deliver-an-exceptional-customer-experience-with-email-marketing/ - Categories: Small Business In the age of information overload, it can be tricky to grab and retain your customers’ attention for a prolonged period of time. They are targeted by dozens of companies every day, and for your email to stand out, it has to offer an engagement-based experience that’s unlike anything they’ve ever encountered before. Enter well-strategized and -executed email marketing. With 83 percent of people confessing their fondness for email communication coming from brands, it’s only normal for this form of digital marketing to remain among the most effective advertising strategies. Factor in the 99 percent of global consumers checking their inboxes every day, and you’ve got a tried-and-tested method of developing long-term relationships with your clients you can start integrating into your business today. What are the Benefits of Email Marketing? The question about whether or not email marketing is worth it is easily answered by the following statistics: For every $1 invested in email marketing, the average return is $42 Email marketing has a conversion rate of 174% Buyers tend to spend 138% more on products and services marketed via email when compared to those who don’t get email offers Used by hundreds of thousands of companies across the globe, it has managed to acquire a good reputation for a variety of reasons: Tracking is easy: If things start going south, you will be able to spot that right away. Most if not all email marketing software allows you to keep track of various metrics, like open and click-through... --- ### 4 Email Productivity Tips, Tricks, and Hacks > Is your inbox a mess? It doesn't have to be. Breathe easy with these email productivity tips, tricks, and hacks. - Published: 2021-03-30 - Modified: 2023-09-12 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-productivity-tips/ - Categories: Email Marketing We’re obviously big fans of email here at Benchmark, but we also understand that they can be a significant drain on your time. Who hasn’t started on a project only to get distracted over and over again by that little notification bubble on their phone or desktop? And who among us can really claim membership in the exclusive — and elusive — “Inbox Zero” club? Frustrating as they may be, though, emails are fundamental to the way we do business today, especially in sales and marketing. It’s a good idea then to have some tactics in your back pocket that you can use to keep productivity high while still managing the messages you receive throughout the day. Here are some email tricks and hacks that we’ve found helpful — and that we hope you will, too. 1. Organize Your Inbox You wouldn’t organize all of your computer files in one folder, so why do it with your emails? Not all of your emails hold equal weight or need to be addressed in the same timeframe. So use folders to organize your messages and sort them accordingly, particularly when it comes to messages that need immediate action versus emails that you just need to be able to reference at some later point. There are lots of different ways to organize your inbox, which means that you may need to play around until you find a system that works best for you. However, a good place to start is by creating folders... --- ### The Fundamentals of Email Marketing > Let's get back to basics. In this blog post, we outline the five fundamentals of email marketing that you always need to take note of. - Published: 2021-03-25 - Modified: 2024-09-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-fundamentals-of-email-marketing/ - Categories: Email Marketing There are a multitude of great reasons to figure out an email marketing strategy that works for your business. Email marketing campaigns are one of the most cost-effective marketing efforts you can make for your brand. Not only do email marketing campaigns help you reach a huge segment of your audience with one simple click. They’re also an essential tool for building brand awareness, converting prospects, staying top of mind with current and potential customers and offering your audience an exceptional digital experience. Need more convincing? Here are some impressive stats on what getting started with email marketing can do for your business: Email generates an average ROI of $42 for every $1 spent. Fifty-nine percent of B2B marketers cite email as their most effective channel for revenue generation. Eighty percent of business professionals find that email marketing increases customer retention rates. It’s no wonder that marketers around the globe devote so much of their time and resources to email marketing — and why it’s become such a mainstay of effective outreach. Below, we’ve put together our best insider advice on the email marketing fundamentals you need to know to hit it out of the park with your campaigns. Use these tips to get you started — then put what you learn to work and start seeing the benefits of emails for yourself. 1. Grow Your Email List A great email marketing campaign is nothing without a solid list of contacts. For that, you need to have a plan for... --- ### What Is AMP For Email? And What Can You Do With It? > What is AMP technology and how does using it affect your email marketing for the better? Let's dive into how AMP can improve your emails. - Published: 2021-03-24 - Modified: 2022-08-26 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/amp-for-email/ - Categories: Email Marketing There are 4,66 billion people in the world using the internet, and 92,6 percent of them use mobile devices to go online. Such rapidly growing usage of phones is changing the face of the Internet as we know it. Every respectful company has a mobile version of the corporate site to both provide a better experience to users and profit from increased site visibility. Accelerated mobile pages were introduced in 2016 so that mobile users can quickly load the page, even with a bad internet connection. The AMP technology affects not only web pages, but emails are becoming much more interactive and engaging as well. Email marketing has reached a new peak with the help of AMP, becoming more than plain text, a couple of images, and a link or a button. In this article, we will discuss how exactly AMP changed emails and how businesses can use AMP to attract users. What Can You Do with AMP for Email? 1. Form Completion In The Email Before AMP, if users wanted to download something from an email, they had to click on a link that would direct them to a form. This process required more effort than necessary, as no one wants to wait till their browser opens and a new page loads. AMP allows users to complete forms directly in the email. This means they can do things like go through a checkout process (except for payment), make financial calculations, book a table at the restaurant, or sign up... --- ### Your Ultimate Guide to Understanding Customer Journeys > The better you understand customer journeys the better you'll be able to sell and market your product to prospects. - Published: 2021-03-23 - Modified: 2022-08-26 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ultimate-guide-customer-journeys/ - Categories: Inbound Marketing “Journey” is a pretty popular word nowadays. We hear it used to describe a spiritual path someone’s taking or a sudden wellness obsession. But for marketers, understanding the journey our customers are on is more concrete. It’s about identifying the actual steps customers take when interacting with our brand. Our customers’ motivations, their understanding of what it is we do, and why it matters to them are at the core of all our efforts. So it’s absolutely imperative that we know what their journey looks like, especially if we’re wanting to influence it. Having a map of your customer journeys will give you all the possible action steps your customers can take in relation to your brand. There’s a lot of moving parts and things to consider, so let’s start with digging deeper into why having a customer journey map is important. The Value of A Customer Journey Map You can think you know your customers like the back of your hand. But you still need to clearly identify the possible paths they’re taking. Doing so can ensure you’re covering all your bases and help uncover some unknowns that you may not be aware of. Not only that, it can help create a better customer experience, which we all know leads to a more harmonious partnership. Here are a few benefits of mapping out your customer journey. 1. You’ll Strengthen Your Content Marketing Inbound marketing is a more passive approach to selling your company. Instead of going after your next... --- ### Why You Should Care About Email Testing > Email testing may seem like just another unnecessary step in email marketing, but it isn't. Email testing is crucial for email success. - Published: 2021-03-18 - Modified: 2022-08-26 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-testing/ - Categories: Email Marketing Most businesses still see email marketing as the most cost-beneficial and conversion-rich way to develop relationships with potential customers or clients and promote their products or services. What makes it such a powerful tool? The numbers speak for themselves. A recent study holds that the median email marketing ROI is 122 percent. So far, no other digital marketing channel has proven to show such high results. Of course, the best way to boost your performance is to combine email marketing with social media or enable a live chat, which is statistically the fastest option to communicate with customers. But we'll focus on improving email marketing efforts through email testing in this article. When you run an email marketing campaign, creating emails that focus on your target audience and align with your marketing goals takes a lot of researching and strategizing. It's a good idea for every email marketer to do email testing since it directly impacts the quality and deliverability of messages and indirectly impacts ROI and subscriber retention. Let's take a closer look at email testing best practices. What is Email Testing? Email testing allows you to view your email before sending it out to your subscriber list. Many email marketing services offer a way to preview the email in a web app or send a test email to yourself. Testing your emails will help you fix broken email designs, incorrect or untracked links, choose a subject line with higher open rates, eliminate spelling and grammar errors, broken images... --- ### 4 Tips for Mastering Your Influencer Marketing > Implementing an influencer marketing strategy can be extremely effective. Here's how to ensure you do it the right way. - Published: 2021-03-16 - Modified: 2022-10-31 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/mastering-your-influencer-marketing/ - Categories: Marketing Influencer marketing is an extremely effective tactic. Even if seeing tons of influencer ads in your social media feed has turned you into a curmudgeon, you cannot deny the effectiveness of having influential people drive your brand’s message. Take Caraway, for example. Their non-toxic, non-stick pots and pans are blowing up because they’ve enacted a robust and effective influencer marketing campaign. In exchange for free cookware, they’re getting social media influencers and other brands to share their product recommendations - and people can’t get enough of it. It’s even inspired other brands to release similar products to try and capitalize on the trend. Influencer marketing is intricately bound up in social media and content marketing, and the three form a positive feedback loop for even greater effect. Influencers may spread the word through their own social media channels, or you may create content for an influencer’s blog, for example. An influencer marketing campaign generally contains these steps: Identifying key influencers Creating a marketing campaign geared toward those influencers Creating a secondary marketing campaign to extend awareness to a larger set of consumers Tracking metrics and fine-tuning Mastering influencer marketing takes time and effort, but when paired with the right approach, there’s a lot third-party credibility can do for your brand and product. Use these four tips for making the most of your strategy and cashing in on some of that influencer marketing magic. 1. Define Your Ideal Influencer Profile Obviously, your ideal influencer will have credibility and a healthy following,... --- ### 8 Email Marketing Trends That Can Supercharge Your 2021 Strategy > Who doesn't love a good trend roundup? Here are eight email marketing trends you should have on your radar this year. - Published: 2021-03-12 - Modified: 2023-02-10 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-trends-supercharge-strategy/ - Categories: Email Marketing Email has become a mainstay in the world of online marketing, used by SaaS and eCommerce businesses alike as a strategy for converting customers and gaining traction. While 2020 may have been a tumultuous year for business, it has pushed email back to the forefront of digital marketing campaigns (Source BillLentis. com) and made it one of the most important tools for engagement. As more and more consumers shop online, there’s an even greater need to engage and connect digitally, and email marketing is a great way of doing this. You can combine personalization and automation to create a strategy that really speaks to your customers while increasing your return on investment (ROI). Especially effective in a remote work environment, email marketing can be used to promote your products, vocalize your brand ethics, and send out newsletters. Emails can reach thousands of people, all at a click of a button, which is why it’s so important to prioritize building your email list. To make your email marketing more effective, generate catchy subject lines using an online tool such as namegenerator-engine. Your mailing list subscribers will increase organic traffic to your site, as well as provide you with an easy way of tracking analytics on customer engagement. As we move even further into 2021, it’s clear that email marketing will become a big focus for many businesses, and it should become yours too! Craft a strategy that incorporates email marketing, and you’ll start to see increased levels of engagement and conversion... --- ### 5 Habits of the Lucky Email Marketer > There's more to being a successful email marketer than just luck. Here are some habits that lead to ultimate success. - Published: 2021-03-10 - Modified: 2022-08-26 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/5-habits-of-the-lucky-email-marketer/ - Categories: Email Marketing Sometimes you have to make your own luck, especially when it comes to email marketing. There’s no better time than right now to adopt the email marketing best practices that will propel your campaigns to success. And while at the end of the day, you only have so much control over what happens once you press “send,” taking care to adopt better habits is almost certainly going to help put the odds in your favor. So what are today’s top marketers doing — and not doing — to get lucky with their emails? Here’s a look at the mistakes you want to avoid, plus five email marketing habits that are as good as a pot of gold. Common Email Marketing Mistakes to Avoid Before we get into best practices, it’s helpful to look at what can hinder your good luck and prevent you from getting the results you’re looking for. Among business professionals, at least 80 percent say they rely on email marketing to drive customer acquisition and retention. Email has huge potential in terms of audience engagement and lead nurturing, as well as an impressive ROI that makes it more than worth your while. However, to really make it count, you need to avoid common roadblocks that can stand in the way of your brand and a great performance. Here are some of the big ones. Sending too many emails. Almost half (45. 8 percent) of email subscribers say they will flag a company’s emails as spam if they... --- ### 7 Strategies to Get Your Ad Listed in the "Top Picks" Section of Gmail's Promotion Tab > Gmail tabs changed the way marketers used email. Here's how to get your email listed in the "Top Picks" section of Gmail's Promotion Tab. - Published: 2021-03-04 - Modified: 2022-08-26 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/top-picks-section-gmail-promotion-tab/ - Categories: Email Marketing From the time Google introduced Gmail tabs, the way marketers used email for promotions changed. Most promotional emails no longer end up in the coveted Primary tab section. Instead, promotional emails now have their own tab, one where only 19. 2 percent are ever read. The best chance for promotional emails to get back on the primary tab is by asking current subscribers to manually set up your domain for it. But what about for your cold prospects? You’ll likely end up in the Promotions tab, but how can you increase your chances of being one of the 19. 2 percent of promotional emails that actually get read? The answer? Targeting the Promotion tab’s ‘Top Picks’ section, where your email will float to the top of the inbox. You can also do this by creating Gmail Ads. There are many reasons to send a Gmail Ad, but one of the big ones is being able to send a campaign to a prospect even if you don’t have their email yet. Plus, Gmail Ads have the potential for engagement other emails do: recipients can choose to save your ad in their inbox and forward it to their friends. To reap all these benefits, you need to make sure your email ads are in top form. In this blog post, we’ll address strategies that will help you start Gmail Ads that are exactly that. Strategies to Get Your Emails Listed in the “Top Picks” Section 1. Treat Your Gmail Ad Like a... --- ### Data-Driven Marketing: How Confident Are Marketers in 2021? > Data-driven marketing is taking over the world—which is hardly a surprise considering the year we have had. 2020 was spent sharing a near-constant stream - Published: 2021-02-25 - Modified: 2022-12-21 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/data-driven-marketing/ - Categories: Marketing Data-driven marketing is taking over the world—which is hardly a surprise considering the year we have had. 2020 was spent sharing a near-constant stream of data—some of it easier to understand than others. And that’s why marketing teams have had to adapt their storytelling methods. The changes we see today are set to continue for the foreseeable future—we aren’t going to be rid of data-driven content very soon. We are already seeing a rise in data visualizations—84 percent of marketers create visualizations regularly for their work, according to Venngage’s study on data storytelling. This is because data on its own doesn’t always make sense. Plus, reams of numbers can be confusing and off-putting. But does this uptick in visualizations mean marketers are confident with data-driven marketing? What do they need to do to close the data gaps in their field? We explain what data-driven marketing strategies are all about and how marketers can reach the current benchmarks of the industry. What is Data-Driven Marketing? In simple terms, data-driven marketing is a subset of marketing where data is used to determine customer groups, distribution channels and to increase revenue generation methods. To set up this process, data needs to be collected via numerous tools and techniques: Customer feedback and surveys Social media analytics Subscription analytics Website heatmaps Using the data generated from these channels helps marketers reach their target market more effectively and improve customer experience. What are the Benefits of a Data-Driven Marketing Strategy? There are numerous benefits to creating... --- ### Make 2021 the Year of Higher Conversions > 2020 left us with a lot to come back from. 2021 is all about higher conversions, and here's how to make it happen. - Published: 2021-02-24 - Modified: 2025-05-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/higher-conversions/ - Categories: Sales With the holidays over and businesses settled back to something approaching normal, now is the perfect time to reassess digital marketing strategies. From learning how to get creative with email campaigns to understanding how to set up Facebook ads, plenty of small business owners are making it their New Year's resolution to invigorate their marketing. The new year also presents an opportunity for critical analysis about what is working and which parts of your marketing plan are simply not succeeding. Maybe your new year resolutions should include implementing new approaches to spreading brand awareness and converting those clicks into orders. In this article, we will take a look at some tricks, tips, and tweaks to ensure that 2021 is truly the year of higher conversions. 1. Harness The Power of Referrals When both new and existing customers visit your site, you want them to feel like they already belong. If they feel comfortable navigating and know that it is legitimate and trustworthy, they will more likely be ready to place an order. One way to do this is through referral traffic. If visitors arrive via a referring site, like a blog or social network, you can display a custom greeting that references where they have just been and what their interests might include. Personalize their experience by including a reference like: "Hello foodie! Check out our exclusive deals here," or "Hey Vanity Fair reader! Click to learn more about our latest deals. " Be sure to keep the message brief,... --- ### Remote Work Is Here to Stay — Why Your Company Should Get On Board and Tips for Going Remote > Looks like the remote work lifestyle isn't going anywhere. If you're still not sure about it, here are some ways to get on board. - Published: 2021-02-23 - Modified: 2024-01-24 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/working-remote-or-remotely-working/ - Categories: Small Business The pandemic is keeping businesses on their toes. While some things are going back to normal, other things are forever changed. Remote work being one of them. Between Upwork’s estimate that 26% of Americans will telecommute through the end of 2021 and their projection that by 2025 around 22% of us will still be working remotely, it’s clear that at least a fifth of Americans actually like working from home. Which is no surprise, considering the freedom and flexibility it brings, the time and money saved on commuting, and the mental health benefits some experience as a result of better work/life balance. Not everyone prefers remote work, so brick-and-mortar offices won’t become obsolete anytime soon, but the ability to work remotely either full- or part-time is fast becoming a requirement for many job-seekers, who are in the power seat as worker shortages continue. And attracting future employees is not the only reason it’s worth considering adjusting your work requirements to include some remote options — remote work has benefits for employers, too. How Remote Work Can Benefit Your Business: Better employee retention and recruitment. Happy employees are employees who stay, and offering flexibility can lead to more applicants for job openings (and higher quality, since the net can be cast wider). Lower overhead. Of course, you’ll likely need to maintain an office space for those employees who prefer to come in, and/or to meet with clients, but remote work can still cut your overhead on things like square footage, utilities,... --- ### 5 Brands That Put Together Great Emails > If you want to send great emails, take some notes from other brands. Here are five brands that put together great emails. - Published: 2021-02-17 - Modified: 2023-06-28 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/brands-that-put-together-great-emails/ - Categories: Email Marketing You know that email marketing is essential for brand growth, but do you know how to send emails that are beautiful, engaging, and get the job done? It’s a tall order, which is why it can be helpful to look at brands that have a reputation for hitting it out of the park. Every brand is different. The basics of what makes a fantastic email, however, don’t really vary. You need that ideal balance of visual content with compelling copy, all wrapped up in a pretty bow (in this case, that means a killer subject line and a call to action that grabs attention and inspires action). Even better is to have an automated email marketing tool that will help you create these sorts of emails with ease — and that’s super user friendly so that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel in order to compete. Below, we’re sharing some quick tips for making sure your emails stand out — followed by a look at five brands that have already cracked the code. Let’s go! Quick Tips for Acing Your Email Marketing Strategy Effective email marketing campaigns don’t just appear out of thin air. Aside from some impressive writing and graphic design skills, they require a targeted effort oriented toward specific goals — both short and long term. Here are some of the bases that you’ll want to be sure to cover. Know your KPIs. You have to know exactly what you’re trying to achieve before you can go... --- ### How To Use LinkedIn Contacts For Email Marketing: A Step-By-Step Guide For Startups > Getting creative with your email marketing is imperative if you want to maintain an edge over the competition. - Published: 2021-02-11 - Modified: 2022-08-26 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/linkedin-contacts-for-email-marketing/ - Categories: Email Marketing Email marketing has been around so long that some may think it’s becoming outdated. And there’s no denying how annoying it is to constantly unsubscribe from unsolicited emails making their way through spam filters. However, it might surprise you that email marketing is one of the most cost-effective digital marketing strategies in 2021. Email marketing is also effective for lead generation, lead nurturing, and sales, with an impressive ROI of $42 for every dollar spent! Still, a good email marketing strategy is as rare as hens' teeth, and most of those emails will inevitably end up in junk folders. Not only because the email itself is bad; some of those might be exemplary, but fail nevertheless because they are unwanted. What makes a difference between a success story and wasted resources is who receives those emails. This is why you should focus on building an email list with recipients that won’t roll their eyes when your message pops up. LinkedIn is a perfect place to start. It’s a hub of professionals and companies who wish to expand their network and connect with other high-quality accounts. This is where you’ll find promising contacts, putting quality over quantity. However, you can’t just scrape the contacts and go for it. I mean, you can, but don’t be shocked when it doesn’t bring you any of the results mentioned above. There’s a right and wrong way to use LinkedIn for your email marketing efforts. Here, we’ll show you the right way by going through... --- ### 7 eCommerce Emails That Give Us Heart Eyes > You have to give props where props are due. Here are seven of our favorite eCommerce emails and why we love them so much. - Published: 2021-02-10 - Modified: 2023-01-25 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ecommerce-emails-that-give-us-heart-eyes/ - Categories: Ecommerce Being an email marketing automation software company, you’d think we fall in love with different emails every day. That isn’t exactly the case, however. We’re rather picky when it comes to being head over heels, but when it does happen, it’s for good reason. Ecommerce requires a lot of back-and-forth communication between brands and their customers. This includes the basic stuff like brand awareness outreach and emails directly related to consumer behavior and sales, such as a cart abandonment email, shipping, tracking receipt, or post-purchase customer survey. And sure, none of that sounds particularly swoon-worthy, but when an eCommerce brand hits it out of the park, we can’t help but be impressed. Below, we’re covering the basics of successful eCommerce emails, as well as seven brand email examples that are worth swiping right on (or at least clicking through). What Makes for Great Ecommerce Email Marketing Ecommerce brands are continually using email marketing to engage with and nurture their leads and customers. And the differences between those that work and those that fall flat come down to more than just how engaging the copy is. Here are some factors that separate the greats from the not-so-greats: Timing - Engagement (and re-engagement) is a delicate balancing act. Successful eCommerce brands time an email campaign to go out when it’s most likely to garner engagement — or when it’s simply most valuable to the recipient. Behavior - One of the most significant dividing lines between eCommerce email campaigns and general emails is... --- ### Benchmark Email Announces Acquisition of Contacts+ > Benchmark Email, a leading software as a service provider of sales and marketing solutions, announces that it acquired Contacts+. - Published: 2021-02-09 - Modified: 2022-08-26 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/benchmark-email-announces-acquisition/ - Categories: Uncategorized SAINT LOUIS, MO, February 9, 2021 -- Benchmark Email, a leading software as a service provider of sales and marketing solutions for SMBs, today announces that it acquired Contacts+, a subsidiary of Denver-based FullContact. The acquisition opens the opportunity to extend contact management tools to small businesses as well as integrate with Benchmark’s family of products, Benchmark Email and BenchmarkONE CRM. The transaction closed on January 29, 2021 and comes just on the heels of Benchmark Email securing $3 million in funding from Texas Capital Bank to fuel acquisitions and drive growth. Contacts+ is a contact management solution with apps for desktop and mobile that allows professionals, teams and small businesses to store and sync contacts across devices, scan business cards and clean contact data. With the Contacts+ mobile apps, the acquisition gives Benchmark Email reach into the market of Apple and Android users. “Relationships and contacts power every small business,” says Benchmark Email’s CEO, Jonathan Herrick. “One of the most sticky features of our CRM product, BenchmarkONE, is that each contact record has a photo of the contact. Our small business users love that they can put a face to a name instead of working with impersonal data. With Contacts+ technology, we’re excited about helping users of both Benchmark and Contacts+ products augment their contact data even further and reach out to their contacts in more intelligent and effective ways. ” Benchmark will continue to support and grow the Contacts+ base of nearly 20,000 paying customers. In addition, Benchmark... --- ### How to Put Together a Great Whitepaper > Creating content that converts site visitors to leads is necessary for any strategy. Here's how to put together a whitepaper. - Published: 2021-02-04 - Modified: 2023-02-15 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-put-together-a-whitepaper/ - Categories: Marketing Whitepapers are a valuable asset for your company, and there are several great reasons to create them as part of your content marketing efforts. When used correctly, whitepapers can provide your prospects with a resource they’ll use time and time again — and can provide a boost of authority for your brand (as well as a boost in lead generation). So, where do you start? In this post, we’ll break down why creating whitepapers is great for your marketing strategy and give tips on how to put them together for optimal success. What is a Whitepaper? A whitepaper is a comprehensive, research-backed report or typically long-form piece of content on a topic that’s relevant to your industry. In marketing, these usually serve as problem-solving guides that start with a complex issue and then organically present your product or service as the solution. They can even include case studies that further showcase your expertise and problem-solving capabilities. Of course, just as important is what a whitepaper is not. Namely, a whitepaper isn’t a pitch or an ad, per se. While your product or service should make an appearance, it shouldn’t be the main focus. It’s important to find that delicate balance between presenting your product/service offering and coming off as trying too hard to shill whatever it is that you’re ultimately selling. Why is a Whitepaper Beneficial? There are a couple of big reasons to adopt whitepapers as part of your content marketing strategy. They’re excellent lead generation tools. Whitepapers are... --- ### How to Maintain Quality When Outsourcing Digital Content Creation > When you outsource anything, you run the risk of sacrificing quality. Follow these tips when outsourcing digital content creation. - Published: 2021-02-03 - Modified: 2022-10-21 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/outsourcing-digital-content-creation/ - Categories: Content Marketing One of the challenges organizations often encounter when they decide to outsource digital content creation is quality. It’s true that there are countless content mills that crank out low-quality articles at unbeatable prices, but you can find quality copy tailored to your voice and audience with the right approach to outsourcing. Getting your money’s worth and publishing compelling content regularly isn’t a matter of getting lucky and finding the right writer. You can get quality content by establishing clear expectations and communicating your goals when you outsource. The benefits of Outsourcing Written Content Writing copy yourself or hiring an in-house writer gives you more control over the creative process, but outsourcing yields the following benefits: It saves you time. You will have more time for other important tasks. You can publish content more frequently. A regular publication schedule is essential for developing your online presence and keeping your audience engaged. It’s affordable and flexible compared to an in-house writing team or a traditional agency. You have access to a wide pool of talents with unique backgrounds. You can work with professionals who specialize in different types of content, like social media posts or whitepapers. You can get content that feels professional and meets your goals in terms of engagement and readability. Professional writers know how to create copy that makes people want to keep reading. You get access to an entire team of experts with skills like consulting, strategic planning, SEO, writing, or editing. It’s easy to scale up or... --- ### A Quick Guide for Creating an Effective Sales Plan > Is it time to solidify a sales plan that delivers? We put together a quick guide that will help you create an effective sales plan. - Published: 2021-01-28 - Modified: 2022-08-29 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/sales-plan/ - Categories: Sales Could your sales efforts use a little push in the right direction? If you don’t have one already, a sales plan could be just the thing you need to help you map out your strategy and measure its effectiveness. Writing and implementing a sales plan is an excellent practice for business success and can be key to identifying exactly what you need to do to achieve your revenue goals. Just like a marketing plan, a sales plan allows you to hone in on your value proposition, your audience’s needs, and the necessary steps you have to take to connect the dots from prospect to customer. And it doesn’t have to be overly complicated in order to be effective. Creating a sales plan is a small effort that has the potential for a big payoff. Here’s how to put one together. What is a Sales Plan? A sales plan is a strategy-based document specifically dedicated to sales. It follows the traditional structure of a business plan with a much more narrow focus and is designed to outline your sales objectives and how you intend to achieve them. What a Sales Plan Should Include To be effective, your sales plan needs to cover a few essential categories. Think of each of these categories as a different piece in the larger puzzle of what it will take to hit your sales goals, with each serving an important role in getting you where you need to go. Target customers – Who are the customers... --- ### 3 Cost-Efficient Marketing Tips for Nonprofits > Implementing effective marketing tactics can be expensive. That's why we've assembled some cost-effective marketing tips for non-profits. - Published: 2021-01-27 - Modified: 2023-09-12 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/cost-efficient-marketing-tips-for-nonprofits/ - Categories: Marketing If you work for a nonprofit, chances are you don’t have a huge budget to throw at elaborate email marketing or other marketing initiatives. Making the most with what you have is essential, especially when your ability to market effectively to your audience is so closely linked with your ability to raise funds for your cause. Online giving grew by 12. 1 percent last year, according to Double the Donation, with an increasing number of individuals eager to engage with and support the organizations that they feel strongly about. That’s a huge opportunity to use digital marketing to enhance your fundraising potential and expand your reach in profitable ways. The key to cost-efficient marketing for nonprofits is to diversify your efforts since the wider the net you can cast, the more successful you’re likely to be. This also helps ensure that you make the right kinds of connection with your audience; women, for example, are more likely to make a donation based on social media marketing, while men are more likely to give based on email marketing. If you’re not doing both (plus a bit extra), you’re losing out on funds for your cause. As for where to start, we’ve got you covered. Here are three cost-efficient ways to market your nonprofit for positive results. 1. Create Content Content fuels many different initiatives, including your sales efforts, your email marketing efforts, your recruitment efforts, and your customer support efforts. It also provides resources and information to your audience in a... --- ### 3 Email Workflows You Should Be Using Right Now > Don't let your leads get stuck in the funnel. Here are three email workflows you should be using right now to keep your funnel flowing. - Published: 2021-01-14 - Modified: 2024-09-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-workflows-you-should-be-using/ - Categories: Email Marketing Sometimes all it takes is a nudge in the right direction to turn an almost-customer into a purchasing customer. We’ve all seen leads get stuck in the funnel, inching closer to a sale but sealing the deal never happens. And sure, you’re not going to convert every single lead that visits your site, but there are steps that you can take to boost sales and conversions with your email marketing — and that includes email workflows. Not familiar? We’ve put together this handy guide to email workflows, including what they are, why you need them, and which workflows you should be adding to your email marketing strategy immediately. Let’s get to it. What Are Email Workflows? Email workflows are a series of automated emails triggered by certain lead behaviors — such as when a lead abandons their shopping cart, requests a demo, or subscribes to your newsletter. Think of email workflows as a bridge between specific behaviors and specific outcomes. A user who abandons their cart, for example, might forget about it entirely and never revisit the page to complete their purchase. However, sending out a sequence of targeted messaging to them after that initial action keeps their cart top of mind and provides direct encouragement to circle back. Benefits of Email Workflows There are a few big advantages to opting for email workflows over other conversion-driven responses. They Save Time Email workflows are automated, meaning they’re triggered by lead behaviors without any action on your part (after initial setup,... --- ### How to Keep Your Digital Event Engaging > Given the present state of the world, digital events are on the rise. Here are some crucial tips for keeping your digital event engaging. - Published: 2021-01-13 - Modified: 2023-04-24 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/digital-event-engaging/ - Categories: Marketing The world has gone increasingly digital, both by choice and by necessity. In-person events have been put on pause; therefore, digital networking tactics are the new go-to. This means that if networking events and conferences are a part of your brand and marketing strategy, it’s time to rethink your approach. Networking events have a million moving pieces at the best of times, and abruptly transitioning them into the digital sphere obviously poses some unique complications. Among them is keeping your attendees engaged when they’re not in the same room as you. Eighty percent of marketers believe that live events are critical to their company’s overall success. In previous years, these all-important events have been riddled with their own obstacles and challenges, including curating engaging content, meeting revenue goals, and of course, getting enough people to sign on and attend. Take out the free food and networking opportunities and throw in a computer screen on the couch, and it's easy to see how these challenges are amplified when events go digital. However, just because the process for hosting a successful marketing event looks a little bit different, events remain an integral part of connecting with your customers and leads and attracting new ones. Here are some tips for keeping your events engaging and effective — even when they’re taking place online. Know Your Audience and Know Your Expertise The best professional events are the ones that provide a perfect union between expertise and audience needs. When it comes to keeping your... --- ### 6 Things Every Email Marketer Should Be Doing This Year > You probably have a lot of goals for 2021. But no matter what they are, here are some things email marketers should be doing. - Published: 2021-01-07 - Modified: 2022-08-29 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/things-every-email-marketer-should-be-doing/ - Categories: Email Marketing There’s nothing obvious about great email marketing. Sure, we all know the basic formula for success — reaching the right people with the right content. But, how you narrow down who those people are and what kinds of content will track with them is a process that takes a lot of skill, not to mention a little bit of luck. What’s the secret? Well, there’s no single thing you can do to magically hit all of the right marks with your emails. But there are certain tasks that will make effective email marketing a lot more achievable — and surprisingly, lots of marketers are neglecting them as part of their strategies. When it comes to email marketing, you have to be creative. And often, that means thinking outside the box and trying tactics that aren’t all that obvious. With that in mind, here are six things every email marketer should be doing to increase success. 1. Sending a Welcome Email Opportunities for engagement are the highest right when someone subscribes to your emails. Statistics show that welcome emails have an impressive average open rate of 82 percent, versus just 21 percent for the emails sent after. This stat tells us two important things: average open rates for emails aren’t terribly high, and the welcome email is a fantastic opportunity to capitalize on engagement. Use it as a place to slip in a high-impact CTA or consider putting in a promotion or some other goodie that might incentivize future openings and... --- ### How Kate's Clothing Uses Benchmark Email to Increase Engagement and Sales > Read how Kate's Clothing uses Benchmark Email to increase engagement with their customers and increase sales. - Published: 2021-01-06 - Modified: 2022-08-29 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/kates-clothing/ - Categories: Ecommerce Email marketing is such a powerful strategy, yet if the right tool isn’t being used or the right approach isn’t taken, the benefits that come from it will never see the light of day. Don’t become victim to an email marketing strategy that falls flat. Instead, check out our case study with Katie’s Clothing and see how they used Benchmark Email to tackle email marketing the right way. Meet Kate’s Clothing Kate’s Clothing is an online alternative clothing provider that offers a range of styles from gothic and steampunk to vintage and maternity. Why Does Kate’s Clothing Use Email Marketing? “Being an online store, it is important to tap into various digital strategies to not only engage efficiently but also convert ads, banners, and discount codes into sales,” says Kate Whitegroatt, owner of Kate’s Clothing. “Email Marketing is a great way to do this. It allows us to include links and visual banners to direct our customers and subscribers straight to the product they wish to see. Email marketing also reaches a different audience type - one that is not on social media, rather that has engaged with us via our site. These users signed up to our newsletter through our website, gaining access to our discounts and the latest news. ” What Does Benchmark Email Help Kate’s Clothing Achieve? Kate’s Clothing has three main goals with their newsletters: Increase sales Promote their products Share general and exclusive news and updates Their weekly campaign is a massive contribution to their... --- ### 6 Best Small Business Marketing Automation Tools for 2021 > When it comes to marketing tools, none come close to marketing automation. Here are six small business marketing automation tools for 2021. - Published: 2020-12-30 - Modified: 2023-01-05 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/small-business-marketing-automation-tools/ - Categories: Marketing Automation Small businesses are smart and scrappy. They’re accustomed to working with a small staff, limited resources, and trying to find ways to battle their competitors (who are often larger companies with larger budgets). But just because their budgets aren’t as big doesn't’ mean small businesses should miss out on the advantages that come with having exceptional marketing automation tools. One of the most common things we hear from our small business clients is that they don’t need a ton of bells and whistles when it comes to the perfect marketing automation software. They typically find a solution they think will help them, then get buried under robust features and confusing processes. For people who are quite literally doing everything themselves, the last thing they need is to feel extremely behind when it comes to implementing an effective marketing strategy. One of the biggest marketing automation tips we can offer is that when looking for a marketing automation tool that will give you what you need and none of the stuff you don’t, this blog post is for you. We’ve accumulated a list of the best small business marketing automation tools that offer the right set of features at just the right price. Let’s take a look! 1. BenchmarkONE BenchmarkONE’s automation tool is designed by a small business team for small business teams. That means you get super affordable features intended to help you grow assembled by a team that has a deep understanding of your frustrations and needs. With BenchmarkONE,... --- ### Email Validation APIs: Why They're Worth It and How to Get Started Using One > Email validation APIs are helping thousands of brands keep their email lists in shape. See why they’re worth it and how you can get started using one. - Published: 2020-12-23 - Modified: 2022-08-29 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-validation-apis-why-theyre-worth-it-and-how-to-get-started-using-one/ - Categories: Email Marketing Email is, without a doubt, the premier communication method of our time. People check their inboxes constantly. Last year, almost 300 billion emails were sent and received daily, according to Statista. So it’s no great surprise that email marketing has surpassed all other types of digital marketing. Aside from the ubiquity of emails, it’s also the marketing method that pays. According to the DMA, for every $1 spent, email marketing has an ROI of $42. However, with so many emails being sent, you’re always competing for attention. Not only does your content have to stand out, but first, you have to make sure you’re reaching your subscribers. Landing in the inbox is not always a definite thing, and that’s why data quality is so vital to getting the results you want. Let’s see how email validation – and email validation APIs – make a difference in your email marketing performance. What is Email Validation? Email validation is a way to ensure the quality of your email list. An email validator checks whether an email address is deliverable and safe to use and that keeping it on your list won’t prove detrimental. For instance, people change their email addresses – some more frequently than others. A person signing up for your newsletter may have used a work or college email address. It’s unlikely that they would unsubscribe if they’re no longer using that address. The next time you email that contact, all you can expect is a bounce. By using an... --- ### Content Underperforming? Here's How to Remedy It. > It's frustrating when the time and effort you put into your content yields unfavorable results. Here's how to fix underperforming content. - Published: 2020-12-17 - Modified: 2023-06-21 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/content-underperforming/ - Categories: Content Marketing Implementing a content strategy is hard work. Going through all of the trouble to outline your process, write, edit, and optimize your content, only to have no one read it, engage with it, or use it as a resource, is a big bummer. It’s especially difficult when you know that there’s tons of value there, but you aren’t sure where you missed the mark. Your content is extremely important to your overall digital marketing strategy. Those who excel in creating and using it see unique site traffic 17. 8 times higher year-over-year than those who don’t. Content marketing is email marketing fuel. It also serves as promotional material in your digital ads and fills your social media campaigns with educational resources to share with your networks. When it underperforms, it’s wasted effort and missed opportunities for lead generation and nurture. And kiss boosting your site’s traffic and improving marketing ROI goodbye. The good news is that so long as you’re producing, publishing, and sharing content already, most of the work is already done. From there, it’s just a matter of tweaking what you’ve created in order to get it in front of more people and ensure that it’s meeting expectations and providing value. Here are some quick ways to resuscitate underperforming content. 1. Check Your Keyword Strategy If you’re not using the right keywords or you’re not properly utilizing your keywords within your content, expect lackluster performance. Keywords achieve a couple of major things beyond just ensuring you zero in... --- ### A Step-By-Step Guide to Facebook Advertising > It's important to advertise your company on platforms where your customers are engaged. Here's a step-by-step guide for Facebook advertising. - Published: 2020-12-16 - Modified: 2022-11-01 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/guide-facebook-advertising/ - Categories: Social Media How you go about advertising your company online matters greatly for your email marketing strategy. The whole point of digital advertising is to generate traffic back to your site, where you can convert that site traffic from plain ol’ visitors to leads. But to achieve this, you need to maximize your ad potential on the most beneficial social channels, tap into those valuable leads, and lead them back to your site where they can sign up for your emails. In HubSpot’s State of Marketing Report, 3,400 marketers around the globe said that Facebook is the top paid channel for offering the highest return on investment. They also reported Facebook as the number one social media channel that they’re investing in. Running a successful ad on Facebook isn’t complicated, but it’s not necessarily intuitive either. In this blog post, we'll discuss the ins and outs of Facebook advertising, including how to put together a paid ad on Facebook so you can drive more traffic to your site and build your email list. Why Facebook Ads Are So Popular There are a lot of different places you can invest your digital ad dollars. So many marketers choose to prioritize Facebook because the platform has the most to offer when it comes to ROI. To understand why Facebook might be such a clear winner here, consider just how many users are on the platform in the first place. Also, the price for Facebook ads decreased by six percent in 2019, while the number... --- ### 4 Digital Networking Faux Pas That Will Cost You Leads > With an increased emphasis on digital networking, you can't afford to mess up. Here are four digital networking mistakes that will cost you. - Published: 2020-12-10 - Modified: 2023-04-24 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/digital-networking-faux-pas/ - Categories: Sales In a time when in-person networking events are being canceled, marketers and sales professionals are focusing on engaging with prospects digitally to sustain lead nurture and generation. This tactic isn’t necessarily cutting edge. Digital networking has been used for quite some time, but it's especially fantastic to build and sustain connections with your leads during a pandemic. Yet, with written communication comes hurdles. A lack of tone to accompany a message can lead to the wrong impression and losing out on opportunities before they even get off the ground. Sans face-to-face interactions, it’s up to marketers to ensure they’re communicating in a way that conveys both trustworthiness and likeability and that they’re not inadvertently putting up barriers to what could otherwise be meaningful relationships. When you’re looking to connect with a lead digitally, it helps to be aware of the faux pas that can backtrack your efforts. To help you out, we’ve compiled the four biggest mistakes marketers make with digital networking — as well as ways to avoid them. Mistake #1: Canned Cold Outreach In a survey of executives, 75 percent said they’d be willing to schedule a meeting or attend an event based solely on a cold call or email. If you’re struggling to convert leads off cold outreach, then it probably has more to do with your approach than the method itself. If you want to stand out in the right ways with your cold email, you need to put yourself into context and focus on engaging... --- ### How to Get Your Leads to Share Your Content > Grow your lead pool, expand your reach, and get your content in the right hands. Here's how to get your leads to share your content. - Published: 2020-12-09 - Modified: 2022-08-29 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-get-your-leads-to-share-your-content/ - Categories: Email Marketing Wouldn’t it be great if your leads could do some of the work for you when it comes to getting more eyes on your email marketing content? Well, they can, as long as you put the right prompts into place. While many marketers focus most on the number of click-throughs to their website their emails generate, prompting email recipients to share the email content with others who might be interested is a great way to reach new prospects. And in addition to opening up the door to people who might not even know about your brand, a peer recommendation carries a lot of weight for boosting brand authority right out the gate. That can mean more engaged leads and give your email list a boost. The first step towards getting your leads to share your content is to create great content in the first place. If you’re creating content that really matters to your leads, you’re going to have more people seeing the value and wanting to share that value with others. Of course, though, excellent content alone isn’t going to do it. Keep reading for some useful tips for inspiring your email recipients to spread the word about what you have to offer. It’s All About the CTA A strong call to action can make all of the difference when it comes to getting your leads to market your content for you, and it makes sense. CTAs are all about inspiring readers to do something specific, whether that’s reaching... --- ### 6 Tips for Newsjacking Your Way to More Leads > Newsjacking can be an extremely difficult endeavor, but when it's pulled off successfully, it can create tons of benefits. - Published: 2020-12-03 - Modified: 2024-09-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/newsjacking/ - Categories: Inbound Marketing Newsjacking is a way for businesses of all sizes and types to draw attention to their content by associating it with a big or breaking news story. One reason it has become so popular is that trending hashtags on social media get plenty of searches, and therefore represent a chance for you to get your content in front of more people. Perhaps the first newsjacking instance (and maybe the most impactful) was when Oreo issued a now-iconic tweet during the 2013 Super Bowl. In the tweet, Oreo reminded people that their cookies could be dunked even during a power outage (something that actually happened and quickly trended during the Super Bowl broadcast). By acting swiftly, smartly, and with positive intention, Oreo basically owned the 34-minute interruption of the Super Bowl. Tying your content to breaking news of upcoming events can attract more attention than might otherwise be possible. For example, a generic article on “what to wear” might be practical (but dull) for your clothing retailer. However, “What to wear on New Year’s Eve” or “What to wear when your friends come over to watch the Oscars” can tie your content to trending topics, delivering a boost in your content’s impact. If you’re looking to get more eyes on your site and increase opportunities to convert those eyes into new business, try these six tips for successful newsjacking. 1. Understand the Timeline and Where You Are in Relation to It You don’t always have to look for something monumental and... --- ### 8 Ways to Prepare Your Small Business For Holiday Sales > It's that hectic time of year! It's time to get your eCommerce business ready for the influx of holiday sales. Here's how. - Published: 2020-12-02 - Modified: 2024-09-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/small-business-for-holiday-sales/ - Categories: Ecommerce Owning an e-commerce business means understanding that sales boosts are seasonal. Holiday sales can make or break your business. In particular, the holiday period from Black Friday through New Year’s can be one of your most profitable, so preparing your small business for holiday sales means maximizing your profits. If you think about all the things that you must do to guarantee high sales, it is essential that you start early. Many people like to begin their Christmas shopping in October, some even as early as August or September, so there is no time like the present to start. Due to the pandemic, anticipate a lot of holiday shopping moving online this year. You’ll want to make sure your e-commerce site has all the essentials that will set it up for success during this busy time of year. Before you start feeling totally overwhelmed, check out some tips we recommend that will ensure you’re as prepared as possible this holiday season. 1. Order Extra Stock Identify your top-selling items and order or make extra in anticipation of your increase in interest. Having extra stock will put you at ease when things start really picking up, as it’s no fun to scramble around, trying to create or order more things as the items are being demanded. The last thing you want to worry about is losing customers because you’ve run out of the specific products they wanted. If you haven’t already, get going on getting your additional orders and products produced,... --- ### 5 Email Marketing Trends for Supply Chain and Logistics > If you want to stay competitive in the supply chain and logistics industry, you need to be abreast of the various email marketing trends. - Published: 2020-11-24 - Modified: 2023-07-21 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-trends-supply-chain-logistics/ - Categories: Email Marketing Email marketing may seem like an old-school tactic, but it plays a vital role in eCommerce. For example, sending three abandoned cart emails can lead to 69% more orders. That stat alone solidifies email marketing as a mainstay. And while it may be here to stay, it does not remain stagnant. Email marketing is versatile and can be used across various industries, including supply chain and logistics. But if you want to stay competitive in this space, you need to be abreast of the various trends happening within the eCommerce industry. Doing so will keep you one step ahead of the competition and ensure your tactics will resonate with your audience. 5 Email Marketing Trends You Need to Know Long before social media, businesses relied on email to reach out and build relationships with their contacts. What was once a way to connect has transformed into an essential strategy for nurturing and converting new customers. Consistent email strategies with a foundation on nurture and education are crucial, no matter what industry you’re in. Let’s dive into five email marketing trends that everyone within the supply chain and logistics industry needs to know (and use). 1. Segmented Email Lists Do you know what makes email marketing successful? It’s the ability to personalize your emails, so they cater to the particular needs of the recipient. Segmenting your lists is at the root of personalization. Your customers do not want to receive the same emails. Each customer has different preferences and is adding... --- ### 5 Tools That Will Make Your Inbound Marketing Easier > Take a load off! Here are some tools to add to your arsenal that will make your inbound marketing efforts a sinch. - Published: 2020-11-19 - Modified: 2023-01-05 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/tools-inbound-marketing/ - Categories: Inbound Marketing Couldn’t we all use something to help lighten the workload? In this burgeoning age of efficiency, the market is continuously flooded with various marketing tools designed to help you work faster, harder, and smarter. And while there are a lot of gimmicks out there, there are also a lot of tools that do exactly what they’re designed to do: make your life a whole lot easier. When it comes to inbound marketing specifically, it’s crucial to use whatever you can to keep the flow of leads coming in and ensure you’re staying up with nurture and follow-up. We’re big fans of anything that helps us do more while working less, so with that in mind, here are four tools that our inbound marketing strategy would be lost without. 1. Boomerang Time is a funny thing, especially in the sales industry. Sometimes you have it, and sometimes you don’t — and sometimes you just don’t know where it went at all. Boomerang is a productivity tool for email that helps you manipulate time in your favor. Our favorite feature: the ability to write an email when you have the time to focus on it and then schedule a specific time for it to send. This is great when you know you can handle the email itself but not the quick response that’s sure to follow. Another life-saving Boomerang feature is email reminders. You’ll get an alert when an email hasn’t been followed up with instead of having to track and follow... --- ### Social Media Sizzles, But Here's How Email Marketing STILL Makes More Money in 2020 > Social media has always been the bright shiny object in the markteing world. However, email marketing is where the money is at. - Published: 2020-11-18 - Modified: 2022-08-29 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-makes-more-money/ - Categories: Email Marketing Scan the marketing press, and, seemingly, all that marketers care about is social media. If that sounds like your marketing department (or, worse, you), it’s time to get your priorities straight. Don’t get me wrong: having a killer social media content plan and well-planned social media calendar are important for increasing brand awareness, especially among the younger generations. But when it comes to turning leads into customers, actually making sales, and engaging directly with those that spend money on your products and services, email marketing is still king. The truth is that email marketing ROI is higher than any other form of advertising – including social media. In this article, we’ll look at why and how you can make the most of this slightly counter-intuitive fact. 1. Scale Here’s the first and most obvious reason why email marketing remains more effective than social media outreach campaigns. More people use email than any other form of online communication. As a result, it still represents the gold standard when it comes to digital messaging and still has a far larger reach than social media. Take a quick look at the statistics on email usage, and you’ll see what I mean. Facebook – the largest social media platform – has around 2. 5 billion users, many of whom are not active. In contrast, in 2019, global email users amounted to 3. 9 billion users. This figure is expected to grow to 4. 3 billion users by 2023. That’s half of the world’s population.... --- ### Email Marketing Rules and Regulations You Need To Know > Look no further. We've listed all the email marketing rules and regulations you need to know right here in this blog post. - Published: 2020-11-12 - Modified: 2025-05-22 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-rules-and-regulations/ - Categories: Email Marketing Email marketing can do wonders for your business — if you do it right. It may surprise you, but there are various rules and regulations that come with sending emails. Sending emails is mostly all fun and games, but if you break anti-spam law or aren’t totally aware of what the regulations are, there could be serious repercussions that will ultimately affect your marketing capabilities. In certain cases, you may also find yourself facing hefty fines. This applies to US companies, EU companies and Canadian companies, as they also have the CASL or Canadian Anti-Spam Law. Do we have your attention yet? When we talk about email best practices, we’re often covering topics like nailing your subject lines and personalizing your content. But, keeping track of regulations is just as crucial. Here are the most important ones you need to know about to ensure you’re remaining compliant. 1. CAN-SPAM The CAN-SPAM Act applies to all commercial emails and lays out a number of distinct rules that must be followed in order to adhere. Failure to follow these rules can be costly — as much as $43,280 per email — so you certainly want to be sure to abide. Fortunately, most of the rules laid out by CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 are part and parcel of general good email practices. They include: Don’t use false or misleading identifying information in your “From,” “To,” or “Reply-To” fields. Don’t use deceptive subject lines. Do identify your email as an ad. Do include your... --- ### Educate Your Content Marketing Prospects First, Then Sell Them > When it comes to selling your product or services to your content marketing prospects, you should focus on education. - Published: 2020-11-11 - Modified: 2023-11-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/educate-your-content-marketing-prospects/ - Categories: Inbound Marketing Companies often use their blogs as sales vehicles for their company. This is the wrong approach. It ends up turning off your audience and reducing the impact your blog can have on your company. Why is it Bad to Heavily Promote Your Company in Your Blog Posts? If you step back and look at your blog and how prospects get there, you'll see that they're coming from search engines. They are seeing one or more of your blog posts appear within the search results for a query they've entered. When they read the meta description and title associated with that query, it piques their interest. They believe the information they'll find will better educate them. At the most basic level, most of those prospects are at the awareness stage of the purchase decision funnel process. When they do get to your site, they expect to read a piece of content that will help them understand: Their business need. The options available. Solutions to their specific pain point or issue. Focusing on sales rather than giving prospects what they're looking for leads to these negative results: Creates a bad brand experience and no returning visitors. If your prospects arrive at that blog post and end up finding nothing more than a gigantic sales commercial for the company, they'll immediately leave the site and not return. Why? Because they didn't find what they wanted. More importantly, they've had a bad brand experience with your company. Increases bounce rates that negatively impact SEO.... --- ### How To Be a Great Partner > When joining forces with another brand, it's important that you bring your A game. Here's how to be a great partner. - Published: 2020-11-04 - Modified: 2023-04-24 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-be-a-great-partner/ - Categories: Marketing There are a ton of benefits to building co-branded partnerships, including cost-effective marketing strategies, bigger audiences, and the opportunity to quickly create relationships with new leads. Which is why building your partnerships and being a great partner is essential. Brand partnerships, often referred to simply as co-branding efforts, leverage your audience and marketing prowess with that of a similar (but non-competing) brand. For examples of co-branding in action, look no further than partnership successes like Spotify and Starbucks, Taco Bell and Doritos, and Nike and Apple. Or, the OGs of co-branding success: McDonald's and TY Beanie Babies, which is so old we couldn't find a linkable source for it. All of these partnerships are/were successful because they brought together two audiences with similar interests and offered a product or service that appealed to both. And while we can’t see behind the scenes, it’s safe to say that both brands in these partnerships worked equally hard to make success happen. If you’ve ever been in a group project where you’re the one doing all of the work, then you know how frustrating it can be to partner up with varying levels of interest and effort. So to make your co-branding campaign a winner, you’ll want to be sure to be the best partner you can be — and these tips can help. 1. Be Honest and Transparent Most brands are not in the habit of sharing their thoughts, plans, or processes with other businesses, but if there’s ever been a time... --- ### Re-Engage Subscribers With These 5 Emails > Are your email subscribers losing interest? Stop it before it becomes a bigger issue. Here are five email ideas to re-engage subscribers. - Published: 2020-10-29 - Modified: 2023-01-12 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/re-engage-subscribers/ - Categories: Email Marketing Your email list is one of your greatest assets. It’s full of people who have actively handed over their email addresses. They want you to get in touch with them. Source But if you don’t nurture your list, you might find that your subscribers become less and less engaged over time. This doesn’t mean you’ve lost them completely. In fact, there are a few tactics you can put in place to re-engage them and make your email list a lively place once more. We’ve put together a list of re-engagement emails that remind subscribers about your brand and get them excited about hearing from you again. 1. Product Updates Some subscribers will have bought something from you; others won’t have. However, this doesn’t mean the latter won’t be interested in product updates. Emails that outline how you’re improving your products and services show that you’re working hard to create the best offer possible. It shows you’re listening to users and applying their feedback. Product update emails also act as a reminder about your brand. If you haven’t shown up in someone’s inbox in a while, this will jog their memory and reignite that initial interest they had in your products. This email from Webflow updates subscribers about the latest product feature. Someone who uses the product might engage with the email to find out more, while a subscriber that hasn’t yet invested in the brand might decide to do so when they see the latest offering. 2. Personalized Recommendations Consumers... --- ### 7 Different Ways You Can Use Customer Surveys > Knowing what your customers think is an invaluable thing and can inform various different strategies. Here's the lowdown on customer surveys. - Published: 2020-10-28 - Modified: 2023-07-19 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/customer-surveys/ - Categories: Marketing Businesses thrive on customer insights. Our customers are our best resources for helping understand the experience we’re offering, in turn, illustrating what we can do better and how we can gain a competitive edge in our industry. Their insights also help us hone in on exactly what leads are looking for, producing lots of useful data for future pipeline conversions. In 2019, companies that prioritized and proactively managed their customers’ experiences were three times more likely than their peers to exceed their top business goals. It’s clear that taking customer insights and putting them to work in your policies and strategies can be instrumental in achieving success. And one of the best ways to do that is by email surveys. There’s so much that a business can do with customer insights, which makes surveying customers a truly invaluable tactic. Here are the various ways that the insights you gather from surveys can help your entire company thrive. 1. Improve Your Customer Service Tactics Customer surveys are a function of great customer service on their own since they show that you’re listening and that you value input. They also help to spur on larger service improvements, with opportunities to learn more about how to increase your customer engagement and what they think is lacking in how your customer service process currently operates. Poll your customers after they close out a ticket with your customer service team. Did they have a good experience? Was their problem taken care of quickly and efficiently?... --- ### Content Marketing Mistakes You're Definitely Making > No one is perfect. When it comes to your content marketing, there's always going to be unknowns. Here are some mistakes you're making. - Published: 2020-10-22 - Modified: 2023-01-12 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/content-marketing-mistakes/ - Categories: Inbound Marketing We all like to believe that our content is air-tight, but even the best marketers may be making mistakes without even knowing it. From blog posts to emails and everything in between, content is a hugely important part of any marketing strategy. If you’re slipping up, though, you might be losing out on a lot of its potential, especially when it comes to performance and your content’s ability to convert your viewers into customers. While you obviously put care into the content that you produce (if you didn’t, you probably wouldn’t be reading this article), it’s possible — and even likely — that you’re guilty of at least some of the mistakes below. Identifying your weaknesses is a crucial step in creating better content. And to help you do it, we’ve outlined the most common mistakes that content marketers make without even knowing it. Let’s get to it. 1. You’re Not Adapting to Your Buyers As your brand grows and evolves, so do your buyers. While that’s all well and good, problems arise if you fail to adapt your content alongside them. Take a look at your original customer personas and ask yourself if the people you were originally creating content for are the same people you’re creating content for now. If they’re not, it’s time to make some changes. 2. You’re Over-Relying on the Funnel The funnel is a foundational part of successful marketing, but it’s not the end all be all. Certain events and cultural shifts have the... --- ### How to Get Started with Email Marketing > You know you should have an email marketing plan, but where do you even begin? Here's how to get started with email marketing. - Published: 2020-10-15 - Modified: 2025-05-13 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-get-started-with-email-marketing/ - Categories: Small Business Email marketing is incredibly important for small businesses, but it can be a daunting and overwhelming process - and often, it's hard to know where to even start. Before you get discouraged, though, know that there's a lot to gain from putting time and effort into a designated email strategy. Email offers a great return on investment (about $42 per every $1 spent), and for many small businesses, it's the primary means of acquiring new customers and retaining existing ones. Everyone has to start somewhere. In this blog post, we'll go over the baby steps that your small business needs to take in order to get off the ground running with an impactful and effective email marketing strategy. 1. Build Your Contact List Your email marketing efforts aren't going to go very far without a hefty list of subscribers. And for that, you need to gather your prospects' email addresses. Make sure that you have a way to track the email addresses of visitors to your site, and create an easy and obvious way for visitors to opt-in to your email marketing list. Permission-based opt-ins are key here. Sending emails to people who did not explicitly give you permission to do so is a great way to end up in the spam folder - or worse. You'll also have recipients who are less engaged, less interested, and less likely to convert. On that note, while you should be tracking prospects' emails for your own data-gathering purposes, don't send an email... --- ### How to Optimize Your Site for Better Lead Conversion > You don't want people to visit your site then leave. You want them to convert. Here's how to optimize your site for better lead conversion. - Published: 2020-10-14 - Modified: 2023-02-10 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/optimize-your-site-for-better-lead-conversion/ - Categories: Inbound Marketing The ultimate goal of your company’s website is to generate more leads so you can convert them into paying customers. But accomplishing this takes much more than simply adding a “click here” button to your home page. Today’s marketers must be savvy and strategic in how they optimize their websites for improved lead generation. But where do you get started, and how do you know the most important areas to tackle first? You have to pay attention to people's actions when they visit your site and know your audience like the back of your hand. If you could use some help in this area, look no further. Here are a few tips to get you pointed in the right direction and headed towards more lead conversions. 1. Focus on Pages With the Most Traffic The quickest and easiest way to increase your lead generation is to add CTAs on the pages where your website visitors are most likely to spend their time. Start by conducting an audit to determine which of your site’s pages are getting the most attention and what sources bring in those leads. For instance, email marketing, social media, and guest-contributed content all play a role in driving traffic to your site. Once you’re able to track that traffic, make sure the landing pages your leads are coming to are fully optimized for the best possible results. 2. Evaluate Results and Make Adjustments Just because a web page gets a lot of traffic doesn’t mean it’s successful.... --- ### 4 Best Types of Marketing Software for Account-Based Marketing > Account based marketing is a strategic method, and there's different kinds of software that can help you be more successful. - Published: 2020-10-08 - Modified: 2023-02-02 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/marketing-software-for-account-based-marketing/ - Categories: Marketing Automation Account-based marketing is a collaborative approach to business that combines marketing, sales, delivery, and even key executives in an effort to reach a client’s business goals. In short, it completely changes the way marketers drive business. Instead of chasing thousands of random leads and narrowing them down to the most viable prospects, ABM proposes you should identify the best prospects at the beginning, then dedicate your resources to working with these accounts. It also understands that most purchasing decisions are made by consensus instead of by one individual, so it aims to create agreement within the buying group. ABM has come into its own in the digital age, and it’s really at its best when combined with the ideal marketing tools. The right software can create multiple benefits for the B2B sales force, including: Account-level analytics Account-level personalization Strategic alignment of the sales and marketing teams Improved account prospecting methods The best marketing software for ABM combines most or all of these features. Different types have an emphasis on different areas of marketing; the right one for your business depends on your ABM goals. Account Management Software Account management software documents needed information and shares it between departments. These details can include sales and marketing communication, intelligence gathering, awareness of target accounts, and information about a company’s ongoing sales cycle. These ABM management systems automate the transfer of crucial information between departments, communicate details between the marketing and sales departments, and manage the sales pipeline or marketing funnels. Account management... --- ### Email Marketing Benchmarks: How Do You Compare to Your Industry? > Have you ever wondered how your email marketing stacks up against others in your industry? Check out our users' email marketing benchmarks. - Published: 2020-10-01 - Modified: 2022-08-29 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-benchmarks-2/ - Categories: Email Marketing Email marketing success is best analyzed in context with your competitors. While every company has very distinct and personal goals that they want to hit with their email marketing strategy, understanding your performance as it relates to your industry and region can help you see where you’re excelling and where you might be trailing behind. From there, you can use these insights to drive future initiatives and better define what it means to succeed in your market. To help you do it, we pulled information from nearly 10,000 Benchmark Email users to see how they’re performing with their emails and then broke it down by key factors so you can see how you compare. Here’s how to put that data to use — plus quick tips on what to do if you find yourself coming up short. Making Sense of the Data Our benchmarks report looked at a few crucial email metrics to help you see how you stack up, including average email open rates, bounce rates, and click rates. From there, we broke it down by industry and by region to help you further contextualize your performance. Metrics can vary widely depending on where you are and what type of product or service you’re selling. For example, look at how average click rates compare from an industry like K-12 schools (5. 55 percent) to manufacturing, logistics, and engineering (1. 25 percent). If you’re in the latter industry, a 3 percent click rate would be well above-average, while if you’re... --- ### Customer Marketing: Why You Should Consider It > In this blog post, we're breaking down customer marketing, including what it is, and how to use it to sell more. - Published: 2020-09-30 - Modified: 2023-07-19 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/customer-marketing/ - Categories: Inbound Marketing If you want to sell more, start by looking at your existing customers. According to HubSpot’s 2020 State of Marketing Report, a little more than 60% of marketers report that they’re doing some sort of customer marketing — and for 70% of them, the tactic has been at least “moderately effective” in its purpose. Customer marketing is nothing new, even if you’re just hearing the term for the first time. However, what's changed is that companies now have a lot more data available to help them do it right. In this post, we're breaking down customer marketing basics, including what it is, what it can help you achieve, and why you should consider making it part of your marketing strategy. What Is Customer Marketing? Customer marketing is a marketing tactic directed toward your existing customer base. Instead of focusing efforts toward the acquisition of and nurturing new leads, customer marketing goes to work engaging current customers to promote additional products and services, build customer loyalty, and stay top of mind. And this can have big advantages for your business’s bottom line. In the U. S. , companies lose $136. 8 billion every year to avoidable customer churn. Customer marketing doesn’t guarantee that your customers won’t switch to the competition, but it does make it less likely. By putting time and resources into improving the experience and increasing the purchase potential of existing customers, your business can retain more of its client base and help make that base more profitable. You... --- ### 3 Reasons Why Big Data Analytics is Important Now More Than Ever > Big data is no longer just some buzzword. It’s important for every business and wanting to keep up with a fast-evolving consumer landscape. - Published: 2020-09-17 - Modified: 2022-10-28 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/big-data-analytics/ - Categories: Inbound Marketing Big data is no longer just some buzzword. It’s become the standard for every business and organization that wants to scale and keep up with a fast-evolving consumer landscape. But what is big data? Simply put, it’s a massive collection of complex sets of data that cannot be processed, analyzed, or shared by human computing power. Big data analytics allows you to find trends and patterns and form insights that can influence your marketing strategies. Big data can cover a wide variety of information about customer behavior, including numerical data sets, email addresses, contact numbers, web page visits, and the ads they clicked. Gathering data is one thing, but a lot of organizations may struggle with managing and analyzing large datasets. Big data analytics and data science can provide businesses with insightful trends, behaviors, and predictions that can be used to benefit marketing plans and the organization as a whole. Why Big Data Analytics Matter Now More Than Ever Big data is especially useful for marketers. By utilizing big data and analytical methods from data science, you can craft even more powerful, effective, and targeted email marketing campaigns. Here are three reasons why you should pay attention to big data and what it could do for your business. Better Understanding of Your Customers and Competitors Understanding your customers’ needs and knowing what your competitors are doing are important goals for all marketers. But your primary goal as a marketer is to know how to catch the attention of your leads... --- ### How to Create Sales Enablement Content > Sales and marketing are two departments working toward very similar goals. Here's how to create sales enablement content. - Published: 2020-09-10 - Modified: 2023-04-24 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-create-sales-enablement-content/ - Categories: Content Marketing The way you treat your consumers matters, and it starts with your very first interaction. Eighty percent of customers report that the experience a company provides is just as important as its products and services. And with 67 percent of customers willing to pay more for a better experience, it’s crucial your sales team rolls out the red carpet from the get-go. Since content fuels your email marketing, it plays a huge role in nurturing prospective clients until they’re ready to buy. Content is what lays the groundwork for the kind of experience your prospects have, and your sales team needs to be armed with it. Your company’s content should be conversion-driven, but that doesn’t mean you should only consider the middle of the funnel. For your sales team to close more deals, they need content that addresses the conversations they’re having with leads, fills in knowledge gaps, and amplifies your company’s value proposition. Sales and marketing are two departments working toward very similar goals, and the content you create can serve you both in big ways. Below, we’ll discuss how your marketing team can create better sales enablement content, making your sales team’s job a whole lot easier. 1. Designate a Strategy First things first have a documented content marketing strategy. This will accomplish two big things in terms of sales enablement content: It will help you outline your content plan in relation to your overarching goals It will keep your marketing and sales teams aligned toward a common... --- ### How to Create a Sense of Urgency to Convert More Leads > There are subtle ways you can create more ugency on your website and in your marketing that will convert more leads. Here's how. - Published: 2020-09-09 - Modified: 2022-08-29 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/create-a-sense-of-urgency-to-convert-more-leads/ - Categories: Inbound Marketing Can people run their businesses without your product? Probably. It’s theoretically possible to operate a business without your software or service offering. But to keep your business actually flourishing, your customers must conclude that they “need” your products and services. That’s what marketing tactics are all about, isn’t it? Convincing your prospects that whatever it is you have to offer is something they need to make their goals achievable. But how you go about creating this need is what matters. You can help give your prospects a push in the right direction through a number of digital marketing tactics. And while it’s easy to tweak a landing page, a call to action, or restructure your shipping policy, none of these actions will move the needle if your target audience doesn’t know about you. So, before we dive into how to create that need and sense of urgency, let’s first touch on tapping into your customer base, so you know who you’re creating urgency for. How to Identify Your Ideal Customer Pay Attention to Advertising Analytics Advertising analytics are widely available, and you can learn quite a bit about what marketing tactics work and what do not by using free basic services. You may choose to delve deeper and purchase more advanced analytics capabilities, but regardless, you must commit to understanding the story your analytics tell. Learning where your website traffic comes from gives you valuable insight into the traffic resources you should prioritize during an upcoming marketing push. And it's... --- ### No More Mass Emails > Mass emails are a huge no-no for email marketers. Here's why you need to cut the cord with mass emails and what you should be doing instead. - Published: 2020-09-03 - Modified: 2022-08-29 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/no-more-mass-emails/ - Categories: Email Marketing When it comes to mass emails, “just say no” is the motto you should be following. Mass emails are when you send the same emails to all of your subscribers and leads. It’s an inherently ineffective mode of email marketing. Mass emails tell your subscribers that you would rather cut corners than put in the effort to meet their unique needs, and it guarantees that a large portion of your recipients aren’t going to be getting a message that matters to them. In turn, this can lead to a high rate of disinterest and opt-outs — and worse, a higher potential to be flagged as spam. There might have been a time when mass emails worked for brands, but those days are done. Here’s why mass emailing no longer cuts it, and perhaps more importantly, what you should be doing instead. 1. Mass Emails Lack Personalization Personalization is the present and the future of email marketing. The ability to segment email lists and individualize email campaigns are the most effective personalization tactics for 51 percent and 50 percent of marketing influencers, respectively, with email marketers relying on personalization as their number one way to increase engagement rates. That’s because personalized emails generate higher transaction rates and more revenue. Your recipients are busy, with active inboxes that force them to pick and choose what they have time to pay attention to. With that in mind, why would they opt for a non-personalized email when they could focus on the messages that... --- ### How Long Should My Emails Be? > There's a lot of tricks to the email marketing trade. But knowing how long your emails should be isn't a trick, it's an art. - Published: 2020-09-02 - Modified: 2022-08-29 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-long-should-my-emails-be/ - Categories: Email Marketing Some of us are talkers. We may think people want to hear us rambling on for minutes on end, but the truth is, there’s probably a million other things they’d rather be doing. Sitting through an endless rant is about as fun as watching paint dry. The same can be said for your email marketing. AWeber analyzed 1,000 emails and found that over 50 percent of them were 300 words or less. Most email marketers understand that brevity is the key to their consumers’ hearts, but it isn’t easy to determine when things go from informative to too informative. Why is Shorter Better? Every brand under the sun has an email marketing strategy. This means that consumers are receiving more emails than ever before. With a busy inbox, each email is competing against each other for the attention of the recipient. And if you add a ton of lengthy emails, that attention gets shorter and shorter. This isn’t to say that you should never send longer emails. Sometimes the information you need to share is robust, and that’s fine. The critical thing to focus on is whether or not your email is offering value. Getting to the point and being more direct will provide your readers clarity and assist them with making quick decisions, rather than getting overwhelmed and exiting your email. You want your emails to convert and be engaging, and you lose a little bit of that with each line of copy you tack on. So, how do... --- ### Why It’s Never a Good Time to Put Off Email Marketing > There's no time like the present. And when it comes to email marketing, there's no good excuse for putting it off. - Published: 2020-08-27 - Modified: 2022-08-29 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/why-its-never-a-good-time-to-put-off-email-marketing/ - Categories: Email Marketing Marketers have a lot on their plate. And between social media, blog posts, conferences, and creating sales enablement content, it can seem like there’s not a lot of time left over for emails. Before you put email marketing on the back burner, though, it’s important to have a complete idea of what it can offer you. The more you learn, the more apparent it becomes that you’re losing out on too much if you neglect to implement an email marketing strategy. “Now isn’t the best time” is a common objection in the world of sales and marketing and a major barrier to accomplishing your goals. We get it: life’s busy, and the priority list never seems to get any shorter. Still, if you want to compete, you’re going to have to get on board with an email marketing strategy eventually, and putting it off now just causes more work for you down the road. So while it might not be the best time to get the ball rolling, it’s always the right time. With that in mind, here are three big reasons why it’s time to get on board if you haven’t already. Reason #1: Putting Off Email Marketing Gives Your Competitors An Edge It’s a competitive marketplace out there, and your business needs every advantage that it can get if it’s going to come out on top. Your goal here is a pretty simple one: create as many opportunities for conversions as possible. More opportunities equal more sales, which... --- ### How to Implement an SEO Strategy > Having an SEO strategy does wonders for your inbound marketing efforts. Read our blog post for SEO tips and a step-by-step guide. - Published: 2020-08-20 - Modified: 2023-08-02 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-implement-an-seo-strategy/ - Categories: Inbound Marketing A great SEO strategy is worth its weight in gold — and clicks. Today’s online marketplace is a crowded place, with many brands offering similar products or services to the same audience. The best way to stand out? Original content and lots of it. An impressive 51 percent of all website traffic comes from organic search, versus the 10 percent that can be attributed to paid search and the 5 percent driven from social media. The better your content is optimized for the search engines, the more likely you’ll be to get in front of online searchers and turn that traffic into revenue for your business. No small feat, of course, but an effort that doesn’t have to put a major strain on your budget and resources if you strategize right. Becoming a master of the search engine domain requires a plan. Here’s why it matters, plus tips for putting an SEO strategy into action. Why Your Brand Needs SEO The internet has brought a world of information to our fingertips, which means that consumers are doing lots of research before deciding on what brands to partner with. In fact, it’s estimated that 93 percent of all online experiences begin in a search bar, with Google taking on an overwhelming share of that traffic. Simply existing on the web isn’t enough, though. Three-quarters of those searchers aren’t scrolling past the first page of results, so if you’re not ranking at the top, you’re not making it onto their radar. SEO... --- ### Seven Things You Didn't Know About Email Marketing > Sure, email marketing has been around for quite some time. But that doesn't mean you know everything about it. - Published: 2020-08-19 - Modified: 2022-08-29 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/things-you-didnt-know-about-email-marketing/ - Categories: Email Marketing Numerous online interaction platforms such as websites and social networks preoccupy marketers and make them forget one simple fact – email marketing still rules the global communication. Without a comprehensive email strategy, you can hardly expect the business to thrive and maintain the highest level of functionality in the long run. But in order to do so, you need to go beyond well-known email marketing features and understand little-known details about this concept, too. As the oldest channel of online communication, email has grown tremendously and turned into a complex phenomenon. In this post, we will focus on rather unfamiliar features and show you seven things you didn’t know about email marketing. Let’s check them out! 1. Half of the World Uses Email Are you aware of the fact that there are almost four billion active email users? This basically means that half of the world’s population is using emails for personal and professional communication. Let’s put things into perspective to show just how incredible that number really is. For example, Facebook is by far the largest social platform globally, but it has “only” two billion users. The main point is that email campaigns give you the chance to reach pretty much every consumer out there. No other communication network can approach email in terms of sheer volume, so you should definitely prioritize this marketing tool and put it atop of your strategy. Of course, four billion is only a starting point that gives you a substantial advantage in terms... --- ### Is It Time to Redesign Your Email Newsletter? > You may be happy with the way your email newsletter looks. But if it isn't converting or getting engagment, it may be time for a redesign. - Published: 2020-08-13 - Modified: 2022-08-29 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/is-it-time-to-redesign-your-email-newsletter/ - Categories: Email Marketing Email newsletters are just one of the different kinds of emails you should be sending. But that doesn't mean it should be overlooked. You may love the design of your email newsletter, but that’s not a guarantee that your subscribers do. An outdated, uninspired, or unengaging design could be turning off your audience and harming your conversion rates — and you might not even know that the look of your email itself is what’s to blame. The good news is that a redesign is easy to do, and it can have major implications for how your emails perform. To help you out, we’ve outlined some of the biggest indicators that it’s time for a redesign, plus how you should go about it, so you don’t make the same mistakes twice. Signs It’s Time For a Change If your emails aren’t performing like you want them to, your design may be the culprit. Small but impactful design choices like background and font colors, font size, link placements, and use of images (or lack thereof) are surprisingly significant contributors to your email’s performance, regardless of the content on the page. So what are some indicators that it’s time to mix it up? Be on the lookout for: Increasing opt-out rates Decreasing open rates Lack of click-throughs on links All of these are signs your emails aren’t connecting with your audience the way you want (and need) them to. And while there’s no way to know for sure that your email’s design is... --- ### How to Identify Your Most Qualified Leads > Generating leads for your business is always good. But there's a difference between leads and qualified leads. Here's how to identify your qualified leads. - Published: 2020-08-06 - Modified: 2022-08-29 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-identify-your-most-qualified-leads/ - Categories: Small Business We all know that the more leads you generate, the better. And while any lead is better than no lead, that doesn’t mean that all leads are equally likely to purchase. Knowing exactly who your best potential clients are can eliminate a lot of work for your sales team later on. It can also help you reduce the amount of time and effort that you spend on leads who aren’t likely to convert. The buyer’s journey can look a lot different for different people, but at the end of the day, there are two main paths that someone can take: the path to purchase, and the path to nowhere. Figuring out ahead of time who’s going in which direction is a great way to streamline your sales process — and your marketing initiatives. So how do you do it? Here are some tips on how to identify your best potential clients so you can better qualify leads and save your resources for where it really counts. What Is a Qualified Lead? A qualified lead is a prospect who has been pre-determined by the marketing team to be a likely customer prior to being handed off to sales. This determination comes from things the lead tells you or suggests with their behavior, as well as the best practice tips outlined below. The qualifying process can usually be summed up by BANT: Does the lead’s Budget align with your price point? Do they have the Authority within their organization to make a... --- ### How to Use Multiple Domains in Your Content Marketing Strategy > Using multiple domains in your content marketing strategy can be a great way to support or even start brand new campaigns. - Published: 2020-08-05 - Modified: 2024-09-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/multiple-domains-content-marketing-strategy/ - Categories: Inbound Marketing Using multiple domains in your content marketing strategy can be a great way to support or even start brand new campaigns. And with several domain registrars available on the market, it’s incredibly easy to pick out and purchase a new domain name or two for your business. So how exactly can content marketers use different domain names and websites in their overall strategy? And how do you get started? Let’s dive in and answer these questions. 4 Ways Marketers Can Use Multiple Domains in their Content Marketing Need a few ideas for how you can effectively include multiple domains and websites in your content marketing strategy? Here are some ideas and a few examples. Evergreen Content Hub for Specific Brand or Product Niches Dan Fries from Blue Tree says, “Much of content marketing is now about creating evergreen content – blog posts and videos that stand the test of time. So it makes sense that a content hub within your brand or product niche is a popular way to use a new domain name. ” For example, if a multi-national company had a range of products and services, they might create a content hub for each of these product categories, with evergreen content like blog posts and videos dedicated to this specific niche. Or if their products and services fit into a specific niche already, then they’d create a content hub within this niche. Take a look at Woolly Magazine, which was created by self-proclaimed “sleep company” Casper. Casper’s main... --- ### The Power of the eNewsletter > All hail the ubiquitous eNewsletter, a crucial part of your digital outreach! Read our blog post on why we think the eNewsletter is so great. - Published: 2020-07-30 - Modified: 2024-01-23 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-power-of-the-enewsletter/ - Categories: Email Marketing, Benchmark Recommends All hail the ubiquitous eNewsletter, a crucial part of making an impact with your digital outreach and one of the most essential types of emails you should be sending. Among B2B marketers, 83 percent use eNewsletters as part of their content marketing program, and 40 percent say it's critical to their content marketing success. And chances are you’ve probably signed up for a few yourself. ENewsletters may seem like email marketing at its most basic, but they’re actually a major part of a dynamic and progressive email marketing strategy. With 59 percent of consumers reporting that marketing emails influence their purchasing decisions, it’s clear that the more modes of outreach you have, the better — and an eNewsletter is a great way to anchor all of that communication in one effective package. Here are four reasons that eNewsletters should be at the top of your email marketing priority list. 1. They Humanize Your Brand Brands are people too. Well, okay, not exactly, but when it comes to effective outreach, you absolutely need to be putting personality — and a human touch — behind how you communicate. Digital marketing has heralded a turn toward more accessible, friendly, and trustworthy messaging, leading to a consumer base that doesn’t just want to relate to your brand as they would a real person but that expects to. So how do eNewsletters help you achieve this? Show your subscribers what you're up to, share company updates, and give your audience an inside look at your... --- ### How to Step Up Your Email Marketing > Having an email marketing strategy is a must, we all know that. But you have to step up your game if you want to see results consistently. - Published: 2020-07-29 - Modified: 2022-08-29 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/step-up-your-email-marketing/ - Categories: Email Marketing The world of marketing is changing fast. And like the industry itself, it’s important to always be adapting, or you could be left in the dust. Email marketing requires that you step up your game every now and then to keep things interesting and ensure that you’re putting your best foot forward. Recipients who see the same messaging and formatting every time they open your emails aren’t going to stay engaged for long. Being complacent in your practices for too long will lead to a loss of interest and negatively affect your conversion rates. It’s easy to get into a routine with your email marketing. What takes a little more work is putting into place a strategy that ensures you’re always tweaking your efforts to promote sustainable success. Below, we’ll go over some of the things that you should be doing to step up your email game both now and moving forward. 1. Create Benchmarks Your emails are only as valuable as the conversions that they lead to. After all, is a great email really so great if nobody even sees it? To ensure that you’re meeting and exceeding your conversion goals, you’re going to want to create email marketing benchmarks that you can check against — and compete against. Knowing where you stand in terms of key email metrics provides you with a baseline for where you need to go and a foundation for determining how you’re going to get there. It also forces you to keep a close... --- ### Small Business Remote Work: How to Embrace It > Remote work may seem like a hassle at this point, but it isn't going anywhere. Here's how to embrace remote work so you can be productive. - Published: 2020-07-23 - Modified: 2024-01-24 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/small-business-remote-work/ - Categories: Small Business Remember when working from home was a novelty? Ten months since the beginning of the pandemic and when many of us switched to remote work, yet there’s still no sign that most of us will be returning to the office soon. While we might have come to terms with how the typical workplace will look in the future and the realities of the work from home life, that doesn’t mean we’ve fully embraced it or found our groove. This current landscape is especially hard for small businesses. Any threat to their ecosystem can lead to lay-offs or closed doors. And changing up the standard workplace dynamic can shake the foundation a little harder than it would for larger corporations. So to help ease you along, we’ve put together our best tips for small businesses and employees attempting to lean into working from home and embrace its benefits — instead of getting discouraged by its drawbacks. Tips For Transforming Your Business to Remote Find Your New Routine It’s never easy to change routines overnight. But now that you’ve had some time to settle in, you should probably have a good idea of what’s working for you and your team and what isn’t. Encourage your team to hold on to what they find beneficial, particularly when it comes to the things that help put them in the right headspace to get their to-do list accomplished. Also, ask yourself whether there is anything you’re doing that is no longer helping, and therefore would... --- ### How to Build a New Sales Pipeline During a Pandemic > The pandemic shook things up and changed the way we do business. Here's how to build a new sales pipeline during a pandemic. - Published: 2020-07-23 - Modified: 2023-03-02 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/new-sales-pipeline/ - Categories: Sales Selling during a pandemic is extremely difficult. Obviously, there are more important matters happening, however, small businesses still have goals to meet, and creating revenue is a necessity if they want to survive once the fog has cleared. When March hit, companies had to throw their original sales plans out the window and quickly figure out a way to adapt to the unexpected disruption COVID-19 presented. Many months later, brands still haven’t totally figured it all out. If you’re still struggling to find your sales footing, know that you aren’t alone. To continue to thrive, though, maybe it’s time to take a look at adjusting not only your sales process, but also your sales pipeline. And while we know there are no guidebooks to follow for how to sell effectively during a global pandemic, we do have some ideas for you to try that are sure to get you moving in the right direction. Put Sales and Marketing Automation to Work First up in your new pipeline: a plan for incorporating sales and marketing automation, if you haven’t already. There are a lot of benefits to automating these core processes, but right now, it really comes down to their utility in helping you engage with people online, as well as their ability to help you quickly adapt when the time calls for it. Here are some specific functions an automation software (like BenchmarkONE) helps you achieve: Easily create and send emails Manage your sales follow-up through tasks and reminders Organize... --- ### How to Build a Killer Marketing Team > It's important that your marketing team be effective, smart, and productive. But personalities and roles have to mesh well, too. - Published: 2020-07-22 - Modified: 2024-09-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-build-a-killer-marketing-team/ - Categories: Small Business Every brand needs a great marketing team. From coming up with effective strategies that generate high-quality leads to reconfiguring your inbound funnel, it’s important that you have a group of people dedicated to growth and results. After all, this is the team tasked with communicating your brand to the world — and that’s a message you definitely can’t afford to muddle. It would be every company's dream to press a button and have an excellent team of dedicated marketers appears ready to work. But in the real world, it takes a conscious effort and a lot of planning to build an amazing marketing team. Keep in mind that if you take the time to do it right, you’ll get a team that works well together, gets things accomplished, and helps take your brand to new heights. Let’s dive into what you need to do to put together a killer marketing team. 1. Know Exactly Who You’re Looking For If you were building a team of superheroes, what sorts of powers would you want them to bring to the table? While your marketing team might not be tasked with saving the world, the same thought practice applies. You need to develop the key traits that have to be represented on your team to achieve success. Any time you're hiring for your marketing team, start with a very clear idea of the skills you need. Do you want your marketing team to be creative? Will you need someone who can write well?... --- ### EU-US Privacy Shield - What You Need To Know > There's a lot going on with the recent news regarding the EU-US Privacy Shield. Here's what you need to know and how it affects you. - Published: 2020-07-20 - Modified: 2024-09-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/privacy-shield-what-you-need-to-know/ - Categories: Email Marketing Let’s talk privacy. It’s a hot topic. Everyone is concerned about what companies do with their information, and rightly so. In an age where you can do everything online - make purchases, check your bank statements, sign up for classes, and do your taxes, it’s important that we’re all mindful of what happens to the data we’re sharing (and who can get their hands on it). Which is why the recent news regarding the EU-US Privacy Shield is so important. What is The EU-US Privacy Shield? The Privacy Shield was an agreement that allowed for the transfer of personal data from the EU to the US. But, because the US has less stringent guidelines around what they do with personal information, this law was recently struck down. What Does This Mean For You? While this may be bad news for US business, our Benchmark Email and BenchmarkONE users can rest easy. The Standard Contractual Clause (SCC), are standard terms and conditions that the sender and receiver of personal data agree to. It’s aimed at protecting user data leaving the EU, and is compliant with the GDPR Guidelines. We operate under the SCC and GDPR Guidelines, meaning we adhere to the EU’s privacy regulations and protect the information of our users and our users’ clients. There are legal repercussions to not adhering to these laws. If you are not a Benchmark Email or BenchmarkONE user and do business with the EU, you'll want to take the necessary steps to ensure you're... --- ### Product Promo Videos: A Necessity for Your Content Strategy > Product promo videos show off what your products can do and are a great addition to your content marketing strategy. Here are some tips to follow. - Published: 2020-07-16 - Modified: 2024-09-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/product-promo-videos/ - Categories: Marketing Have you pivoted to video with your product promotions yet? Videos are an excellent way to get more eyes on your products since they’re easy to consume and enjoyable to watch. And you don’t need a film degree to make them. Product promo videos are a no-brainer for your content marketing strategy. We know that the idea of video marketing can be a little scary on its face. To help you overcome any hurdles, we’ve put together this quick post on what product promo videos are, what they need to include to be successful, and how to use them to improve product visibility and send more leads down the pipeline. What Is a Product Promo Video? A product promo video is a video that shows off your product and what it can do. The purpose is to highlight the features and benefits of your product and show viewers how it functions as a solution to the problem you — and they — are trying to solve. Key to note here is that, like all of your other content marketing materials, product promo videos are targeted to a particular audience. Effective promo videos address the unique pain points your intended audience has and shines a light on the features that they are specifically in need of. It’s the same message you're pursuing elsewhere, just simplified into a quick and pleasurable video viewing experience. The Essential Components of a Product Promo Video The way consumers engage with videos should be considered when... --- ### PRESS RELEASE: Benchmark Email Launches BenchmarkONE K12 Edition for School Communicators > Benchmark Email, a leading software as a service provider of sales and marketing solutions, today announces the launch of the BenchmarkONE K12 Edition. - Published: 2020-07-15 - Modified: 2022-08-29 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/benchmarkone-k12-edition/ - Categories: Uncategorized St. Louis, MO - July 6, 2020 - Benchmark Email, a leading software as a service provider of sales and marketing solutions, today announces the launch of the BenchmarkONE K12 Edition. This new offering will give K12 communicators the ability to keep parents, students, teachers, and their communities connected and informed regarding school policies, news, and events. Following the September 2019 merger between Benchmark Email and then Hatchbuck (now, BenchmarkONE), the company has emerged as a global customer relationship management (CRM) and email marketing automation technology leader serving over 500,000 users worldwide. In February of this year, Benchmark Email acquired MarketVolt, a St. Louis-based email marketing platform. This acquisition provided an opportunity for further expansion, and BenchmarkONE developed the K12 Edition with MarketVolt’s customer base of K12 communicators in mind. The K12 Edition offers a way for K12 communicators, recruiters and administrators to create school newsletters easily, send targeted outreach, and track the success of their campaigns. It includes drag-and-drop features, a custom CRM tool to manage and segment contacts, and engagement metrics. “There has never been a more important time for K12 educators and communicators to stay connected to parents and students,” Benchmark Email CEO Jonathan Herrick said. “Our goal is to provide easy-to-use tools that allow the K12 community to focus less on repetitive administrative tasks and more on their profoundly important work within schools. ” With access to this software, school communicators will not only be able to effectively keep all necessary parties in the know regarding... --- ### 5 Advantages You're Forfeiting If You're Not Using Marketing Automation Software > The longer you go without using marketing automation, the longer you go without tons of benefits to your sales and marketing strategies. - Published: 2020-07-09 - Modified: 2022-08-29 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/advantages-youre-forfeiting-not-using-marketing-automation/ - Categories: Marketing Automation Marketing automation software is designed to streamline marketing and sales efforts and automate repetitive tasks, so your teams better manage their time and get more done. For example, tasks like social media posting, email nurture, and lead scoring can be done automatically, freeing up time for your sales team to meet with prospects and perform adequate phone follow-up. But, the real question is, can you be successful without marketing automation software? Probably to a certain degree, but you can bet it will require sustained hard work, diligence, and a certain amount of frustration. Without marketing automation software, you're verifying contact information on your own and re-using boilerplate emails manually (which introduces a high risk of human error). You are likely losing sales to your competitors who are using marketing automation. Let’s outline this more clearly. Here are five advantages you give up if you choose not to use marketing automation software. 1. Saves Time Since marketing automation software takes your leads and qualifies them for you, it can save you the effort of reaching out to cold leads that may not be interested in what you have to offer. Even if you are finding that your qualified lead pool is smaller, it’s better to pursue fewer leads that are higher quality than waste your efforts trying to close every lead in your list. Having a tool that can automatically qualify a new lead so that you don’t have to manually, not only saves you time from qualifying but saves you... --- ### How to Effectively Market Your Product > There's a lot that goes into marketing your product, and you can't rush a new product rollout. Here's how to implement product marketing correctly. - Published: 2020-07-02 - Modified: 2024-09-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-effectively-market-your-product/ - Categories: Marketing Products don’t sell themselves. For most companies, product marketing is a major part of what their marketing teams do, and is a basic necessity for meeting, and exceeding, the bottom line quarter after quarter. More than half of all shoppers research products online before making a purchase, which is as true for in-store purchases as it is for digital ones. So, in addition to using product marketing to generate buzz and intrigue over what you offer, you also have to optimize your marketing for on-the-spot conversions. What this makes clear is that, like all other marketing forms, product marketing needs to be targeted to buyers in all stages of the consumer journey if it's going to work. What is Product Marketing? Product marketing refers to marketing efforts specifically geared toward promoting and selling a product to consumers. Unlike general content marketing, focused on building awareness around your brand and strengthening the brand-consumer relationship, product marketing is narrowed in on one specific goal and one specific item. When done effectively, product marketing drives demand for a product — both before and after its launch. Why Product Marketing Matters There are a lot of channels that buyers use when researching a product, and you need to make sure that you have a strong voice in the conversation. Product marketing helps you do that, and it also helps you achieve a few other important advantages: Understand how to best present your product to an interested audience Get the maximum potential out of your... --- ### How to Put Together a Great Lead Nurture Strategy > Lead nurturing refers to everything you do to engage your leads and move them further along the funnel. Here's how to put together a lead nurture strategy. - Published: 2020-07-01 - Modified: 2022-08-29 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-put-together-a-lead-nurture-strategy/ - Categories: Email Marketing What you do with your leads once you’ve got them is just as crucial as generating leads in the first place. Having an effective and well-rounded lead nurture strategy will help you do that and ensure that all that hard work you put into lead generation doesn't waste. Small business marketing teams have to make sure resources are designated for the right place to stretch every dollar to its max. And with lead generation being one of the more (if not the most) costly of all marketing endeavors, it makes sense to prioritize lead nurturing so that you can make the most of the money you’ve already spent. In this article, we’ll discuss what lead nurturing is, tips for effective lead nurture, and how to put together a successful lead nurture strategy. What is Lead Nurturing? Lead nurturing refers to all of the things that you do to engage with your leads and move them further along the funnel. The process is often automated, meaning that messages are targeted to leads in distinct stages of the buyer’s journey. When done effectively, it provides leads with the right information at the right time, building and strengthening relationships that can turn a new lead into a customer and brand loyalist. Lead Nurturing Tips Every company’s lead nurturing strategy is probably going to look a little bit different, but there are certain underlying guidelines that you’ll definitely need to follow if you want to make an impact. Personalize. It’s essential that you make... --- ### Your Email Marketing Budget Checklist > Looking to use an email marketing software but want to make sure you have the budget? Look no further. Check out our email marketing budget checklist. - Published: 2020-06-25 - Modified: 2024-09-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-budget-checklist/ - Categories: Email Marketing Whether it’s big or small, a marketing budget is always top of mind. Aside from getting super creative, your ambitions can only go so far as you can stretch your funds, making it important to keep a close eye on what you’re spending on and whether it’s paying off. A lot of marketing teams loop their email marketing budget with their entire marketing budget. While it makes sense to do, sometimes it also means that the specifics of what’s going to be needed to run successful email campaigns don’t always get the focus that they require. In this article, we’ll go over a checklist of things to consider as you plan out your email marketing budget, plus how the right software can help you stretch each dollar. Email Marketing Factors That Affect Your Budget When it comes to your email marketing budget, there’s more to think about than just how many emails you intend to send out every week. To figure out what great email marketing is really going to cost you, go over each of the essential items in the budget checklist below and make sure they’re accounted for in your planning. Your Contact List Just because you shouldn’t be paying for email addresses doesn’t mean that a high-quality contact list is free. Your email marketing budget needs to touch on the lead generation tactics you’ll need to pursue to grow a robust list of engaged subscribers, including things like the creation of unique campaigns and landing pages. The... --- ### Email Marketing Tactics That Lead to Demand Gen Success > Increasing awareness for your brand is often the first step in lead generation. But demand gen tactics often have to be creative in order to be successful. - Published: 2020-06-17 - Modified: 2022-08-29 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-tactics-that-lead-to-demand-gen-success/ - Categories: Email Marketing As marketers, we’re often consumed with generating leads, and rightfully so. More leads mean more possible customers, and more customers mean more revenue. But with all our focus on lead generation, we forget about something that is just as important, if not, more. It’s called “demand generation. ” Are you intrigued? Are you confused? Don’t worry; we’ll explain the basics of demand generation and how email marketing can help you achieve it. What is Demand Generation? Demand generation refers to a range of marketing techniques that are driven toward increasing awareness in your brand and interest in your company’s products and services. A useful term for putting this into context is AIDA: Attract Attention Maintain Interest Create Desire Get Action Rather than referring to just one specific type of marketing, demand generation encompasses more of marketing philosophy. More specifically, it’s about building awareness through multiple marketing channels so that you can capitalize on that awareness once you’ve got it. Email marketing has a big role to play here. When they’re crafted with demand generation in mind, emails can stir up a ton of interest and engagement in your brand, which in turn trickles down into other marketing goals and, ultimately, improves your ability to generate leads. Here are some ideas on how to do it. 4 Email Marketing Tactics for Demand Generation Demand generation is like throwing a lure out into the ocean, while lead generation is what you do once you’ve caught interest. Use these email marketing tactics to... --- ### How to Use One Idea To Create Tons of Content > Work smarter, not harder. In this blog post, we'll outline how you can take just one idea and use it to create tons of valuable content. - Published: 2020-06-11 - Modified: 2024-09-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-use-one-idea-to-create-tons-of-content/ - Categories: Inbound Marketing Writer’s block happens to the best of us. And if you've created content for a while, I'm sure 'you've come across it once or twice. It’s a simple fact of life (and content marketing) that the well of creativity can go dry from time to time. While it comes with the territory, it’s always helpful to have a plan for pulling yourself out of it. One way to beat the writer’s block blues? Come up with one topic idea and see how many different pieces of content you can spin it into. Not only does this help overcome the hurdles of idea generation, but it creates a series of content pieces that can be utilized in a variety of ways. Here’s how to do it. Step One: Choose Your Topic The process stems from one content idea, so you’ll need to do this first before you can plan out your strategy. It can be a new topic or one that you’ve already touched on before. If it already exists (say, as a post on your blog), make sure it’s proven to perform well and resonate with your audience. This gives you a head start on ensuring people will be interested in multiple pieces of content on it. If it doesn’t exist, consider creating one related to a special promotion you’re doing, or a specific product or service you want to highlight. Step Two: Brainstorm Content Ideas You’ve got your topic idea, so now you’ll want to map out all of... --- ### How to Avoid Cutting Down on The Essentials of Running an E-Commerce Site > An e-commerce site is a great income generator for entrepreneurs. Learn how to keep your online store running smoothly and avoid the dreaded price drop. - Published: 2020-06-10 - Modified: 2024-09-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-avoid-cutting-down-on-the-essentials-of-running-an-e-commerce-site/ - Categories: Ecommerce Running an e-commerce site provides exciting opportunities for growth. And with so many consumers using online platforms to make purchase decisions, it has become easy to boost sales and maintain a steady stream of revenue when you play your cards right. With all that said, it’s important to bear in mind that your online store can be affected by economic conditions, and that many businesses end up resorting to price drops when the going gets tough. There are, however, other ways to tackle this issue. The best strategy for maintaining your online store's success is to stay informed, have a strong plan for moving forward, and know how to protect your business and yourself. E-Commerce is an ever-growing sector, and to stay on top of the latest trends and avoid economic downfalls, you need to ensure you remain competitively priced, offer attractive promotions, and communicate and build up a relationship with your customers. Digital marketing campaigns are a key factor in driving sales, as are being adaptive and flexible in your product offering. You need to aim for customer satisfaction in every way while keeping your team happy too. We’ll break down just how you can do this without having to drop your prices. Key Factors of Running an Online Store If you operate an online store, you may know how to successfully maintain a cost-effective site that incorporates the essentials. However, if business is tapering off, you need to reassess whether or not you have the key factors in... --- ### The Three Most Important Factors for Your Email Strategy This Year > Email marketing spend and engagement is growing. Which means you have to up your game if you want your email strategy to deliver. - Published: 2020-06-04 - Modified: 2022-11-02 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/important-factors-for-your-email-strategy/ - Categories: Email Marketing According to HubSpot’s email marketing report, email marketing spend, and engagement is growing — which probably isn’t much of a surprise. Over the past year, 78% of marketers have seen an increase in email engagement, and ROI has skyrocketed. For every dollar spent on email marketing, $42 is earned. Impressive. What all of these statistics tell us is that investing in an email marketing strategy has never mattered more. For most marketers, if they haven’t already increased spending on email marketing, they’re about to. And that means that you’ll need to prioritize it if you want to keep up. When it comes to maximizing the engagement and ROI of your emails, there’s more to it than just writing some copy, hitting send, and calling it a day. So this year, commit to focusing on the facets of email marketing that drive the most successful outcomes: integration, segmentation, and experimentation. Here’s how to do it. Integration What it means: Integration in email marketing refers to making your emails a fully formed part of a comprehensive marketing strategy. Too often, we silo our efforts and expect them to work separately toward a larger objective. This is why integration is so important and valuable. When you target the use of email marketing to specific, overarching marketing goals, you lend more purpose to your efforts and devise a clearer picture of what you’re trying to achieve. You’ll get a clearer view of the data, which, in turn, better guides your work. How to make... --- ### 5 Brands Who Have Perfected Their Email Newsletter > If you haven’t gotten your email newsletter up and running or are looking to revitalize an existing one, now is a perfect time to get it started. - Published: 2020-05-27 - Modified: 2022-10-31 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/brands-who-have-perfected-their-email-newsletter/ - Categories: Email Marketing Arguably one of the most fundamental pieces of any email marketing strategy is the humble email newsletter. Whether it’s sent daily, weekly, monthly, or once in a blue moon, it’s a touchpoint that allows you to develop an authentic relationship with your readers. And it turns out customers have an appetite for them. According to Statista, 47% of people want weekly promotions from their favorite brands. So if you haven’t yet got one up and running or are looking to revitalize an existing one, now is a perfect time to get it started. Whether you want to share company updates, popular blog posts, or compelling promotions — an email newsletter is a great addition to your marketing strategy. With that in mind, here are five examples of brands that have totally nailed their email newsletters. 1. SkillShare — Be Empathetic A newsletter that’s recently caught my attention is SkillShare. As we all feel uncertainty in the current climate, SkillShare decided to use their voice to spread a little positivity and encouragement. But they don’t just stop there. They’ve curated a list of blog posts and courses that can help their community thrive in their new living circumstances, from advice from teachers to fun creative courses that can be done from home. At a time where people may feel a little tender and resistant to sales pitches, SkillShare makes a conscious effort to spread a little more joy to their readers. Skillshare’s newsletter feels highly topical and thoughtful to their audience, which can... --- ### Tips for Working From Home With Kids > The pandemic has shaken things up in more ways than one. A lot of us are working from home with kids and could use a few tips. - Published: 2020-05-24 - Modified: 2023-02-27 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/tips-for-working-from-home-with-kids/ - Categories: Small Business COVID-19 has a lot of us doing things we usually wouldn’t do. It has businesses laying off tons of people, companies scaling back on marketing and sales strategies, and networking events are getting canceled. Restaurants and small businesses are having to rely on other measures to keep revenue coming in, and all of us are trying to do whatever we can to lend a helping hand to ensure the repercussions of this pandemic aren’t as drastic as they could be. While extremely fortunate to be employed and have the option to work from home, some parents are struggling as they find themselves juggling numerous full-time jobs at once: teacher, parent, and their actual paying jobs. While there are tons of resources out there on tools to help teams work remotely, how to schedule remote meetings, and how to help small businesses, there isn’t a set strategy or game plan for parents working from home with their kids present. A lot of us at BenchmarkONE are working through this exact situation. So, I thought I’d ask a few of our parents how they’re coping and dealing with this current predicament, as well as any tips they could offer up for other parents working from home. Designate Time to Get Organized and Prep “Getting organized on Sunday evening is very important so Monday we can hit the ground running. I like to make sure I have their lesson plans ready, and anything printed that they need, and all supplies gathered. That way,... --- ### How to Get More Email Subscribers Using Paid Ads > There are various methods and strategies you can employ that will get you more email subscribers. And paid ads is one of them. - Published: 2020-05-21 - Modified: 2025-05-12 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-get-more-email-subscribers-using-paid-ads/ - Categories: Inbound Marketing For any business that wants to make more sales and conversions, chances are they've already started building their email list. But starting your list is but the tip of the iceberg - to truly scale and grow your business, you need to grow your list with highly qualified leads fast. In this post, we'll show you why investing in paid social media advertising can be the best way to skyrocket your email list growth. Then we'll walk you through each step to help you launch your first high-converting paid lead generation campaign. Why Use Paid Ads to Quickly Grow Your Email List? Need a few reasons to convince your marketing team to use paid ads on social media? We can think of at least three compelling reasons. 1. Organic Posts Just Don't Cut it Anymore These days, social networks require you to pay to play. The average reach of an organic (meaning unboosted) social media post on Facebook is about 6-7% of your total following. The case isn't much brighter for dedicated websites and blogs relying on organic SEO, either. Twent-seven million Wordpress blogs alone are on the internet, and that's not counting blogs and sites that run on Squarespace, Joomla, and the like. What this means is there are countless others who might be doing what you're doing, so you need to do what you can to make your content really stand out. 2. Targeted Ad Campaigns Drive Qualified Traffic Another reason you should use paid advertising to grow... --- ### The ROI of Email Marketing > Dollar for dollar, marketers get more benefits out of emails than they do out of pretty much any other endeavor. Let's discuss the ROI of email marketing. - Published: 2020-05-21 - Modified: 2023-02-01 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/roi-of-email-marketing/ - Categories: Email Marketing You’ve probably heard that email marketing has one of the highest ROIs of all marketing tactics. Dollar for dollar, marketers get more benefits out of emails than they do out of pretty much any other endeavor, including social media. It’s one of the most lucrative marketing practices out there, and one that you definitely can’t neglect as part of your marketing strategy if you want to eke out the maximum amount of profit (and who doesn’t? ) from all of your marketing channels. Successful email marketing campaigns requires a big investment in terms of resources. And when you’re spending a lot of time and money on something, it’s important that you fully understand how much you’re getting in return. Below, we’ll cover the basics of email marketing ROI, including how to measure it effectively so that you always know what’s working for your bottom line, not to be confused with your subject line. What Is Email Marketing ROI? ROI, or return on investment, is an essential metric for quantifying how effective your marketing efforts are. Email campaigns pretty much blow other digital outreach methods out of the water in terms of ROI, with an average of $38 gained to $1 spent, making their ROI an awe-inspiring 3,800%. It’s clear that email marketing is worth your focus when it comes to making every dollar you spend really count. The formula for figuring out your own email marketing ROI looks like this: Net Gain (profits derived from email marketing – email marketing... --- ### IP Warming: How To Do It Right > When it comes to email marketing campaigns, IP warming is used quite frequently. Here's what it is, and how to do it effectively. - Published: 2020-05-20 - Modified: 2024-09-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ip-warming-how-to-do-it-right/ - Categories: Email Marketing IP warming is a process in which email senders gradually increase the volume or number of emails they send using a single IP address. This is carried out to improve their reputation with internet services providers. It is used frequently in email marketing campaigns where a single IP address is used for multiple clients. Such campaigns attempt to boost the sender reputation of a particular IP to improve the deliverability of their emails. Why You Need to Boost Your IP's Sender Reputation New IP addresses are treated as suspicious until they're able to gain a positive sender reputation. Emails sent from IPs with low or poor reputation profiles tend to be directed to SPAM folders, thereby preventing senders from effectively reaching their audience. Smart IP warming allows you to boost your reputation over time and improve the odds of your email being sent through to the destination inbox. IP warming is typically performed when a business has recently adopted email marketing as a marketing method. It is also used when businesses move from one email marketing service to another, and adopt new IP addresses in the process. This process may also have to be performed for IP addresses that have not sent messages in 30 days or more. The IP address used for your email marketing strategies has to convince Gmail, Outlook, and other email providers that it is sending quality content to inboxes, rather than SPAM. How to Warm-Up an IP Address Internet service providers consider the volume of... --- ### 4 Things You Should NEVER Do When Sending Emails > Putting together an email can seem easy enough. But there are a lot of mistakes you can make. Here are four things you should never do when sending emails. - Published: 2020-05-14 - Modified: 2022-08-30 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/things-you-should-never-do-when-sending-emails/ - Categories: Email Marketing A lot of marketers put tons of time and effort into figuring out what they should be doing when they send emails, but not enough time thinking about what they shouldn’t be doing. Email marketing mistakes and bad practices can cost you subscribers and negatively impact the results of your outreach. And you might not even be aware that you’re making them. Every email you send has a lot of potential, particularly regarding your key conversions and ROI. If you do not see the results you’re expecting, chances are, one of these four mistakes could be the culprit. Mistake #1: Giving Little Thought to Your Subject Line Email subject lines are important. Like, really, really important. Sixty-nine percent of email recipients report flagging an email as spam based purely on the subject line. With the average open rate for emails at a paltry 17. 92%, there’s a lot riding on getting the subject line right — and a lot of reasons that you might be getting it wrong. Your subject line is the first impression that you make with your email recipients, and it plays a huge part in whether or not someone decides to open your message. Make your subject lines inviting, enticing, and personal. And avoid bad behavior, like the inclusion of filler words or spam trigger words, or the use of all capital letters. Mistake #2: Not Adding a Human Touch People like hearing from real people. This human-to-human connection is integral in marketing, not just for... --- ### 9 Tips For Sending a Sales Email That Converts in 2020 > This article is going to teach you everything you need to know to boost the conversion rate on your sales emails for 2020. - Published: 2020-05-13 - Modified: 2022-08-30 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/tips-for-sending-a-sales-email-that-converts-in-2020/ - Categories: Email Marketing Statistics show that a total of 300 billion emails are going to be sent throughout the year this year. It’s hard to even comprehend the scale at which emails are going around nowadays. However, despite the sheer dominance of emails in the current era, some still struggle. In particular, many people struggle with the seemingly Herculean task of sending out sales emails that actually convert. In a decade where spam is both persistent and ubiquitous, it takes a solid strategy to get people to open your emails, much less read your call-to-action. This article is going to teach you everything you need to know to boost the conversion rate on your sales emails, even in the challenging landscape that marketers are currently facing. Without further adieu, let’s get into these tried-and-tested tips. Stay Concise The last thing you want to do is send a wall of text to your prospects. No one has time to read long paragraphs in this day and age. Many people are constantly on the move, rushing to get to their next important business meeting. If you want people to actually read your emails all the way through to the CTA, then you have to learn to be concise while still getting the message across. We’re not saying that you have to make every email super short, but don’t add in any non-essential text. Every sentence in your email should serve a distinct purpose since you don’t know how far the prospect will read before closing... --- ### The Guide to Amazing Client Management > As a B2B company, you know that if your clients aren’t happy, your business isn’t happy. It all comes down to client management. - Published: 2020-05-06 - Modified: 2023-07-05 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-guide-to-amazing-client-management/ - Categories: Small Business As a B2B company, you know that if your clients aren’t happy, your business isn’t happy. Managing your clients is crucial for long-term success, and one of the cornerstones of running an effective operation. If you’re not listening to your clients, not respecting their time, or burning bridges over easily avoidable miscommunications, you’re not going to be holding on to them for very long. Client retention is one of the most valuable pursuits of any business. Statistics show that about 80% of your future profits will come from just 20% of your client base, meaning there’s more incentive beyond just good customer service for making sure your clients are treated right at every turn. In this blog post, we’ll dive into the benefits of what amazing client management can do — plus how to practice it. The Benefits of Effective Client Management Holding on to your customers is obviously a major benefit of stellar client management, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Aside from helping ensure that you don’t inadvertently guide your clients to your competitors, effective client management also offers a few other big advantages that you should know about. It increases the length of your client relationships. Client management keeps your relationships going stronger for longer, which means more reliable income. It increases the chance of client referrals. Happy clients are one of the best promotions around for your company. And as you might have already experienced, referrals tend to make the best clients. It helps... --- ### How to Keep Your Email Marketing Fresh > It’s hard enough to devise the perfect email once, let alone reinvent it on the regular. But there are ways your email marketing can stay fresh. - Published: 2020-04-30 - Modified: 2024-09-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-keep-your-email-marketing-fresh/ - Categories: Email Marketing No one likes a boring email hitting their inbox. If you want to keep your marketing fresh and your subscribers engaged, you’re going to need to make an effort to update your content — and your content strategy regularly. We’re all sending a lot of emails. And we mean a lot. Three hundred billion every single day and more than a hundred trillion a year, to be exact. Not staying up to date with modern tactics will make it tough to stand out, and it will also almost inevitably lead to a loss of subscribers. If you want your emails to make a sustainable impact, then you have to be willing to change and adapt, which often requires a refresh of what you’re sending out and how you’re doing so. Of course, it’s hard enough to devise the perfect email once, let alone reinvent it on the regular. But if you want to be a welcomed presence in your subscribers’ inboxes (and trust us, there are a lot of reasons you do), then you’re going to have to step back every once in a while and rethink your approach. Here are some ways to do it. 1. Become a Subscriber When you become an active participant in the world of email marketing as a whole, you give yourself more opportunity to find inspiration and encouragement. For that reason, it’s important that you subscribe to other brands’ newsletters — yes, even those (especially those) of your competitors. Think of this strategy... --- ### Tips for Writing Persuasive and Effective Marketing and Sales Emails > While there are other popular communication channels out there, they don’t negate the importance of marketing and sales emails. - Published: 2020-04-29 - Modified: 2022-08-30 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/tips-for-writing-marketing-and-sales-emails/ - Categories: Email Marketing The demise of email has been prematurely announced many times, but the reality is that email is still the top marketing technique. Tailoring email correspondence carefully, and focusing on an effective email marketing strategy is still well worth the effort. And while there are other popular communication channels out there, they don’t negate the importance of email for sales and marketing communication. Simply put, sales and marketing efforts cannot take place without what email affords them. You have a small window of opportunity for capturing a recipient’s attention and nudging them one step closer to a purchase. You have to carefully craft email messages, so they will have a maximum positive impact and include valuable information and content that applies to their needs. Let’s examine all the necessary components for crafting persuasive and effective sales and marketing emails. Timing What day and time you send your emails contributes greatly to the overall success of your email marketing. It’s crucial that you pay attention to behavior patterns and trends regarding open rate and engagement rates not only across the board but within your particular industry as well. For example, more emails are opened on Tuesdays than any other weekday, making it a prime day to schedule your outreach. But as for getting a decision from a potential client, businesses tend to have better luck later in the week. This makes sense when you think about it. The beginning of the week is for playing catch up and focusing on important day-to-day... --- ### E-commerce Email Ideas To Boost Your Sales > A well-executed email campaign can do a great job at boosting your sales. Here are effective e-commerce email ideas to try. - Published: 2020-04-23 - Modified: 2022-08-30 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/e-commerce-email-ideas-to-boost-your-sales/ - Categories: Ecommerce According to a recent study, for every dollar you spend on email marketing, you see $42 in return. With ROI not exactly easy to prove from other methods of advertising, this gives email marketing quite a competitive edge over other efforts. In other words, it’s an incredibly valuable channel for your online business. A well-executed email campaign can not only boost your sales but also re-target lapsed buyers, upsell your existing customers, and gain you some referrals. But how do you define a ‘well-executed’ campaign? There’s certainly more planning to it, but it all starts with the email itself. Here are some e-commerce email ideas to boost your sales. 1. Referral Email A referral giveaway is an excellent way to generate more leads, boost your traffic, and get some more sales. It’s also a great way to tap into resources you already have - you’re existing customers. Create an email campaign to send to your customers, asking them to refer any friends or connections that they think would be a great fit for your services. The customer who gets the most referrals will receive a discount. A lot of people worry about burdening their customers with this kind of request. But if done correctly, your customers will actually feel like you’re taking extra care of them. But, if you want to go the extra mile, offer to return the favor. 2. Email With a Countdown Timer Urgency is one of the most, if not the most, efficient sales tactics. Use... --- ### Can Personalization and Marketing Automation Play Well Together? > It's the age-old question: can personalization and marketing automation play well together? In fact, both are necessary for an effective strategy. - Published: 2020-04-22 - Modified: 2024-09-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/can-personalization-and-marketing-automation-play-well-together/ - Categories: Marketing Automation It doesn’t seem like marketing automation and personalization would go well together. Automation seems about as impersonal as it gets. But actually, automation is what allows you to implement personalization on a large scale, and in today’s marketplace, that's essential for success. Remember the garish, flashing banner ads you used to see on online? They had nothing to do with your personal interests or tastes, making them impersonal and, well, rather blunt. They did little to spark your interest, and even less to keep it because they weren’t customized towards your particular needs. Cut to today where any ad you see is based on your previous search history and buying patterns. It’s advertising that makes sense for you because it’s built on the very actions that you take. It’s easy to see how personalized marketing makes for a better return on investment. Together, personalization and automation can get you the results you’re after, and help you improve the customer journey so you can resonate more with your audiences. Let’s dig deeper to uncover why. Emails Must Be Personalized Let’s talk subject lines for a minute. Email subject lines are like first impressions. They’re the first thing your subscribers see and therefore are a major deciding factor in whether or not your email gets opened. Emails with a personalized subject line have a 22 percent increased chance of being opened, and on average, personalized email subject lines lead to a 50 percent higher open rate. And since your emails need to... --- ### How to Generate More Leads Online > Every company needs leads. You need them to ensure your business has people to sell to. But, what are some ways to genrate more leads online? - Published: 2020-04-16 - Modified: 2025-05-12 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-generate-more-leads-online/ - Categories: Inbound Marketing Establishing an online presence is relatively easy these days. Generating leads from your online activity, on the other hand, is an entirely different ballgame. Further complicating matters is the sheer number of sources that you can tap into for leads. It can feel pretty overwhelming - especially for small business owners or those new to the lead-generation game. To make things a little bit easier, we've rounded up a few of the best online options you should be tapping into for your lead gen strategy. This should help you determine which avenue is right for your business and hopefully save you time and aggravation in the long run. Let's dive in, shall we? Visit Site Review Sites Review sites, like G2, are great at helping you generate more leads. It allows your customers and users to rate your services and product, which can be solid gold third-party credibility. Of course, you want to make sure that the reviews you receive are complimentary and true to the experience you're providing, so make sure you do all you can to give your customers first-rate service. Also, don't shy away from actively seeking out those reviews. In your regular follow-up with your customers, ask them if they'd leave you a review of their experience. It's best to target the customers who have been with you the longest, as they'll have more detailed insight to offer. Review sites are often visited by people looking to switch services or to see what other options are... --- ### Consumer Video Habits Are Changing: Here’s What Marketers Need to Know in 2020 > Video is by far the most effective form of online marketing content. But, consumer video habits are changing. Here's what to expect this year. - Published: 2020-04-09 - Modified: 2022-08-30 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/consumer-video-habits-are-changing/ - Categories: Marketing Video is by far the most effective form of online marketing content, and it’s poised to grow even more in the future. It’s estimated that by 2022, online videos will make up more than 80% of all consumer traffic. That’s huge. The only problem? You’re not the only marketer vying for a potential customer’s attention, which is why you need to be smart about the type of videos that you produce. Learning about the top video trends and how to incorporate them into your strategy could help. If you’re not sure where to start, Promo, an online video maker, recently ran a study that might give you a better idea of what consumers want to see when they click on a video. In the study, Promo interviewed more than 500 marketers and small business owners across the globe to find out what works for them when it comes to video marketing — and what doesn’t. 1. Stay Social Including video in your email marketing campaigns can improve your click-through rate by more than 60% (tip: subscribers are also more likely to open your email if it has the word “video” in the subject line). But if you really want to capture your audience’s attention, you should incorporate video across all mediums, including your social media accounts. More people watch videos through social platforms than on any other medium. Some social media sites are better than others, however. Facebook is the primary platform consumers watch branded videos on. So it comes... --- ### 6 Ways Restaurants Can Keep Revenue Coming In > Right now, a lot of restaurants are trying to figure out ways to continue making money and keep their staff employed while having their doors shut. - Published: 2020-04-08 - Modified: 2022-08-30 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-restaurants-can-keep-revenue-coming-in/ - Categories: Small Business We need restaurants. They provide us with great eating options, fine dining when the mood strikes, and an excuse not to cook dinner every night. Not to mention, they offer job opportunities and help keep our communities thriving. Right now, a lot of restaurants are trying to figure out ways to continue making money and keep their staff employed while having their doors shut. It’s a scary obstacle that leads to a lot of uncertainty and guesswork. The good news is there are ways to help small businesses in these trying times. And, there are strategies restaurants can implement that will help them keep their lights on, so when the COVID-19 pandemic is over, they can get back to business as usual. 1. Post Hygiene Practices Everyone is consumed with practicing adequate hygiene. The key to keeping ourselves and others safe is to regularly wash our hands, maintain proper distance, and wipe down surfaces. If you want people to feel good about supporting your restaurant right now, set their minds at ease by posting the precautions your team is taking to ensure they don’t pass germs. Post these measures on your social media channels and your website so that they’re front and center. And if you need some helpful tips and rules for your staff, head over to the CDC’s website for ways to protect yourself. 2. Establish a Drop-Off Service A lot of restaurants use delivery services, like Postmates or GrubHub. But if you haven’t jumped on those trains... --- ### Your Networking Event is Cancelled. Now What? > Every year, companies budget out for various marketing and sales expenses. They decide which tradeshows, conferences, and networking events they’ll be - Published: 2020-04-02 - Modified: 2022-08-30 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/your-networking-event-is-cancelled-now-what/ - Categories: Sales Every year, companies budget out for various marketing and sales expenses. They decide which tradeshows, conferences, and networking events they’ll be going to. Making room for these kinds of events is pretty important, as many give businesses a chance for face-to-face interaction with potential customers and partners. It allows businesses to build trust and a foundation for a solid relationship with their prospects. With the right sponsors and attendees, these events are invaluable. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, most public events have been canceled for the year. With encouragement from our government to stay inside as much as possible and practice social distancing, we’re not able to use these kinds of methods right now. Which means we have to increase other efforts to make up for the lost opportunities. We’ll break down a few alternative methods to keep your marketing and sales efforts chugging right along, all without having to leave your home. The Value of Virtual Events Just because your in-person events have been canceled doesn’t mean there isn’t another way to bring people together (safely). Virtual events are the best way to still provide that real-time value to your customers, leads, and audience while maintaining a safe distance. Here are a few examples to give a whirl. 1. Webinars Webinars are a great addition to any marketing strategy and a wonderful alternative when in-person get-togethers just aren’t possible. What’s even better is that since you’re running the webinar, you can choose the topic. It can be anything you... --- ### How to Adapt a Mentality of Helping Over Selling > Times are tough right now. And instead of focusing on selling, we should be helping. Here's how to adopt a mentality of helping over selling. - Published: 2020-03-27 - Modified: 2022-08-31 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-adapt-a-mentality-of-helping-over-selling-2/ - Categories: Small Business This article was originally published on the BenchmarkONE blog. Sales numbers and KPIs are on the minds of a lot of businesses right now. With everything going on, there’s a real concern over how revenue will be affected, and with that comes concerns for the overall livelihood and longevity of businesses. We are all feeling the negative effects of this outbreak, and are faced with the realization that our companies will probably suffer, some more than others. But that’s no reason to neglect your sales and marketing efforts. In fact, there’s no better time to ramp up your efforts and continue to push to achieve your goals. The simple reality is that selling seems silly right now. Also, your traditional approaches are probably not getting the results they used to. It’s time for a new approach. By focusing on helping instead of selling, you’ll find that you’ll not only put your customers first but see benefits for your own company as well. Let Selling Take a Backseat This approach may seem hard, especially since sales are no doubt on your mind right now. But we’re all in this together. We all have to look out for one another, and the best way to do that is to find ways to offer up suggestions, tips, and contributions. Below are some methods you can adopt that are aimed at helping over selling. Invest In a Content Marketing Strategy One of the most cost-effective ways to both market your company while you also... --- ### 4 Things Your Sales Team Should Be Doing But Isn’t > Your sales team is a significant contributor to the overall success of your company. But there are things they need to be doing and aren't. - Published: 2020-03-26 - Modified: 2023-04-24 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/things-your-sales-team-should-be-doing-but-isnt/ - Categories: Sales Your sales team is a significant contributor to the overall success of your company. Aside from being the ones to get your products or services sold in the first place, sales also have a responsibility to help propagate your brand identity and maintain a high level of trust with your customers. Often, they’re also privy to product or service complaints that might never make it to your official customer service department. With so many balls in the air, it’s easy to understand why a sales team that fails to do its job well is going to have a major effect on a company’s morale and bottom line. There’s a lot of value in ensuring that your sales team is running as optimally as possible — even if you’re on the marketing end. Is your sales team doing everything that they can to contribute to the overall success of your company and the product you (and especially they) are selling? For most companies, the answer is probably no. With that in mind, here are four sales tips that your team should be following if they’re not already. 1. Regularly Meeting with the Marketing Team Clearing up the misconception that marketing and sales are two wildly different departments is a necessary step in maximizing the utility of both teams. It’s marketing’s job to help boost sales, so essentially, the two departments need to enable one another and strive to reach the same goals. Cracks in the relationship between the two are also... --- ### How to Implement Lifecycle Email Marketing Campaigns > Lifecycle email marketing refers to product emails that are sent to recipients based on what stage of the customer lifecycle they’re in. - Published: 2020-03-24 - Modified: 2022-09-01 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/lifecycle-email-marketing-campaigns/ - Categories: Email Marketing Even as we’re in the middle of a pandemic, business, and life, must go on as much as possible. And as your business feels the repercussions right now, you may be looking for tips and tools that can help. Enter: email marketing. Email marketing is great for a number of things. It helps nurture your leads, provide them with educational content, and helps you stay top of mind with them. And let’s face it, right now you need to stay on their minds. From crisis email marketing to regular drip campaigns, utilizing email marketing strategies right now is in your best interest. Your prospects are just as worried as you are, and that’s a call for you to be a resource to help them. But first, you need to understand the customer lifecycle and how it informs your approach. All consumers follow a distinct lifecycle when they go from prospect to lead to customer to brand loyalist. And utilizing what you know about each of the stages of the lifecycle with your email marketing is one of the best ways to get more utility out of every single message that you send. Lifecycle email marketing refers to product emails that are sent to recipients based on what stage of the customer lifecycle they’re in. To help you do it, we’ll go over the basics of what the customer lifecycle looks like and how you can send emails that better pertain to each stage — and why it’s so beneficial to... --- ### Tools To Help Teams Work Remotely During the COVID-19 Outbreak > With the COVID-19 outbreak, a lot of businesses have issued a temporary work remote policy. Here are some tools to help. - Published: 2020-03-18 - Modified: 2024-08-07 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/tools-to-help-teams-work-remotely-during-covid-19-outbreak/ - Categories: Small Business With the COVID-19 outbreak, there are a lot of businesses that have instilled a temporary work from home policy. Perhaps your company is one of them, and you’re currently sitting on your couch or at your home office desk reading this blog post, looking for tips. While your priority is probably dealing with the consequences and improving communication with your customers, you’ll also want to make sure your teams are set up for success while they work remotely. This could include utilizing the right meeting tools, employee monitoring software, communication apps, or video presentation software. Luckily, we live in an age with tons of digital tools and enabling software that help us not only be better at our jobs but are also designed for bringing teams together and creating simpler processes. Here are nine tools that are sure to help your team work remotely during the COVID-19 outbreak: 1. BenchmarkONE Having marketing automation and a CRM tool, like BenchmarkONE (formerly Hatchbuck), will assist your sales and marketing teams with eliminating redundancies in their day-to-day tasks. As your team works from home, having a tool like BenchmarkONE ensures they don’t drop the ball when it comes to adequate customer management and nurture. Your teams can email numerous prospects with ease, informing them of any protocols your organization has in place regarding COVID-19, and ensure them that you’re still available should they need you. They can also continue to send personalized content so that business can continue as normal. 2. Slack Working... --- ### COVID-19: 6 Ways Email Marketing Can Help in Dealing With the Consequences > COVID-19 has us all in uncharted territory. Here are some tips for communicating with customers and prospects during this time. - Published: 2020-03-16 - Modified: 2022-10-28 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/covid-19-and-businesses/ - Categories: Email Marketing Our world is going through a very trying time right now. Our hearts go out to each and every person out there dealing with COVID-19 and its repercussions. Please know that while our team is working from home to do our part to help mitigate the spread, our availability and service to our customers remains the same. We’re here for you to help with anything regarding our product; all you have to do is send an email to support@benchmarkemail. wpengine. com or call. We realize there are a lot of businesses out there who, like us, are finding themselves in uncharted territory right now. We’re all being forced to adopt measures we never believed possible, and clear and direct communication has grown essential in a jungle of fake news and social media noise. Email marketing is a direct and measurable medium, making it stand out among other messages and content. It allows companies and organizations to manage the way they’ll be handling the effects of this deep crisis, and maintain transparency with their customers. Six Ways Email Marketing Helps Your Business Deal With the Consequences of COVID-19 1. Maintain Transparency Sending an email to your customers allows you to maintain transparency about how your business is dealing with the situation. In your email outreach, you can include any specific details about what your company is doing to prepare and how you’ll continue to support your customers. Your customers appreciate transparency, especially in times like this. It assures them that no... --- ### How to Plan Your Social Media Calendar > Social media is often an afterthought for marketers. Which is why a social media calendar is crucial for keeping you accountable. - Published: 2020-03-12 - Modified: 2023-02-23 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/social-media-calendar/ - Categories: Social Media Social media is often an afterthought for marketers. It’s not our fault — we’ve got a lot on our plates and not a lot of time to do it. But if you’re not paying enough attention to social, you’re definitely missing out. No matter your market, there’s a good chance that a large portion of your audience is using social media. In fact, about 90 percent of Millennials, 77 percent of Gen Xers, and 48 percent of Baby Boomers are active on social media. And for a good portion of Gen Z’ers and Millennials, social media is the most relevant advertising channel driving their purchases. With so many people heavily engaged in social media — both in terms of day to day life and purchase decisions — having a sound social strategy is key. And for that, you’re going to need a social media calendar. Posting is a lot easier when you know what you’re going to post, when you’re going to post it, and how it fits into your broader digital marketing strategy. Here’s how to start planning and putting together a social media calendar that helps you finally take advantage of all that untapped potential. Establish a Content Plan Content planning helps you narrow down your efforts and focus on what matters. What types of content you post on each social media channel depends on what works well for that individual platform. While it might be easier to assign the same content and ledes for all channels, if... --- ### Email Marketing: 10 Reasons Why Your Response Rate Is Low > Is your email response rate a bit on the low side? Chances are at least one (or all) of these ten reasons is the culprit. - Published: 2020-03-11 - Modified: 2025-03-14 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/10-reasons-why-your-response-rate-is-low/ - Categories: Email Marketing When you implement an email marketing strategy, you have to continually be ready to adapt to new methods and improve whenever needed. Some metrics gauge the performance of marketing emails, and if they portray that the response rate is low, you should revise the strategy you’re using. Perhaps you need to write more engaging sales emails, include more visuals, or try incorporating video content in your emails. Regardless of what new methods you try, first, you have to understand what could be lowering the response rate on the email marketing strategy you are implementing. Well, here are ten culprits of a low email response rate: 1. Bad Timing Sending emails at random times can lead to a lower open rate because your target audience looks at their inbox at very certain times. If you send the email while they are busy at work or when they’re asleep, it will be buried by others that will be sent after it. It will lose its priority, and potential customers won’t see it and, therefore, open it. It is essential to identify the trends of the target market you have in mind and determine the best time to send emails to them. Generally, it’s good practice to send emails in the morning when your audience wakes up. Also, consider that some people go through their emails when commuting to work, so up until about 10 a. m. should be a good window. 2. Promotion Overkill Don’t bore your audience. Even when writing product... --- ### Content or Design: What Matters More for Your Email Marketing? > When it comes to your email marketing approach, what matters more? Content, or design? The answer may not be what you think. - Published: 2020-03-04 - Modified: 2024-09-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/content-or-design-what-matters-more-for-your-email-marketing/ - Categories: Email Marketing When it comes to email marketing, what holds the most weight, email content, or email design? The answer, which likely isn’t very surprising, is that it’s both! Successful emails are balanced, beautiful, and pleasing to the eye. They’re also filled with valuable, conversion-driven content for your subscribers. And you’ll need to prioritize both if you want your emails to make as much of an impact as possible. In this article, we’ll go over the role that email content and email design play in effective digital marketing. Keep them both in mind when you create your emails, and you should have no trouble keeping your recipients engaged. The Value of Email Content If we pare down email marketing to its most basic purpose, then it is, above all, a tool for sending content to prospects and leads. Sending emails is a way to share insights — and for those insights to drive some sort of action on the part of the reader. That means that the actual text and substance of what you’re sharing is incredibly important. You never want to email your subscriber list without an apparent reason for doing so. That wastes everyone’s time (including yours) and may make it difficult for you to build and maintain trust with your contact list — assuming they decide to stick around. The content of your emails needs to provide some sort of value, and it needs to be obvious to your subscribers what that value is. Additional content features that are... --- ### B2C Emails vs. B2B Emails > When you’re working out the differences between sending B2C emails and B2B emails, there are various elements you have to consider. - Published: 2020-02-27 - Modified: 2022-08-31 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/b2c-emails-vs-b2b-emails/ - Categories: Email Marketing Knowing your audience is everything when it comes to marketing. You need to know exactly who you’re trying to reach — and more specifically, their interests, needs, and pain points — to make a productive impact. Correctly identifying your audience is one of the biggest obstacles in email marketing. This goes double when you’re working out the differences between sending a B2C email and a B2B email. When it comes to speaking to consumers vs. businesses, you have to understand what motivates each audience and their behavior so that your emails can be more effective. Here’s where to start. Business-to-Consumer (B2C) Emails Think about the last email that you received from your favorite online retailer. Chances are it included a special promotion of some kind — and there’s a reason for that. Consumers respond well to promotional emails that let them know how they can save money on things they already love. And this value-driven purpose is at the heart of all B2C emails. Emotion plays a big part in consumer purchases, so your goal with a B2C email is to build an emotional connection, telling a story that inspires some sort of engagement. Images and videos work well for this purpose, as does the promotional content mentioned above. And don’t be afraid to be a little funnier and a little less buttoned-up with your tone. Consumers love brands that are entertaining and have a clear personality. The consumer buying cycle: Because their purchases are tied to emotions, the buying... --- ### No More Excuses: Why You Need to be Automating Your Marketing > No more putting off marketing automation. Here's why every business needs to be automating their marketing. - Published: 2020-02-26 - Modified: 2022-08-31 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/why-you-need-to-be-automating-your-marketing/ - Categories: Marketing Automation Are you constantly putting off finding and implementing marketing automation software? We get it: automated marketing is a relatively new marketing solution that requires an investment in time and money to get off the ground. But there are a lot of benefits to putting marketing automation to work for your business — and a lot of reasons why you should do it sooner rather than later. The Benefits of Automated Marketing There is plenty of sound reasoning behind why you should be automating your marketing processes. So before we talk about why it’s crucial you do it now, here are some general benefits that speak to the utility — and growing necessity — of marketing automation software. It saves you money. While it will cost you money to purchase and run, a marketing automation tool will also save you a ton of money by taking care of the rote processes that eat up so much of your team’s time. In addition to being able to reduce staffing costs, you’ll also be able to be more efficient in tracking expenditures and outcomes and ensuring you don’t spend money on dead-end efforts. It refines your marketing process. Like the rest of us, you’re probably always on the lookout for ways to do things better, smarter, and faster. Automating your marketing allows you to do just that, with key actions taking place even without your input. You’ll identify gaps in your process, as well as eliminate some of the barriers standing in the... --- ### Are Hashtags on Social Media Still Effective? > Yes, hashtags on social med are still effective. But only if you're using them correctly. Here are some tips. - Published: 2020-02-24 - Modified: 2023-02-27 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/hashtags-on-social-media/ - Categories: Social Media Spoiler alert: An emphatic yes. The humble pound sign of telephone yore found new life in 2007 when it was repurposed to the almighty hashtag. When incorporated with a short word or phrase, like #tacotuesday or #blessed, the hashtag is used among most major social media platforms to group individual posts into full-blown conversations. It all started on Twitter, where trending hashtags are still used to define the trending topics of the day or bring attention to happening conversations on the platform. However, soon after its inception, the hashtag found its way to other platforms like Facebook and Instagram. It seems that we don’t talk about the humble hashtag as much as we used to, so if you’re not as ingrained in social media as others, it’s easy to miss out on its power. In fact, it’s not too difficult to see why many may assume that it was a passing fad. When hashtags first became all the rage, we talked about them a lot—like, a lot. It seemed that every campaign was not only trying to use hashtags, sometimes with humorous results, but they were vocalizing it as well. It seemed like every call to action in major ads had a hashtag to search for. As hashtags entered the public consciousness, it was less of something that marketers needed to push—it has now become expected as part of your marketing strategy on most social media platforms. So, which platforms still use these little buggers, and how can you properly... --- ### 5 Things Every Effective Landing Page Should Have > Landing pages need to attract and convert. Here are five things every landing page should have in order to be effective. - Published: 2020-02-20 - Modified: 2024-09-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/effective-landing-page/ - Categories: Inbound Marketing All marketing roads need to lead somewhere, and often, that somewhere is a landing page. As such, optimizing your landing pages is an essential step for your inbound marketing efforts. Landing pages are how most of your site visitors will convert into leads for your company. And in a lot of ways, they’re where the buyer’s journey begins. There’s a lot that you can learn from your landing pages — if they’re done right. This includes who’s coming to your site, from where, and what they’re doing once they get there. This is key information for composing your audience personas and creating better-targeted marketing materials. It also helps you qualify your visitors, narrowing in on those who are most interested in your product or service. For your landing page to, well, land, you need to make sure the core components are present. So what are they? Here are five factors you have to nail to build a successful landing page. 1. The Header The first question a prospect is going to ask when they end up on your landing page is, why am I here? You need to be able to convey value and purpose right away, which means you’ll need a solid header. Think of your landing page header like the title of a blog post. It should clearly and concisely cue visitors into what they’ll find there. An image in the header can take it a step further in establishing brand identity from the get-go. To keep it... --- ### Leading Global SaaS Provider Benchmark Acquires St. Louis-Based MarketVolt > Leading sales and marketing SaaS provider Benchmark Email announced it has acquired MarketVolt, a St. Louis-based email marketing platform. - Published: 2020-02-18 - Modified: 2022-08-31 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/benchmark-acquires-marketvolt/ - Categories: Uncategorized St. Louis, MO – February 18, 2020 – Leading sales and marketing SaaS provider Benchmark Email today announced it has acquired MarketVolt, a St. Louis-based email marketing platform, for an undisclosed amount. Benchmark Email, which recently merged with well-known St. Louis-based CRM software provider Hatchbuck, boasts over 130 employees serving 150,000 users in 15 countries worldwide. Headquartered in St. Louis, Benchmark will continue to support MarketVolt customers and technology. “We see this strategic acquisition as an opportunity for continued expansion of Benchmark’s global presence. We look forward to building upon the exceptional service MarketVolt has delivered to its customers in the St. Louis community and in the K-12 education space,” said Benchmark Email CEO Jonathan Herrick. Moving forward MarketVolt employees will join Benchmark’s growing headquarters located in Kirkwood, Missouri as it expands its footprint as a tech leader in St. Louis. “MarketVolt was founded and headquartered in St. Louis. We’re thrilled to join forces with Benchmark, a strong, industry-leading St. Louis company that is creating more tech jobs in our region and strengthening St. Louis’ position as an emerging technology hub,” former MarketVolt CEO Tom Ruwitch said. With the acquisition, MarketVolt customers will be able to remain on the MarketVolt platform, however, they also gain access to industry-leading email marketing and CRM tools. Benchmark’s powerful, yet simple drag-and-drop email builder enables businesses and marketers to build professional emails in minutes. For those customers needing an integrated CRM and email marketing platform, they’ll have the option to transition to Hatchbuck’s robust... --- ### Should Your SaaS Business Advertise on Review Sites? > Should your SaaS company advertise on review sites? As with most things in the pay-per-click marketing world: it depends. - Published: 2020-02-12 - Modified: 2025-05-12 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/advertise-on-review-sites/ - Categories: Inbound Marketing Software companies, as well as marketing agencies that work with software companies, are up against a tricky problem when it comes to review sites. While these sites can be a valuable resource for people who are researching SaaS platforms and features, they're also becoming increasingly pay to play. For users of the site, that means less transparency about why companies are ranking where they are. And for the companies themselves, that means if you're not willing to pay, you're probably not going to rank high enough to be discovered. Should a review site PPC be in your SaaS company's marketing budget? As with most things in the pay-per-click marketing world: it depends. Below, we'll go over some of the pros and cons of paying for leads on review sites so that you can make the decision that's best for your budget and your long-term goals. Pro: Review Site Leads are Key in the Age of Informed Consumerism Today's consumers want to know as much information about a product as they can before they invest. This is in large part because software purchases are happening without direct human interaction. And the less you can speak to your product yourself, the more you have to rely on other sources to tout what makes you so great. Review sites are among the most popular SaaS trends to have emerged in the last decade, and serve a key purpose when it comes to moving potential customers along all stages of the sales cycle. Also,... --- ### 4 Steps to Writing An Email That Sells Your Product > When it comes to selling your products online, there’s one that marketing strategy stands the test of time -- selling through email. - Published: 2020-02-06 - Modified: 2024-08-20 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/writing-an-email-that-sells-your-product/ - Categories: Ecommerce These days, having a digital storefront is a necessity — not a luxury. But, having an online place to transact your business isn’t enough. If you want to keep your business in the black, you need warm traffic full of people ready to purchase. Out of the numerous marketing strategies out there, when it comes to selling your products online, there’s one that stands the test of time (so far) — selling through email. Whether you’re wondering how to sell an online course, SaaS product, or physical event, there’s something to glean from these four steps on how to write an email that sells your products. 1. Segment Your Email Using the 5 Stages of Awareness The first step to writing an email that sells is to make sure you’re writing and sending emails to the right audience. But, how do you make sure your targeting and messaging are on point? By segmenting your email list using the five stages of awareness: Really unaware – people who aren’t actively looking for a solution and don’t know they have a problem Problem-aware – visitors who realize they have a problem but aren’t hunting for a fix Solution-aware – browsers which understand they need a solution to their problem but haven’t actively researched options yet Product-aware – people who have done some research and are aware of the options for solutions to their problem Most aware – prospective customers who are actively seeking a solution to their problem, have done their research,... --- ### How To Create A Webinar That Builds Your Email List > Hosting regular webinars provides your brand with a variety of benefits. Here's some tips for creating a webinar that builds your email list. - Published: 2020-01-29 - Modified: 2025-05-21 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/create-a-webinar-that-builds-your-email-list/ - Categories: Inbound Marketing There's nothing more powerful in modern marketing than putting a face to a brand. Opening the doors and chatting with your audience is one of the most effective forms of engagement there is. In fact, the average audience viewing time for a webinar is 57 minutes. That's about 54 minutes more than people will typically give you! Hosting regular webinars provides your brand with a variety of benefits. In this article, we'll look at how holding an effective and informed webinar can increase consumer loyalty and drive lead generation opportunities, and therefore, grow your email lists. Choose a Topic That Resonates Before you get started, you have to choose a discussion topic that will be of interest to your audience. This will not only help ensure you have something valuable to offer, but it will also increase your chances of getting high-quality leads to register. No one will want to spend an hour of their time listening to a sales presentation. Get creative, and spend a little effort researching what your audience needs to know. What are the main pain points customers face? This is an excellent question to ask when generating your webinar content. The more you can educate people during your webinar, the more they will stick around. You can look to your blog and social media for inspiration too. What are your three most popular blog posts? What's trending right now on social? This can help you refine topics that leads will want to hear about. People... --- ### 6 Brands That Send Great Emails > Everyone’s inbox is busy. In order to grab and keep the interest of your subscribers, your emails have to be great. - Published: 2020-01-28 - Modified: 2022-08-29 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/7-brands-that-send-great-emails/ - Categories: Email Marketing Everyone’s inbox is busy. So if you want to grab and keep the interest of your subscribers, you have very little time to do so, and your emails have to be great. Hours of effort creating visual content and engaging copy can be lost if your email subject line is weak, fails to stand-out, and doesn’t motivate your subscribers to open the email. You want your messages to be the best they can possibly be, but there’s a lot that goes into the overall success of your email marketing. How do you ensure you’re paying mind to each part appropriately, and doing so in a way that creates a great email that is read and converts? The first step towards effective emails is addressing each component that has a hand in their overall success. And it doesn’t hurt to check out the brands that lead by example. What Makes a Great Email? Effective email campaigns are not an accident. Here are the various components that contribute to a successful email: Subject Line: This is your only chance to make a first impression. In fact, 47% of email recipients open emails based on the subject line alone. Short, concise, and creative is your best bet here. Personalization: The more you can customize your email content to a particular audience, the more relevant it becomes. This can be done by segmenting your leads and sending them content that is consistent with where they are in the buyer’s journey. Responsive Design: 73% of... --- ### How Content Fuels Your Email Marketing > Creating content fuels your email marketing efforts. Here we list how content plays a part in various emails you should be sending. - Published: 2020-01-23 - Modified: 2024-09-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-content-fuels-your-email-marketing/ - Categories: Email Marketing It’s the classic question: which came first, the content or the marketing? Some may say that you can’t have a successful email marketing strategy without first creating the content that will sustain it. And while it’s really up to your team, process, and goals to determine how you go about prioritizing one over the other, it’s undeniable that content plays a significant role in shaping your email marketing plan — and its performance. Email marketing content often gets short shrift. There’s a tendency to undervalue the importance of email copy, or at least to give it a bit less care and oversight than something like a blog or white paper (though, as you’ll see, there’s a lot of overlap between these various content strategies). And while it’s undoubtedly true that emails usually differ from other content formats in terms of tone, the stakes are just as high. In this post, we’ll go over the importance of email marketing for your inbound marketing strategy and how good content is the fuel that keeps it healthy. Effective Email Marketing Starts With Strategy Any Google search will tell you email marketing is about more than just letting subscribers know what you’re selling. Your strategy needs different types of emails, substance, variety, and engaging content. When you put together a strategy with those three elements at the forefront, you’ll build beneficial brand awareness, stay top of mind with your prospects, and, most importantly, engage, nurture, and convert. But again, your approach is crucial. When... --- ### 7 Ways to Spice Up Your Email Newsletters > Are your email newsletters getting a little stale? Here are seven ways you can add more spice and make them more exciting. - Published: 2020-01-16 - Modified: 2022-08-31 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/spice-up-your-email-newsletters/ - Categories: Email Marketing Email newsletters are one of the best tools that you have for providing prospects with valuable resources and staying top of mind with them. And with more than half of U. S. consumers checking their email accounts over ten times a day, brands have plenty of opportunities to connect with interested leads. But it’s not enough to just check-in — you have to be sending newsletters that are worthy of your subscribers’ attention and inspire them to keep the connection going. What’s more, newsletters can get stale fast, so continuously brainstorming ideas to keep your newsletters fresh is necessary. It’s your job as a marketer to ensure that the messages you’re sending out are always providing interest and value to your audience. If you don’t keep them engaging and fun to read, you run a significant risk of losing subscribers, which can be bad news for your inbound marketing strategy. Your email newsletter is one of the most important emails you should be sending. And with so much riding on keeping your email newsletters from ending up straight in the trash folder, we thought we’d share some of our best ideas for keeping your prospects’ interest. Here are seven of them. 1. Play Around With Tone Why so serious? Instilling brand authority doesn’t have to mean avoiding all colloquial language. I don’t know about you, but I love it when brands’ messaging is less buttoned up. Speaking to your audience as if you personally know them is one of the... --- ### 3 Reasons Your Marketing Plan Isn't Working > When your marketing plan isn't working, it's usually the result of three common mistakes. And knowing what they are will help you avoid them. - Published: 2020-01-09 - Modified: 2023-04-24 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/3-reasons-your-marketing-plan-isnt-working/ - Categories: Marketing - Tags: Marketing Plan Tons of hard work go into implementing a marketing plan. From planning to execution, your team has to invest a lot of hours and a lot of effort into putting together a strategy that will succeed — which is why it’s such a bummer when it doesn’t. A failed marketing strategy is usually the result of three common mistakes, and by identifying what they are, you’ll be able to avoid making them. We’ll go over what those three mistakes are so you can craft a strategy that avoids them, and see real success out of your marketing efforts. 1. You Didn’t Clearly Identify Your Goals Marketing is an end to a means. But if you’re not really sure what you’re trying to achieve, how are you going to optimize your efforts to get there? The goals that you choose for your marketing efforts should be specific, measurable, and attainable. Instead of focusing on something overly broad like “increase revenue,” break down your bigger goals into smaller goals that will serve as stepping stones toward that more ambitious undertaking. Some of the most common marketing goals include: Broadening exposure and increasing brand awareness among new customers Generating new leads Converting more prospects into sales Increasing SEO and page rankings Enhancing customer relations Each of these goals is tied to specific marketing practices that make them achievable for teams of all sizes. The key is to know exactly what you’re trying to achieve in the first place so that you can target... --- ### The Anatomy of an Effective Email > The anatomy of an effective email includes specific components that should encourage people to open it, engage, and eventually convert. - Published: 2020-01-08 - Modified: 2024-08-20 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/anatomy-of-an-effective-email/ - Categories: Email Marketing For every dollar spent on email marketing, you get $38 in return. That’s a lot of ROI for one strategy. But, before you hit send, there are various things you have to keep in mind that ensure your email is built effectively. A successful email is much like the human body. It has various parts that all need to work together for it to function and operate smoothly as a whole. The anatomy of every effective email includes at least seven specific components that should be present, all of which will encourage people to open it, engage with the content, and eventually convert. So to get it right and see that sweet ROI, here are the necessary components that comprise the anatomy of an effective email: 1. “From” Field The “from” space is an essential piece of real estate because it can immediately initiate trust. Never set up your emails to be sent from a generic address. Instead, have the “from” contain the name of someone within your organization, preferably someone from your sales or marketing team. Next to the subject line, the “from” field is where most people look at before opening the email. And the easier it is to identify the source of an email, the more likely it will be opened. 2. Subject Line As we alluded to in the previous point, your subject line is the second opportunity to make a good first impression. 35% of email recipients open an email based on the subject line... --- ### 14 Psychology-Backed Tricks for Effective Sales and Marketing Emails > Leverage psychology to supercharge your email marketing campaign. In this blog post, we'll explain exactly how to do that. - Published: 2020-01-07 - Modified: 2022-10-27 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/14-psychology-backed-tricks-for-effective-sales-and-marketing-emails/ - Categories: Email Marketing Email marketing is still among the best marketing techniques. Despite what many marketers fear, 73% of millennials say email is the best way to communicate with brands. The practice is not going to die out any time soon. The driving force behind email marketing is psychology. You’re more likely to perform an action if you’ve already performed a smaller step. This makes people who have subscribed to your newsletter more likely to go deeper into the sales funnel. Besides, many subscribe with the sole aim of waiting for a discount to buy something later. Leverage psychology even more to supercharge your email marketing campaign. Here’s how you do that. Segment the audience You probably know that segmenting the audience is considered to be a standard practice in email marketing. But you don’t have to do it just because everybody else does. You have to do it because it works wonders for your campaign. Segmented emails bring in two-thirds of revenue. This is the case because people expect to see personalized offers. They don’t want to browse through everything you have on the list, they just want to read about what interests them. This is why personalized emails are opened 26% more often. What do you do to make the emails really personal? You get to know your audience with as much detail as you can. Here’s what you have to consider when segmenting the audience. Activity on the website Activity with the emails Social media activity Explicitly stated preferences With... --- ### Email Authentication: An Email Marketing Guide > In email marketing, authentication is becoming an even larger issue than the mountains of spam that make it to the inbox. Why? Because while spam itself - Published: 2019-12-26 - Modified: 2024-08-30 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-authentication-an-email-marketing-guide/ - Categories: Email Marketing In email marketing, authentication is becoming an even larger issue than the mountains of spam that make it to the inbox. Why? Because while spam itself is pretty straightforward – a sometimes obviously unwanted message that shows up in the inbox – email spoofing is more nefarious because it lets spammers take over the email identities of perfectly legitimate, rule-abiding email marketers and ruins their reputations. Case in point. Have you ever seen emails sent to you, with your own company's name in the sent from field, pushing Viagra, fake Rolex watches or anything else of that sort? That's an example of a spammer who took over your identity, forged your information and is now using your perfectly good reputation to send out junk to angry recipients. And the spam complaint will affect your good name, not the fraudster who used it. At the moment, there's really only one way to combat the forging of where an email comes from and who sent it: authentication. Authentication: Different Types Email authentication is a process that verifies the true identity of each sender and the origin of their emails or newsletters. This means that even if your totally legitimate paper company purportedly sent out an ad featuring mail-order brides from Pango Pango, the email service provider can look at various sets of data, compare it against the data they already have on file for you and immediately block your email from making it to the inbox. You might ask why authentication is... --- ### Targeted Bulk Email is Much Better Than Regular Bulk Email > Targeted bulk emails help you to interact with those who are interested in your product or services, and it helps you personalize your communication. - Published: 2019-12-26 - Modified: 2024-10-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/targeted-bulk-email-is-much-better-than-regular-bulk-email/ - Categories: Email Marketing Using bulk email and directly targeting your prospects and customers is always preferable to the shot gun approach, quantity is not better than quality "The money is in the list" is a classic quote that completely describes what bulk email marketing is all about. List building requires a lot of patience and dedication. It can also become a time-consuming process. However, you can expect high returns from such a list. Once you get enough email addresses, segment them into different groups and send exclusive emails for each one, rather than sending the same mail to all and sundry. A targeted email list is one where you focus on the needs, likes, and dislikes of every single customer you have. When you develop a targeted list, you can come up with an email marketing campaign that’s a lot more customized and personalized. A targeted email list helps you to interact with people who share your interests or require your products and services in a language, tone, and style that appeals to them. Your clients, in turn, feel that you take their interests very seriously and that they are valued. With a targeted list, you will always have a group of loyal customers. For instance, if you are a bookseller and have a chain of retail outlets, then you can segment your list into people who prefer certain genres of books, age groups, most valued customers, etc. You can also classify your list on the basis of the purchases your customers make.... --- ### Email Marketing Newsletters: A Top To Bottom Guide > One of the best ways to stay top of mind with prospects is by sending the email marketing newsletters. Here's a top to bottom guide. - Published: 2019-12-26 - Modified: 2024-10-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-newsletters-a-top-to-bottom-guide/ - Categories: Email Marketing There are a few different kinds of emails you should be sending your contacts, But, one, in particular, is an excellent way of staying in touch with your contacts and keeping your email marketing activities in top gear. We're talking about email newsletters. These newsletters are a great component of your marketing campaigns and an asset to your marketing strategy. They can contain all sorts of information, including the following: New product or service announcements How-to articles Step-by-step directions on using certain products Company updates Changes in shipping, terms of use, and more Customer testimonials Product reviews and click comparison Listings of the products most popular with your customers Case studies Truth be told, your email marketing newsletter can hold pretty much whatever you want it to. However, when crafting your newsletter, you have to plan and think ahead. You should follow a checklist just to make sure everything is in order well before you send your newsletter out to your email marketing list. Your subject line: a checklist Your subject line is the first line of defense when it comes to getting your email list to open it. Consistently having killer subject lines can improve your overall open rate over time. After all, your subject line is the first thing they'll see, so it reigns supreme in importance. Here's what you need to ask yourself when you're crafting your subject line: Is it compelling? You want your subject line to be interesting enough to stand out among all the... --- ### Send HTML Emails That Work: 3 Things To Avoid > Did you know that sloppy HTML code can get your email dumped into the spam file? Here's how to send HTML emails that work. - Published: 2019-12-26 - Modified: 2022-08-30 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/send-html-emails-that-work-3-things-to-avoid/ - Categories: Email Marketing When it comes to email marketing, everyone knows that the devil is in the details. But did you know that sloppy HTML code can get your email dumped into the spam file? That's why we've put together this list of things you'll need to know when you send HTML emails. Keep reading for more info: Avoid sloppy HTML and other code in your layouts If you're using your own HMTL layout for your email campaigns, you'll need to do a sweep and get rid of all the little things that can lampoon your campaigns. This include sloppy HTML code, junk code left over from Microsoft Word and other programs, and open tags. What you need to do before you send your campaigns is preview what your email layout will look like in the inboxes of major email providers. Send yourself a test campaign and any leftover sloppy code will show up in the form of design errors. If you usually work in Microsoft Word to create your email copy, then want to flow it right into your layouts, we recommend that you either create your email marketing text in NotePad , or save your work in text-only format in Word or no-frills word processing software. Don't send an HTML email without a text one as well A few years ago, a study showed that the amount of people who had their email set to receive text-only emails was extremely small – less than 2%. However, that number has kicked up... --- ### Need Help Managing Your Bulk Email Campaign? > Benchmark Email is the premier bulk email software service. With our permission-based online system, we can make your bulk email marketing as - Published: 2019-12-26 - Modified: 2020-02-27 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/need-help-managing-your-bulk-email-campaign/ - Categories: Email Marketing Benchmark Email is the premier bulk email software service. With our permission-based online system, we can make your bulk email marketing as headache-free as possible. At Benchmark Email, we strongly believe that you can send permission-based online bulk email blasts without landing in the sandbox. As a bulk email sender, we protect your reputation by only working with opt-in customers. Here’s more on what you can do as a customer: Create your bulk email lists online or upload them to the site Craft and send email in bulk with our powerful email software Use our bulk email service to track your campaign success in real time Benchmark’s bulk marketing software is completely Web-based. It requires no downloads and no complicated setups. If you’d like to take a road test, click here to sign up for a free 30-day trial. It’s no risk – no credit card required. --- ### Are You Sure About a Daily Email Newsletter? > Sending a daily email newsletter is probably not the best stratetgy to implement. Here are some reasons why you may want to avoid doing so. - Published: 2019-12-26 - Modified: 2024-10-03 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/are-you-sure-about-a-daily-email-newsletter/ - Categories: Email Marketing Sending daily newsletters may not be a good idea. Imagine a scenario where you get up every morning to an identical breakfast. You eat one egg, two apples, and three slices of cheese toast, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year. Blech! Doesn’t seem very appealing, does it? Now ask yourself why you would want to avoid such a situation. The answer is simple; to avoid monotony or to seek variety, however you want to put it (and, for health reasons, of course! ). You wouldn’t mind the menu once in a week or in a fortnight, though. You can apply the same principle to what can be a very sensible media investment – your email marketing. The types of emails you send should vary, along with the frequency in which you send your most consistent email: the email newsletter. Here’s why sending newsletters daily might not be such a good idea: Here are some good reasons for small businesses to leverage email marketing: It’s likely to create customer annoyance. Do you want to run that risk? Optimum frequency is about targeting ROI goals, but more importantly, it’s about how often your customer wants to hear from you. Sending a message every day might turn the subscriber off to a point where he blocks you, deletes your message right away, or hits the unsubscribe link. Over-mailing seems beneficial in the short term, but consistency reigns in the long term. To conduct an effective newsletter campaign,... --- ### Email 101: Make Newsletters That Work > When it comes to email marketing, you have options. Your basic sales email and your basic email newsletter are two entirely different types of emails. - Published: 2019-12-26 - Modified: 2021-07-13 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-101-make-newsletters-that-work/ - Categories: Email Marketing When it comes to email marketing, you have options. Your basic sales email and your basic email newsletter are two entirely different types of emails. While a sales email relies mostly on images, graphics and appealing copy to draw the reader in, the email newsletter relies on a more straightforward approach, often using more copy and less graphics to get the message across. When you make a newsletter, you have to be extra conscious of its purpose, as well as what your goals are in sending it. Here are three questions to ask yourself when you make newsletters: What is my goal in sending my newsletter? When you make a newsletter, you want it to do something. It might be to sell something in a more covert way than a sales email. You might need to reassure your recipients that your company is doing well and you'll continue to deliver top-notch products. Maybe you want it to tell recipients that you've overhauled your customer service strategy and you want them to know that you'll go above and beyond expectations from now on. Your HTML newsletter should have a single purpose. It's easy to say that you'd like it to accomplish three things, or even four, but cut it back to one. Make it a direct, focused message. If you jump around too much, trying to do too many things, you'll confuse your readers and lose sight of the message. What types of visuals will I need? While many newsletters go... --- ### What is 'HTML For Email' and How to Use it Effectively > Exactly how do I go about creating that HTML email? Before HTML based emails arrived on the email marketing scene, businesses relied on plain text emails - Published: 2019-12-26 - Modified: 2024-10-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/what-is-html-for-email-and-how-to-use-it-effectively/ - Categories: Email Marketing Exactly how do I go about creating that HTML email? Before HTML based emails arrived on the email marketing scene, businesses relied on plain text emails to communicate with clients. Now, they send emails with brilliant graphical content, links to different web pages and even online surveys in simple emails. One of the several advantages of an HTML email message is that it can carry your branding and look like your own website. You can include pictures, charts and design it in a way that will leave your clients awestruck. So what can you include in an HTML based email? Graphics & Videos Graphics make your email colorful and pleasing to the eye. In HTML based emails, you can include dazzling images that add aesthetic value to your communication that your readers will find more appealing than plain text emails. After all, an image speaks a thousand words and this dictum is true because your clients will understand your message much better through images and text rather than just plain text. If you use Benchmark Email, you can even add videos to your email easily by simply dragging videos to your email layout. However, it is important to use graphics and videos judiciously because too many images make your email heavy and difficult to open. Emails overloaded with images and videos will set off spam filters and may never reach your clients. Even if it does, they may not be able to see what your mail contains. Links Links are... --- ### Email Surveys: Gathering Data The Easy Way > Fewer technologies have done more for marketing than email. It's fast, inexpensive, delivers a lot of data to pour over, and there are various different - Published: 2019-12-26 - Modified: 2024-10-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-surveys-gathering-data-the-easy-way/ - Categories: Email Marketing Fewer technologies have done more for marketing than email. It's fast, inexpensive, delivers a lot of data to pour over, and there are various different kinds of emails to leverage. But one facet of email marketing tends to be grossly underused -- and it's a shame because it's a great, easy way to gather invaluable client data. That facet is email marketing surveys and polling. When you use email marketing to send out email surveys or you place a poll right on your Website, you're doing more than bypassing the usual mail or telephone survey. You're saving money, connecting with your recipients, and showing all your permission-based subscribers that you truly care what they think. Keep reading for more info. Email surveys and polls: a list of applications What can you use your customer surveys to do? Here's a good list: Gather feedback on your products or services Improve your product offering, seasonal line or list of services Find out if your customer service is suiting your client needs Discover which products are most popular with customers Find out how your customers are using your products and services Uncover ancillary products that customers want to see you sell Gather feedback on a special event or sale Find out how you can improve your Website or the sales process The items listed above are the tip of the iceberg. Use surveys and polling to truly get the pulse of your customers and shape your business based on the responses of your... --- ### How Important Is It to Have a Business Newsletter? > Having a business newsletter is extremely important for the success of your business. Here we list the various ways they're beneficial. - Published: 2019-12-26 - Modified: 2023-02-03 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-important-is-it-to-have-a-business-newsletter/ - Categories: Email Marketing Company newsletters can go a long way in educating and persuading your clients and prospects to work with you. "Email newsletters are the best way to maintain customer relationships on the Internet. " - Jakob Nielsen, Internet Guru We didn’t say it! This is a refrain coming from one of the Internet’s leading usability experts. So if you’re trying to find ways to engage customers and prospects, look no further, the business newsletter has arrived. Every type of email you send out is important. But, we could think of several reasons why you should invest in sending out a company email newsletter, but here are some of the most important ones. Higher brand recall and association What do you do after you’ve sold that washing machine or software? Instead of waiting for customers to get in touch with you when they have problems, business newsletters offer you a way of interacting with ‘dormant’ customers, cross-selling other related products and adding value through info like product care tips and more. So the next time customers want to upgrade to a more sophisticated product or service, you’re the first brand they think of. Personalized and targeted customer communication Unlike other forms of communication that are difficult and inconvenient to personalize, email business newsletters are a breeze. If you use a professional email marketing service provider like Benchmark Email, you can automatically add the recipient’s name to every newsletter for that extra warmth. You can even manage your email lists in a way... --- ### Opt-In Email Marketing Vs. Bulk Email Spam > Though many people practice email marketing to promote their goods and services, some don't know the difference between spam and opt-in email marketing. - Published: 2019-12-26 - Modified: 2024-10-03 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/opt-in-email-marketing-vs-bulk-email-spam/ - Categories: Email Marketing Though many people practice email marketing to promote their goods and services, some don't know the difference between spam and opt-in email marketing. It's understandable. As the years have progressed, many sources have blurred the line between opt-in and bulk email spam for their own purposes. However, we've defined both here. Spam vs. opt-in email: definitions Bulk email spam: Spam is any email sent for commercial purposes without permission from the receiver. This means that if you're sending emails to your friends, family and colleagues, it does not qualify as spam. However, if you're sending a batch of emails to people who never asked to receive them from you, promoting your latest line of shaving products, you're most definitely sending spam. Opt-in email: Opt-in email is any commercial email sent to people who have specifically signed up to receive it. Permission, in this respect, is clear-cut. If you have a list based on people who have signed up to receive emails about travel in general but not your travel agency, it doesn't qualify as specific permission. If you have a list of people who have agreed, in some form of writing, link clicking or other evidence, that they want to receive emails from your travel agency specifically, you fall well within the bounds of opt-in. The case for opt-in permission What makes permission email marketing different is not just that you have the approval of the customer to send to them, it's that you, by getting permission, are sending email... --- ### What is an "HTML email link?" > Using text and HTML email together   A long time ago, all email was created only in plain text. There was no option for HTML; emails sent and - Published: 2019-12-26 - Modified: 2024-10-03 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/what-is-an-html-email-link/ - Categories: Email Marketing Using text and HTML email together A long time ago, all email was created only in plain text. There was no option for HTML; emails sent and received were boring, plain and rather ugly looking. Today thankfully, there is the option of creating HTML email. HTML email makes a lot of things possible. It allows the creation of a much more effective layout as compared to text email. It gives you the option of having color in your email. It lets you include images. Advertisements too are a lot more compelling in HTML email than they are in text emails. However there is a catch; just because the HTML option is available and comes with a whole range of exciting features does not mean that you should focus on creating only HTML email and forget about your text version. It is very important that you give your readers a choice of HTML and text. The reason for this is a lot of people don’t always create good HTML emails. This can lead to messy layouts, too many colors, chaotic or missing images and even broken links! This makes the email difficult to read and results in people preferring to read it in text. Sometimes people, especially those who access their emails through email clients like Microsoft Outlook, Thunderbird or Lotus Notes, are unable to view their emails in HTML format and this makes it even more important to provide them with a text alternative. HTML email links have the option... --- ### How to Send Bulk Email and Pitfalls to Avoid > Proper business bulk email has the following ingredients Bulk email marketing has become very popular among businesses, big and small, across the world. - Published: 2019-12-26 - Modified: 2023-02-03 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-send-bulk-email-pitfalls-to-avoid/ - Categories: Email Marketing Proper business bulk email has the following ingredients Bulk email marketing has become very popular among businesses, big and small, across the world. As compared to some of the other means of promotion such as advertising through TV, newspapers, radio, pamphlets and flyers, email marketing is more effective and a lot cheaper. With email marketing you can target people all over the world. On the negative side, the email marketing phenomenon has given rise to unsolicited bulk email sending, also known as spamming. Spammers gather email addresses from the Internet or rent them from other companies and send promotional emails about all kinds of products to these addresses. How to go about a bulk email campaign There are several ways you can go about sending bulk email, but broadly either you will do it yourself or use an email marketing service provider. If you use a mail client like Microsoft Outlook to send bulk emails, you can go to the Tools menu and select Address Book. Hit New and select the New Group option. Select a group name and add all the email addresses you want and hit OK. Once completed, you can create a new mail message and incorporate any group you want, in the To field. On the other hand, if you want life to be a little less complicated so you can focus on your core tasks, go for the more sensible alternative - a professional email marketing service provider. These companies offer a range of schemes... --- ### What are Ezines? > The term 'ezine' stands for electronic magazine. If you simply replace 'maga' from magazine, with an 'e,' you get the term 'ezine'. - Published: 2019-12-26 - Modified: 2024-10-03 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/what-are-ezines/ - Categories: Email Marketing How should I use an Ezine in my business? The term 'ezine' stands for electronic magazine. If you simply replace 'maga' from magazine with an 'e,' you get the term 'ezine'. In terms of features, an ezine is similar to a magazine in the sense that one has to subscribe to ezines to read them. For example, if a person wants recipes for soups, they can search on the Internet for an ezine that discusses cooking or specifically talks about soups. Like magazines, ezines also cater to a group of special clients. Readers subscribe to ezines out of interest or when they require guidance about something very specific. When you sign up for an ezine campaign, it’s like becoming part of a club because you are with people who have interests similar to yours. One difference between ezines and magazines is that ezines are usually free of charge. You can publish an ezine on almost anything; ezine topics range from interior designing, spirituality, education to sports. So how can you use an ezine for your business? For a start, you should know that high quality content and reliability form the lifeblood of ezines. When executed properly, an ezine campaign can really give your business a big boost. It can significantly increase the flow of traffic to your website, the main hub of your products or services, thereby increasing your sales. However, this process is easier said than done. As mentioned above, the quality of the content plays a big role... --- ### Here's An Example of HTML Email Code > A good email editor is essential for working with HTML email code <p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-US - Published: 2019-12-26 - Modified: 2024-10-03 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/heres-an-example-of-html-email-code/ - Categories: Email Marketing A good email editor is essential for working with HTML email code Thanks a lot for keeping track of the latest developments in the world of Internet Marketing through the Mool Blog. We at Mool sincerely believe in innovation and providing value to our patrons. Get your dope on the happenings through our brand new weekly newsletter.   The newsletter, like our blog, will contain resources about Internet Marketing and general information. Confused? No surprise at all! This is an example of an HTML code from a regular marketing email. Those of you who know HTML will recognize this immediately, while others will wonder what this gibberish is. The example is only a small section of a marketing email. This code, as you might understand, does not contain images and colorful backgrounds. So you can only imagine the sort of coding you may have to do if you actually decide to incorporate graphics and colors. Even if you know how to use HTML, you’re bound to find the process tedious. While some folks create their HTML based emails in an email client like Microsoft Outlook, others prefer to use an HTML Editor like Adobe Dreamweaver. If you plan to use Dreamweaver though, you will need to download some free email templates and customize them in ways that you see fit. However, there is a simpler and more efficient way to develop and send email campaigns to your customers—use a professional email marketing service. Benchmark Email is an email marketing service... --- ### The California Consumer Privacy Act and What You Need to Know > Here's what you need to know about The California Consumer Privacy Act, how to prepare, and how to ensure you're compliant. - Published: 2019-12-23 - Modified: 2023-04-24 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-california-consumer-privacy-act/ - Categories: Marketing Maintaining compliance is a daily necessity for marketers. With the amount of information that is now accessible, it’s crucial that consumers feel protected and in the know. With the GDPR somewhat recently released, we’ve all become accustomed to making sure our consumers are fully aware of what we do with their information, should they choose to offer it up to us. Transparency is the key to trust, and now that California released a new policy, it’s time we get up to speed on what it means, how it will affect our marketing, and what we need to disclose to our consumers to maintain transparency with them. Here are a few basics of the CCPA to help you better understand how this Act affects the way you market to your customers. What is the CCPA, and When Will it Go Into Effect? The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) is a new data privacy law that applies to businesses that collect personal information from California residents. This law reinforces the privacy of California residents and maintains full transparency over what their information will be used for when collected. The act goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2020. What Do You Mean By “Information”? Information can be anything from your consumers’ names and email addresses to their IP address and financial information. Basically, it’s anything that can be traced back to or related to a consumer. What Does the CCPA Mean for Consumers? The CCPA protects California consumers (anyone living in California or... --- ### 5 Ways to Kickstart Your Email Marketing This Year > It's time to kickstart your email marketing efforts so you can make waves in 2020 and see more ROI. Here are five ways to get started now. - Published: 2019-12-19 - Modified: 2024-10-03 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/kickstart-your-email-marketing/ - Categories: Email Marketing There’s no doubt that consumers prefer emails when it comes to brand updates and marketing. More than half of consumers check their personal email accounts more than ten times a day, and 99% of consumers are checking their email accounts at least one time per day. That’s a lot of chances to connect with tons of people, as well as one of the reasons emails are the most effective ways to engage with consumers. With more than 59% of marketers reporting email marketing as their number one source of ROI, it makes sense to put extra effort into your campaigns. So why not make sure that your 2020 email marketing strategy is off to a great start from the get-go? Here are five of our top tips for breathing new life into your emails and maximizing their performance and returns. 1. Start With Great Content Content is always going to be king in the marketing world. After all, the whole point of content is to communicate a specific message — right? Putting content at the top of your priority list makes a ton of sense when it comes to optimizing your email marketing efforts, and it’s one of the biggest things you can do to boost engagement across the buying journey. High-performing email marketing content has a couple of critical features. To start, it’s well-written and original (this is a biggie). Poorly edited copy, overly wordy copy, and boring copy are all going to turn off your subscribers. Great content... --- ### 6 Email Marketing Trends for 2020 > With 2020 fast approaching, let's take a look at some of the email marketing trends that are expected to make an impact this coming year. - Published: 2019-12-12 - Modified: 2024-10-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-trends-2020/ - Categories: Email Marketing We get pretty excited about email marketing and for good reason. Some of the most ambitious advancements in digital tech have made their way into emails, and many more are just around the corner — which is big news for any company that is using emails to engage with their audience (so, pretty much everyone). With 2020 fast approaching, we thought we’d take a look at some of the email trends that are expected to make a significant impact in the coming year. In addition to helping inform your email marketing strategy in the year to come, these trends also give some insight into evolving consumer expectations and how you can modify even current best practices to provide your subscribers more of what they want. Without further ado, here are six of the 2020 email marketing trends to look forward to — and work into your marketing strategy — as we enter the new year. 1. Design Over Copy As the saying goes, an image is worth a thousand words. But good email design is worth even more — especially when it comes to lending authority to your brand. Today’s consumers are increasingly familiar with the tenets of good design, and even small taboos like unsophisticated fonts or non-complementary colors are going to have an impact on your perceived levels of trustworthiness and authenticity. What you say in your emails is always going to matter, but as we move into 2020, put an even higher priority on design than you... --- ### 4 Unique Ways to Get More Opt-In Subscribers > Opt-in subscribers are crucial for successful email marketing, but getting them requires a creative approach to see success. - Published: 2019-12-11 - Modified: 2024-10-03 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/get-people-to-opt-in-to-your-emails/ - Categories: Email Marketing More than 59 percent of marketers count email marketing as their biggest source of ROI. This proves that investing in email marketing is one of the most lucrative marketing strategies you could use, so your lists must be filled with high-quality prospects that are interested in what your company offers. Enter: opt-in subscribers. Opt-in subscribers are a cornerstone of successful email marketing. More than just proof that people are out there who want to hear from you, opt-in subscribers are crucial for ensuring your emails make it to the inbox (and stay out of the spam folder). The lengthier your contact list, the more substantial amount of prospects you have to nurture and — hopefully — convert to customers. Now, if only it were easy to get all those opt-in subscribers in the first place. Getting people to opt into your emails, like most things in digital marketing, requires a creative approach to see success. Unlike building a contact base off of purchased lists and site skimming, there are no shortcuts when it comes to growing your opt-in email subscribers. To win more subscribers, you’ve got to put work and time into it. Below are some of the creative ways you can encourage more people to opt-in to your emails for a stronger, more successful email marketing strategy. 1. Website Pop-Ups We’ve all seen them: pop-ups that appear right in the middle of the page (or perhaps less overtly, off in the corner), encouraging us to “subscribe to our newsletter.... --- ### 4 Ways Deliverability-Based List Pruning Can Increase Your Email ROI > Email list cleanup can be scary. But your deliverability depends on it. Here are some ways deliverability-based list pruning is crucial. - Published: 2019-12-04 - Modified: 2024-10-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/deliverability-based-list-pruning/ - Categories: Email Marketing Email list cleanup can be a scary thing. As marketers, we understand that our contacts are our currency, and we work hard to grow and maintain our database. But over time, especially with a database that is older or managed across multiple teams or departments, data quality issues can take a chunk out of our bottom line if sender reputation and deliverability begin to dip. So we’re left to figure out the best solution, faced with the challenge of cleaning up our email lists without missing out on opportunities for future engagement. We know we should prune our list, but we can’t go lopping off vast segments indiscriminately. For example, when tasked to shape up an email database before a more massive send or when preparing for data migration. But no pressure, though. An industry “best practice” is to prune your email list based on how long it has been since the subscriber has interacted with your email. However, the timeframe used as criteria for determining whether a subscriber is active or inactive can be arbitrary, leave opportunities on the table, and can be debatable among marketers in an organization. After all, there is data to suggest that sending emails to a deliverable subscriber can still have a positive effect without an open or click. Instead, a better place to start is by using the deliverability-based method to begin the pruning process. What Is Deliverability-Based Pruning, Exactly? For those looking for a more concrete way to identify and prune low-quality... --- ### Top 10 Email Marketing Blogs You Should Follow > Take a look at this list of excellent email marketing blogs to follow that will keep you on-trend and i nspire creativity. - Published: 2019-11-27 - Modified: 2023-04-24 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/top-10-email-marketing-blogs-you-should-follow/ - Categories: Marketing It’s easy to fall into a routine with your email marketing. You find that special blend of herbs and spices that kicks your emails into success and you coast along. No shame here—we all get complacent sometimes. But, with an industry like email marketing, you have to stay sharp to keep ahead of the curve. Email is always changing. The way emails render on different devices and services, what is considered accessible design, new developments in interactivity, and innovations in copy or design happen at lightning speed. Many of us combat this by subscribing to our competitor’s newsletters and watching our analytics like a hawk. That is a great first step, but one of the best ways to keep your fingers on the pulse of the industry is to pick the minds of the great movers and shakers of the field. Luckily, in the age of blogs, you have a wealth of excellent sources to choose from. Let’s look at a curated list of excellent email marketing blogs to follow that will keep you on-trend with both technological advances and creative inspiration. Benchmark We’re not ones to brag, but we work tirelessly to create and curate content that drives both email inspiration and success. We cover a lot of topics in our articles, with everything from the psychology of marketing to what causes a spam filter to trigger. We are forward thinkers in the email marketing game and are always striving to find new and innovative ways to drive our... --- ### The Email Marketing Benchmarks You Should be Measuring > Here are eight email marketing benchmarks you should be measuring to ensure your email marketing is on-point. - Published: 2019-11-19 - Modified: 2023-04-24 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-benchmarks/ - Categories: Email Marketing Technology is like the ocean. It ebbs and flows and can change on a dime. Take, for instance, email. When electronic mail first came on the scene, the idea of quickly sending a correspondence instead of waiting a couple of days for snail mail felt like magic. The tide was in, and the possibilities were endless. Pretty soon, email marketing became one of the best ways to reach and nurture your audience. But like all periods of greatness, there comes a time when the light fades a bit. And in an instant, the tide went out, leaving tin cans of spam in its wake. Email became inundated with clutter and junk, and people began to dread checking their inbox. Eventually, it became an unpopular form of digital marketing. But, with 60% of marketers claiming email is the biggest source of ROI, the tide is coming back in again. By the year 2022, the number of active email users is forecasted to reach 4. 3 billion people. The rise of intelligent email service providers and securely encrypted firewall technology has gained the trust of consumers once more, leading to the development of automated sales and marketing technologies that streamline email strategies. These programs produce a lot of data that a brand should know how to measure and put to work. But the key is in knowing what metrics to look at. Email Marketing Metrics to Measure Every business has different objectives they want to reach. That means there is no set... --- ### 8 Marketing Automation Tips for Small Business > Automating repetitive tasks and processes allows your small business to do more with less for better marketing results. - Published: 2019-11-13 - Modified: 2023-07-05 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/small-business-marketing-automation-tips/ - Categories: Marketing Automation Marketing automation can be a godsend for small businesses. With limited time, resources, and team members on hand, automating repetitive tasks and processes allows your small business to do more with less for better marketing results. But even all-in-one robots need a little help doing their jobs. Small business owners need to make sure they're optimizing their business’s usage of marketing automation, and it pays to take a step back and overview the best practices that others have learned along the way. And to make it easy for you, we’ve compiled some of the very best small business marketing automation tips and must-dos from around the web. Ready? Let’s get into it. 1. Choose Your Software Carefully Not all marketing tools are created equally. Keep in mind that, while there are certainly a lot of great options out there, not all of them are necessarily right for your business. Put time and effort into researching marketing automation software so you can be sure to make the right pick, and don’t be afraid to drill vendors on the things that matter most to your company, including data integration capabilities with your existing software solutions and the platform’s strengths and weaknesses. For example, do you want a marketing automation software that provides you with the ability to build landing pages and perform lead scoring? Or do you need a marketing software that provides you with seamless email campaign creation, email marketing templates, and a/b testing? What about your social media efforts? Do... --- ### 11 Ways to Upgrade Your Email Marketing Content > The content of your marketing emails will make or break them in the inbox. Here are a few tips for putting together the best email marketing content. - Published: 2019-11-07 - Modified: 2023-04-24 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-content/ - Categories: Email Marketing With new marketing channels popping up regularly, email marketing may seem like an outdated technique. Despite this, email marketing remains the channel with the highest ROI per marketing dollar and is an incredibly effective tool for everything from direct and effective sales to growing social media audiences. The main thing that has changed over the years in email marketing is the scope of the emails themselves (and the ability to get placed in the inbox). While some businesses still use email to deliver promotional or sales-y content, the most successful marketing emails are focused on valuable, educational content. It’s the content of your emails that gets people interested in subscribing regularly in the first place. Email can also serve as a great way to lead people from being simply aware of your company to being brand advocates. Here’s how to upgrade your content to make email marketing work efficiently. Put more work into it The first step toward creating better content is simply stepping up your game. You may think that people are now too engaged in 140-character Twitter posts to have the time to read anything for longer than a few seconds. That’s simply not true. Posts that contain over 3000 words show remarkable results in every metric from social media shares to attracting traffic. Invest more time in each email. Even though it’s more time-intensive to create them, the benefits will pay off later. Don’t just go for the length, go for the detail in the way you... --- ### 5 Ways to Make Your Marketing Emails More Personal > In the era of inbox overload, email personalization is a must for businesses trying to get noticed. Use these tips to improve your engagement. - Published: 2019-10-24 - Modified: 2024-10-03 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-personalization/ - Categories: Email Marketing Can you guess how many emails were sent in one day in 2018? Would your guess be in the thousands or millions? Surprisingly, it is actually in the billions. In one day in 2018, there were 281 billion emails sent and received. Even more surprising is that number is expected to increase to 347 billion in just three years. If your company is sending out marketing emails and you were already wondering how to stand-out, that number might not be what you want to hear. However, the good news is there are plenty of tips and tricks you can incorporate into your content to get noticed, read, appreciated and convert leads into customers. Personalize Your Subject Line The first way is an old trick, but one that is still useful to marketers. If you made sure to get everyone’s first name when building out your email lists, this is one you can start using today. Now, you may be wondering if this still gets higher open rates, since you likely aren’t the first person your customer has seen add their first name to a sales email. According to Experian, your customers are 29% more likely to open your email if their name is used. The study showed that personalized emails generated six times higher transaction rates. This is one of the quickest and easiest ways to get noticed and make your customer feel like you know them by name. Take a Conversational Tone Knowing what to say is the first... --- ### 5 Foolproof Strategies to Help You Win More Email Subscribers > Getting more subscribers is the goal of most email marketing campaigns. Here's some foolproof strategies to get you more email subscribers. - Published: 2019-10-03 - Modified: 2023-04-24 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/win-more-email-subscribers/ - Categories: Email Marketing The only way to expand a business is to invest time and money into marketing. However, how do you know which channel should you choose? Among tons of online marketing tools available today, there is one that has been around for as long as the Internet has been in existence – email! Almost every modern person uses email for communication, work, education, and personal purposes. Being so widely-spread, this is one of a few channels that allow marketers to reach out to millions of Internet users worldwide. Thus, using it as one of your primary channels for online marketing has its purpose and potential benefits for your business. On average, a person spends about 28% of their working time reading and responding to the messages. This fact makes it a powerful marketing tool available to every business at literally no cost. Key Concept of Email Marketing Whether you are a dedicated manager, marketer, or entrepreneur, the main goal that unites all these specialists is to nurture and grow their businesses. Luckily, in the 21st century, there are numerous opportunities for advancement. Among tons of different marketing strategies, email marketing is often being undervalued. Many entrepreneurs have probably heard of this technique. However, most of them don’t realize its full potential and have no idea how to use it to benefit their businesses. So, exactly what is email marketing? In simple terms, it's a strategy that allows you to promote your business by using email as the primary channel. Here are... --- ### 10 Ways To Grow Your Email List As An eCommerce Brand > If you’re starting out or you’re looking for new ways to boost your subscriber counts, here are ten ways to grow your email list as an e-commerce brand. - Published: 2019-09-19 - Modified: 2023-04-24 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/grow-your-ecommerce-email-list/ - Categories: Ecommerce So, you’re ready to start using one of the most effective marketing techniques ever: email marketing. However, there's a problem: your email list is too small. Luckily there are numerous tried and true strategies to help you grow it. So whether you’re just starting out or you’re looking for new ways to boost your subscriber counts, here are ten ways to grow your email list as an e-commerce brand. 1. Pop-Ups are your new best friends. Many people hate pop-ups. Why? Because they are annoying and your neighbor says they are annoying so they are annoying. Well, what makes them annoying? The thing is that pop-ups are perceived as annoying because of the ways they are misused by companies. For example, intrusive pop-ups that dominate most of your screen and are impossible to exit will definitely make you grunt. At the same time, having pop-ups appear every time a visitor lands on a new page is probably just as irritating. Source: Cygnett. com The solution is simple. Make your pop-ups reasonably sized, valuable and provide an easy way to close them. Moreover, making your pop-up appear once or twice is more than enough for the visitor to make up their mind. Also, make the text concise and your call to action clear. 2. Discounts can work miracles. Discounts and coupons are a blessing from above. At least, that's what most of your potential customers are probably thinking and the way you should be thinking, too. Discounts are proven to be... --- ### Leading CRM and Email Marketing SaaS Providers, Hatchbuck, Benchmark, Merge > Benchmark Email and Hatchbuck, leading SaaS (software as a service) providers of sales and marketing solutions, today announced they have merged. - Published: 2019-09-10 - Modified: 2022-04-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/leading-crm-and-email-marketing-saas-providers-hatchbuck-benchmark-merge/ - Categories: Uncategorized - Tags: CRM The combined company, Benchmark, will enable businesses to flourish with powerfully simple sales and marketing tools. Los Alamitos, CA - September 10, 2019 - Benchmark Email and Hatchbuck, leading SaaS (software as a service) providers of sales and marketing solutions, today announced they have merged, creating a global customer relationship management (CRM) and email marketing automation technology leader. The combined entity will operate under the Benchmark name and has U. S. offices in St. Louis and Los Angeles with international presence in 15 countries. Jonathan Herrick, previously CEO and Co-Founder of Hatchbuck will assume the role of CEO. Curt Keller, previously CEO of Benchmark, will assume the role of Chief Innovation Officer and Chairman of the Board. The newly merged company brings together 130 employees serving over 150,000 users in 15 countries and 9 languages worldwide. With businesses rapidly adopting digital sales and marketing technology, the combination of Hatchbuck CRM and Benchmark email solutions will enable the newly formed company to better serve its customers and gain market share in an ever growing CRM and marketing technology market. By 2025 the CRM market is projected to reach nearly $82 billion and the email marketing market is expected to reach $22 billion (Grand View Research). “Email marketing has always been a cost-effective way to connect with customers,” said Keller. “As SMBs invest more heavily in digital channels, they need a centralized place to track the relationships they’ve worked hard to build. We’re extremely excited about partnering with Hatchbuck to make CRM... --- ### What Email Marketing Integrations Deliver Scary Good Results? > Email marketing services will sometimes have limited resources, which is why using an email marketing service with tons of practical integrations is key. - Published: 2019-09-04 - Modified: 2023-02-03 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-integrations-deliver-scary-good-results/ - Categories: Email Marketing - Tags: Email Marketing, CRM, intégrations There is more than just using an email marketing service to send emails. Email marketing services, though, depending on who you use, will sometimes have limited resources. Like in a scary movie, you want any tools you can get your hands on to get you get out of a sticky situation. In this case, you’d want all the tools you can get to help you successfully market to your subscribers. So here are some types of email marketing integrations that can deliver life-saving results. CRM Integrations There are many Customer Relationship Management tools out there, Zoho and Salesforce are just a couple out there. Many email marketing services may not provide a comprehensive tool to store and manage contacts. By using CRM, you’ll be able to view and manage your subscribers a lot more easily. Allowing you to create specific segments to target and send to. E-Commerce Stores It’s best to collect contacts organically and what better way to organically build your subscriber base than with an online storefront. E-Commerce, or conducting business online as you can imagine is the way to go nowadays. Integrating your email marketing service with your store, you can collect very strong subscribers who may open your emails and return to your store. Blogging Blogging as an activity is popular among businesses and casual internet users alike. There are also the "in-betweens" - casual internet users striving to make a living off blogging. There are others who use blogs as a launchpad to set up... --- ### The 7 Best Email Marketing Tips For Small Businesses We've Ever Heard > These small business email marketing tips from the experts will ensure that every email you send is on point and making it to the inbox. - Published: 2019-08-28 - Modified: 2024-06-06 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/small-business-email-marketing-tips/ - Categories: Small Business Email marketing looks a little bit different when you’re a small business. With fewer resources to work with, you can’t afford to just throw a scattered strategy at the wall and see what sticks. Small business email marketing requires a coordinated, cohesive plan that optimizes your network, your budget, and your marketing mojo. And for that, you want to focus on the practices that are guaranteed to stretch your efforts as far as they can go. You’ve got a few major goals when it comes to email marketing: Maximize your open rates Maximize your click-through rates Actually make it into your recipients’ email inboxes (this one is a biggie) So how do you do it? We’ve compiled seven of the very best small business email marketing tips we’ve found around the web to help you ace your inbound marketing strategy and get more bang for your email buck. Incorporate these tips into your own practices to start seeing results fast. 1. Never Buy Email Addresses “Unless your company is in the middle of a merger or acquisition, you're not going to come across a high-quality email list you can purchase. If it's for sale, it means the email addresses on it have already been deemed non-responsive or unqualified for marketing outreach. ” Source: Hubspot You know that feeling you get when you receive a promotional email from someone you didn’t ask to hear from? It’s not a feeling you want to replicate when it comes to your own business and... --- ### Using Marketing Automation to Improve the Customer Journey > Marketing automation might seem scary, but with minimal effort it can guide your leads down a path that shortens the road to conversion. - Published: 2019-08-22 - Modified: 2024-10-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/marketing-automation-customer-journey/ - Categories: Marketing Automation Today’s marketers wear a lot of hats. They’re content creators and data miners. Social media mavens and email experts. SEO researchers and influencer investors and anything else that they need to be in order to help their brands stand out in the right ways. Just as the digital age has made the customer journey more robust (and frankly, a bit more complicated), it has also made the role of a good marketer that much harder to define. Effective marketing is no longer just about getting results — it’s about optimizing and capitalizing on every single customer behavior so that you can thrive in a hyper-competitive marketplace. And that’s where marketing automation can really help a marketer excel. Marketing automation is becoming increasingly indispensable for both fueling and improving the customer journey. Through automation, brands can stay in touch with their customers more efficiently, and nurture them to the point of sale with targeted communications, promotions, and ads. It’s a good thing, too. With so much to do, the more marketers can automate, the better - especially when it leads to improved results. So how can marketing automation enrich the customer journey and push prospects further down the sales funnel for your business? Let’s take a look. Awareness Stage The awareness stage is at the very top of the customer journey funnel. At this stage, you’re focused less on targeting individual customers and more on lead generation efforts. Marketing automation makes that process a whole lot easier, which is a major... --- ### Want to Build Your Email List Faster? Here is How to Choose the Right Lead Magnets > The key to creating good lead magnets is precise targeting. Here's how to choose the right lead magnets and build your email list faster. - Published: 2019-08-12 - Modified: 2023-04-24 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/want-build-email-list-faster-%e2%80%a8here-choose-right-lead-magnets/ - Categories: Marketing Most people used to be thrilled to receive anything via email. Two decades ago. Today everybody’s inbox is so flooded with messages - both wanted and unwanted - that even being able to send your newsletter has become a privilege. So, if you are a business willing to build a list for email marketing, how do you earn this privilege? How do you encourage more of your website visitors to become loyal subscribers? Two words. Lead magnets. What are lead magnets, anyway? Lead magnet is a real buzzword these days, and you probably hear it a lot. That’s because using a lead magnet is known to be an excellent email opt-in conversion booster. A lead magnet is a specifically targeted item that you promise in exchange for a sign-up. Something that can be delivered within a few minutes. Something irresistible. An ethical bribe if you will. Crate&Barrel offers a 10% discount for a subscription Adam Connell, the author of Blogging Wizard, states lead magnets can increase conversions by a factor of 7 and even more. Tim Soulo, the Head of Marketing at Ahrefs, shares a 300%-growth case study on his blog. If you’re still skeptical, read this post where Hubspot provides an impressive example of a 42% conversion rate achieved with the right lead magnet. Can you imagine that? Almost half of all page visitors chose to subscribe. Shane Barker, a digital marketer, offers a free 30-min consultation in exchange for a name and an email When you think of... --- ### 6 Top Email Marketing Design Tips to Keep Your Readers Engaged > Email marketing design can make or break your email strategy. Here are some design tips and examples to inspire your email marketing efforts. - Published: 2019-07-30 - Modified: 2022-10-24 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/6-top-email-marketing-design-tips-to-keep-your-readers-engaged/ - Categories: Email Marketing Email marketing is a practice that 82% of B2B and B2C companies are now incorporating into their marketing strategies. However, just because you are sending an email that reaches your consumers’ personal inbox, this does not simply guarantee the monetary results you’d expect. You’re going to have to provide your readers with quality content that will actually capture their attention, and you’re going to have to do this in a very quick and concise way. This is where a visually pleasing email marketing design can come to your advantage. What are the benefits of a stunning email marketing design? An email marketing visual design will be one of the key components that you will need to nail. If done right, this can encourage audience engagement and result in the conversions you were aiming for. The harsh reality is that people still care a lot about aesthetics. Many of consumers’ decisions are based on visible elements. With that being said, a wise selection of visuals in your email content will play an important role in helping you stand out, keeping readers interested in your message, and ultimately, growing as a business. Wonder how you can make the most out of email marketing and deliver optimal results for your business? Here are the email marketing design tips and tricks on how you can keep your reader’s engaged. The Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing Design For Higher Engagement 1) Choosing the Right Color(s) Color can make a huge impact on how your readers’... --- ### 6 Trends That Suggest Email Marketing Is Still the Top Marketing Technique > There are tons of marketing efforts out there, but email marketing is still the top marketing technique. Here are six trends that prove it. - Published: 2019-07-26 - Modified: 2023-10-18 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/6-trends-that-suggest-email-marketing-is-still-the-top-marketing-technique/ - Categories: Email Marketing More companies are investing in email marketing – you might want to do the same after taking a look at the numbers. Over 59% of marketers say email is their most lucrative marketing channel with the largest ROI. Along with a wide scope for innovation, the emergence of diverse trends, such as interactivity, CSS animation, AI, and automation, continues to help email sustain its popularity over other marketing channels. Businesses are also increasingly aware of the potential to build loyalty and boost sales through fostering the connections which are already accessible through subscriber lists. In 2019, marketers will keep expanding upon the big theme of delivering quality over quantity into inboxes. Besides heavy emphasis on quality and personalization, what else can we expect? Here are 6 trends that suggest email marketing is still one of the top marketing techniques! 1. Creative design trends Innovative design trends in web and email design have reshaped a user’s entire experience with email, especially how they engage with a brand and their content. Marketers are implementing creative design trends into their email templates to give subscribers a new and exciting way to interact with their brand – without clicking out of an email. Brands are embracing top trends in creative email design to deliver dynamic content to subscribers through image galleries, carousels, offer reveals, and add-to-cart functionality. AI-powered systems have also made it easier for marketers to make sense of more customer data and to identify the trends that are necessary for personalizing emails.... --- ### Why Email Marketing Is Your Most Valuable Brand Touchpoint > Email marketing, by nature, is a great way to keep in touch with people. Which means it's an extremely valuable brand touchpoint. - Published: 2019-07-18 - Modified: 2024-10-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/why-email-marketing-is-your-most-valuable-brand-touchpoint/ - Categories: Email Marketing In this increasingly connected world, beset with digital infrastructure, there are countless ways in which a brand can reach its target audience. Each moment of interaction is known as a brand touchpoint — a fresh opportunity to leave an impression. You can make your brand look worse, raise some interest, or fail to do anything memorable whatsoever. And because no company — however enormous — has the creative or monetary resources to approach each possible touchpoint with the same care, it’s necessary to pick out the touchpoints that offer the most value in prospect. So what should you prioritize? Social media holds a lot of sway, of course, and is fairly versatile. A strong website with a live chat feature can be excellent for earning conversions. If going to put your effort towards getting the most from one particular touchpoint, it should be email marketing. On the whole, it’s by far the most reliably valuable. It’s relevant and viable for precise targeting When you’re trying to reach people totally unfamiliar with your business, a platform like Facebook Ads provides optimal targeting precision, but a touchpoint needs something a little more in-depth than someone simply glancing at one of your ads. What sets email marketing apart is that it relies on retargeting — marketing to people already interested in your brand. Once you’ve built up your email database, you can get very specific about how you send out your emails. You can send one version to everyone under a particular age... --- ### Email Subscriber Loyalty: 8 Video Ideas to Keep Them Engaged > Keep your email subscribers guessing by mixing up the way you send them content. Here are eight video ideas to keep your subscribers engaged. - Published: 2019-07-10 - Modified: 2023-11-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-subscriber-loyalty-8-video-ideas-to-keep-them-engaged/ - Categories: Email Marketing Video marketing is on the rise, and in the golden age of online content known as 2019, video isn’t going away anytime soon. Since email marketing is such a strong driver of sales, and video can drive all sorts of outcomes depending on when you use it along your sales funnel and what goal you’re trying to achieve, combining your video and email marketing efforts is a no-brainer. You see, video marketing isn’t just for raising brand awareness or funneling viewers to your website to get them to sign up for your email list. Video can actually be used to great effect over the entire course of your marketing funnel. As video can be used to attract new customers during the awareness stage, it can be used to engage web viewers on your homepage during the consideration stage, and then nurture prospects into becoming customers during the decision stage. That last stage is where video can be the most effective in your email marketing efforts. In your funnel, while you’re trying to build a relationship with your subscribers to get them to convert into sales, what you’re doing is providing them value to attempt to win them over. Sharing newsletters, tips, tricks, and discounts are all ways you can provide value to your subscribers, and video in your emails is a great way to combine all three while increasing click-through rates by 200-300 percent. Also, video not only increases a viewer’s decision to buy by up to 85 percent but... --- ### Earn 18x The Revenue with Email Marketing Automation: Tips to Help Find Your Independence This Summer > Let's talk about how to use email marketing automation to boost your revenue, free up your time and give you some much-needed independence. - Published: 2019-07-01 - Modified: 2023-04-24 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/earn-18x-the-revenue-with-automation-tips-to-help-find-your-independence-this-summer/ - Categories: Marketing Automation There’s a Chinese proverb that says: “Don’t remove a fly from your friend’s forehead with an ax. ” Your friend might lose a nose and that pesky fly is likely to go free. Also, axes are heavy and you probably leave home without one most days. The root message behind that saying certainly holds true with email marketing. How do you say “Don’t use batch and blast email marketing when you want to increase efficiency, skyrocket your conversions and save loads of time” in Mandarin? Kidding aside, smart brands are discovering a fundamental marketing truth in this world of overstuffed inboxes. Sending out the same message at the same time to all of your customers (“batch and blast”) is not a wise strategy. The alternative — email marketing automation, in which you tailor messages to your subscribers based on their needs, their history and their place in the customer journey — makes for stunning improvements in click-through rate and conversions. Email marketing automation helps increase efficiency and gives you back time to focus on other tasks. Or, you can use automation to take some well-deserved time off. Automation is not quite as simple as “set it and forget it,” as they say in the Ronco oven infomercials. But with these tricks we’re about to show you, you’ll see dramatic improvements from automation almost instantaneously. In honor of Independence Day, let’s talk about how to use email marketing automation to boost your revenue, free up your time and give you some... --- ### 5 Tips for Successful Email Marketing Automation > Email marketinga automation comes with a ton of benefits for your brand and prospects. Here are five tips for successful email marketing automation. - Published: 2019-06-26 - Modified: 2023-04-24 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/5-tips-for-successful-email-marketing-automation/ - Categories: Marketing Automation Even though social media platforms take the cake in terms of digital communication, email still remains a pivotal part of the equation. No matter the scale of your business or the industry you operate in, email marketing can still make a difference for your lead generation and revenue. According to 99 Firms, over 90% average consumers use email at least once a day, while 39% of marketers never personalize their marketing emails, with 21% also neglecting segmentation. Even though the communication channel is highly relevant, most marketers fail to utilize its potential. This is where email marketing automation comes in as it will allow your marketing department to focus on sales pitch development rather than sending emails by hand. With that in mind, let’s take a look at several tips and guidelines which can help transform your email marketing efforts through automation and careful planning for higher engagement and conversion rates. Advantages of Email Marketing Automation Before we discuss how to make email marketing automation viable for your business, it’s worth discussing “why” you would do so in the first place. Automation doesn’t mean less creative input or control over your marketing campaigns – quite the opposite in fact. Automation eliminates mechanical tasks and tedium from the advertisement process, instead of allowing marketing experts to focus on what matters the most – the end user. With that said the benefits of email marketing automation extend to but are not limited to: Higher Emphasis on Content Your email’s content will always... --- ### 5 Ways to Use Email Marketing and Social Media Integration Techniques for Lead Generation > Finding various ways to generate leads is crucial.. Here are five ways to use email marketing and social media integration techniques for lead generation. - Published: 2019-06-18 - Modified: 2024-10-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/5-ways-to-use-email-marketing-and-social-media-integration-techniques-for-lead-generation/ - Categories: Email Marketing People often ask, “should I be doing email marketing or social media marketing? ” The answer is that you should actually be doing both! Your marketing efforts will be the strongest when you use both of these channels together. The biggest reason why a combination of these two channels is more effective than using either one of them by itself is that you will simply reach more people when you use them both. Your email subscribers are not necessarily your social media followers, and vice versa. So, by using email marketing, you can reach people who don’t follow you on social media and by using social media marketing, you can reach people who are not on your email list. However, although you should definitely use both email and social media for marketing, email is the more important of the two. For every $1 that companies spend on email marketing, they average $38 in revenue. This is significantly higher than the return on ad spend on social media marketing. In fact, people who buy products marketed through email spend 138 % more than those who do not receive email offers, such as people who click on social media ads. Another reason why email marketing is so valuable is that you will actually own your email list and do not have to pay social media companies to communicate with your subscribers. However, social media is rented space. You will have to pay social media companies if you would like to advertise on... --- ### How To Increase eCommerce Sales in Summer > With the arrival of summer, it’s not uncommon for some to see our sales numbers drop. Here are some strategies to increase ecommerce sales. - Published: 2019-05-30 - Modified: 2022-10-21 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-increase-ecommerce-sales-in-summer/ - Categories: Ecommerce With the arrival of summer, it’s not uncommon for some to see our sales numbers drop. Professionals are on holidays and private customers are busy enjoying sunny days and long evenings instead of browsing through online shops. As a result, online store owners have to work even harder to make ends meet, rather than taking some well-deserved vacation time without having to worry (too much) about the business. In this article, we want to give you some strategic advice and ideas on how to keep your sales up this summer without much extra work. If you prefer to see for yourself how you can put this into practice, please join our online workshop on Tuesday, July 2nd, 2019 at 10 am GMT /11 am CEST, where we will give you practical examples and step-by-step explanations. Let’s Get Started with an Example: The business: We own an online store selling handmade decorative items. The idea: We will offer a package of two products at a lower price than if they were to be purchased separately during the three summer months. The goal: Maintain and even raise sales while we or our staff are on vacation. Every year in summer, we detect that our sales decrease so we have thought of three ideas to get them back up: Make bundles of different products at a lower price than purchased separately. Create joint offers with partner companies offering added value. For example, teaming up with a sofa store by offering matching cushions at... --- ### How To Improve Conversions With An Effective Lead Nurturing Email Automation > Lead nurturing is an effective email marketing tactic employed by most marketers. They keep prospects engaged and improve conversions. - Published: 2019-05-21 - Modified: 2023-04-24 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-improve-conversions-with-an-effective-lead-nurturing-email-automation/ - Categories: Marketing Automation Have you ever bought anything online just from the first website you visit? No, right? You check out different websites, compare prices and offers, do your research and then finally make a purchase. Whenever someone hits your website, it doesn’t mean that they are ready to buy. In fact, most of such leads are either in the research phase, which implies that they want to know more about you or, they are in the consideration phase, which implies that they still need some time before making a final purchase. They need to be convinced why should they purchase from you. As per a survey, 50% of leads in any marketing funnel are not ready to buy. Hence, lead nurturing comes to your rescue to allow you to make most of these leads. Lead nurturing is just like dating. While dating, you are expected to understand your partner’s need, similarly, in this case, you have to understand your client’s buying process. Ideally, your leads should maneuver down the marketing funnel themselves but that is not true in reality. In the real world, you need to nurture your leads to drive them down the marketing funnel. You have to be their guide from the time they visit your website and then convert them into a lead, make them your buyer and finally your promoter. It is just like building and growing a relationship. Having leads is great but if you don’t convert them into sales, this is useless. As per a study... --- ### What To Do When Your Welcome Email Lacks Soul > What's the best way to message new prospects? Send them a welcome email! Here's how to ensure your welcome emails have substance. - Published: 2019-05-16 - Modified: 2024-10-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/what-to-do-when-your-welcome-email-lacks-soul/ - Categories: Email Marketing Research shows that we form our first impression of someone within 27 seconds of meeting them. E-meeting someone is exactly the same. Well, actually, it’s much faster; consumers can make a snap decision about whether they like your company or want to read your email in a matter of milliseconds. That’s why your welcome email needs to shine. A welcome email is a perfect chance to make a great first impression on your brand new subscribers. However, crafting an enticing welcome email is easier said than done, especially if you’re not a natural writer or you haven’t got the time or budget to hire someone to make it sound good. The danger of writing a bad welcome email is that your brand can come across as too aggressive, too dull or just plain weird. It’s the email equivalent of standing in the corner of a party not talking to anyone and clutching a bowl of pretzels as if it’s a safety blanket. If you’re worried about how your welcome email is being perceived, then don’t be. Here are a few of our top tips on what to do when your welcome email lacks soul. Keep It Simple A welcome email is (or should be) the very first communication between your company and a subscriber. Take this opportunity to wow them, but also introduce yourself in a chilled way, like this well-toned welcome email from Virgin America: You don’t want to scare your potential customers off before they’ve even bought anything.... --- ### The Ultimate Guide On Email List Building Using Top Social Media Channels > Here are some social media tips that will help you stay engaged with your prospects and create an effective email list building strategy. - Published: 2019-05-13 - Modified: 2023-04-24 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/ultimate-guide-email-list-building-using-top-social-media-channels/ - Categories: Social Media Social media has become such a huge part of our daily grind. While these platforms demand their users to participate and interact, some business owners can barely grasp how to leverage their presence and convert their online exposure into revenue. In fact, according to TrustRadius’ survey, marketers that use the platform give more value in displaying an attractive set of vanity metrics than in striving to make their campaigns meaningful in a way that contributes to revenues, website traffic, or leads. Vanity metrics—social media figures that include followers, likes, comments, shares, or retweets—have been a long-used strategy to gain traction. However, these numbers can be easily manipulated, and thus, shrugged off as meaningless. So as marketers, how do you take advantage of your followers on these networks? Always use social media with the aim of encouraging your followers to join your mailing list. By failing to entice them to be part of it, you’re letting possible customers slip away. Remember: your goal is to not just attract them with a one-time, big-time offer, but to seek long-term relationships. What Is Email List Building And Why Is It Important? “Out of all the channels I tested as a marketer, email continually outperforms most of them,” Co-Founder of KISSmetrics, CrazyEgg, and QuickSprout Neil Patel once tweeted. To cite a success story, video editing startup Video Fruit had zero members to its list before beginning its journey. However, after 48 hours of aggressive e-mail marketing and strategic planning, the startup gained 205 email... --- ### How to Design Powerful Email Call-To-Actions That Convert > Your call-to-actions are crucial for converting site visitors to leads. Here's how to put together CTAs that are compelling enough to convert. - Published: 2019-05-07 - Modified: 2024-10-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-design-powerful-email-call-to-actions-that-convert/ - Categories: Email Marketing Smart email campaigns make a substantial part of successful internet marketing. The goal of every entrepreneur is turning their subscribers into potential customers through their well-thought-out email newsletter. The major question is, which content to include in your email? This is what the world knows about online sales technologies today: Users are not patient (8 seconds till they’re turned into leads or it’s a NO); More users prefer mobile browsing; The “BUY” button is no longer effective; Users get used to filling in forms on landing pages; Emails work better when they’re personal. Many entrepreneurs are convinced email-marketing is no longer effective, which is eventually their biggest mistake... Amazon, eBay, Google, and the entire group of top international brands use emails for direct-, cross-, or up selling. In fact, a HUGE amount of traffic is being converted into real sales with the help of so-called email newsletter. Click here to read more about tips and inspiration from the newsletters our email marketing experts love most. And now with the existence of multiple email services allowing you to send automated email series, you have all the resources to run successful email marketing campaigns. But if you ever dealt with email marketing and it wasn’t going well, it may have simply lacked a CTA (call-to-action)... What is Call-to-Action? Call-to-action is either a word, phrase, or button that urges a user to take a certain action. You can use calls-to-action in any content intended for your target audience – from social media and... --- ### Spring Cleaning: 4 Practices For Email List Health > Building an email list can be an exciting journey to prospective email marketers. But you have to ensure the list you're building is healthy. - Published: 2019-04-22 - Modified: 2024-07-23 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/spring-cleaning-4-practices-for-email-list-health/ - Categories: Email Marketing Building an email list can be an exciting journey to prospective email marketers. It does take a little effort, but the results can be magnanimous when the right practices are followed. As a marketer, it is paramount that you check your email list now and then to be sure they are in their best condition possible. One of the mistakes email marketers make is not being consistent when it comes to monitoring anomalies which are bound to happen, and as such, they keep wondering why their marketing efforts aren’t yielding the expected results. There are many ways to maintain the health of your email list, and one of them entails cleaning up your list, to know what you have there. Ask yourself; Are there any inactive members? Expired email address nobody uses anymore? When you come across a situation whereby some emails are inactive or perhaps, bots, then do the needful by weeding them out of your list. In this article, you will be guided on how to maintain your email list health in four easy-to-follow steps. 1. Using Your Welcome Message To Your Advantage A specific practice which is known to set you on the path of conversion is to send a welcome message whenever a new subscriber opts-in to your list. An email marketing automation is triggered when a new member sign immediately in and it is advised you make it customized and personalized as possible. This is because potential converters want to be recognized as a person,... --- ### 101 #MondayMotivation Quotes for Small Business Owners > When you have a case of the Mondays, it seems like nothing can save you. But here are some Monday motivation quotes to get you going. - Published: 2019-02-23 - Modified: 2024-10-03 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/monday-motivation-quotes/ - Categories: Small Business Owning and leading a small business has its fair share of highs and lows. Some days it feels like you’re on top of the mountain. Other days, well... . everything seems to unravel. It’s healthy to take a step back and remember why you took that step of independence to be an owner, to drive your dream. Today may just be the day you need a little encouragement and a reminder to not give up and “keep on keeping on” (Joe Dirt). Accepting help when it’s offered is nothing to be ashamed of. Help can take many forms, too. It can be that small business CRM you’re using to help track your customers and prospects. Or, it can be in the form of some inspirational quotes you keep by your desk. In case you could use a few more, here are 101 of my #MondayMotivation quotes for small business: The most dangerous poison is the feeling of achievement. The antidote is to every evening think what can be done better tomorrow. – Ingvar Kamprad, IKEA founder The secret of leadership is simple: Do what you believe in. Paint a picture of the future. Go there. People will follow. – Seth Godin Please think about your legacy, because you’re writing it every day. – Gary Vaynerchuck Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler. – Albert Einstein The successful man is the one who finds out what is the matter with his business before his competitors do. –... --- ### We ❤️ Newsletters: Tips and Inspiration from Our Email Marketing Experts > We love email newsletters. And we want to offer some tips and sound advice for putting together effective email newsletters. - Published: 2019-02-14 - Modified: 2024-07-10 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/we-love-newsletters/ - Categories: Email Marketing - Tags: newsletters When it comes to email marketing, newsletters are probably one of the types of emails that businesses and consumers are most familiar with. They provide the perfect excuse to visit your subscribers’ inbox whether it be monthly, weekly or even daily and help you stay top of mind. Why are newsletters so popular? The New York Times newsletter readers read two times as many stories as those who don’t receive newsletters. They’re also two times as likely to become paid subscribers. They have more than 50 newsletters with a grand total of 14 million subscribers. It’s the goal of their newsletters to “build meaningful relationships with readers by delivering our original, world-renowned journalism and product experiences straight to their inbox. " Newsletter readers spend 80% more time on NewYorkTimes. com than non-subscribers. Email newsletters can significantly boost your website engagement. So, what makes for a lovable newsletter? Here are a handful of tips for making a newsletter that your subscribers will love: Keep your subscribers in mind. Sure you’re sharing updates about your company and goods and services, but it must be with your subscribers’ needs in mind. Solve their problems and you’ll see the results. Choose a template that can be customized for your brand. There are some services that offer HTML email templates, such Stripo. email and many others. Make sure you choose a newsletter template that’s set up to serve your goals for your newsletter and that it feels like it comes from your company. Use subheaders.... --- ### What Facebook Groups Can Do For Your Business (and How to Create Them) > Facebook is a great resource for your small business. It helps build a community and brand awareness, especially if you create a group. - Published: 2019-02-01 - Modified: 2023-02-02 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/what-facebook-groups-can-do-for-your-business/ - Categories: Social Media I remember when I first signed up for Facebook. It was 2005. Low-rise jeans were in style, and we were still trying to figure out a legit way to download and access music online. The excitement of creating my profile and connecting with my friends and classmates was palpable. I had no idea that in just a few years, everyone and their moms (literally) would be joining the platform, and Facebook as I knew it would totally change. What was once a mecca for college kids has now become a go-to platform for bragging about grandchildren, posting pictures of home-cooked meals, and sharing vacation expeditions. But in the transition, Facebook also opened up to businesses, creating ad options, functionalities, and analytics that could help those businesses using the platform thrive. The Power of Facebook While Facebook has gotten some heat somewhat recently, it’s still one of the top social media platforms out there. And while some businesses are leaving the platform, others are sticking it out and continuing to use it to tap into their audiences and share a part of their brand with them. Whether or not Facebook continues down a controversial path is uncertain. What is certain is that if your business needs more ways to benefit from Facebook groups, there are ways you can capitalize on and use it in a more meaningful way. While I’m sure there are still plenty of Facebook groups dedicated to celebrities, T. V. shows, and movies out there, businesses can hone... --- ### 6 Email Trends In 2019 No One Is Talking About > As we head into 2019, brands will be working towards improving their emails in all sorts of ways. Here are six email trends you should know about this year. - Published: 2019-01-04 - Modified: 2024-10-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/6-email-trends-in-2019-no-one-is-talking-about/ - Categories: Email Marketing We’ve already come a long way since the beginning days of emails. Customers are starting to perceive branded emails as not so much a nuisance but a chance to learn more about their favorite companies and the industry overall, as well as an opportunity to read content that actually interests them. As we head into 2019, brands will be working towards improving their emails in all sorts of ways, such as using Gifs and the continuation of eye-grabbing subject lines. While these are a couple of the more common themes we’ll see in the upcoming year, here are 7 email trends to look for in 2019 that not as many people are talking about. Implementing Artificial Intelligence Artificial Intelligence is taking over. Don’t worry, not in a catastrophic I, Robot kind of way, but certainly within our digital marketing efforts. Email is certainly one avenue that will be seeing some new, revolutionary artificial intelligence measures being put forward. While the main reason for some businesses, particularly smaller ones, not having put AI into their emails is due to the cost, many companies are starting to invest in artificial intelligence for their marketing. Here are the ways in which AI will be involved with email in 2019 Coming up with subject lines and images Customize content for an individual user by looking at past interactions with other emails Estimating when users may unsubscribe to emails Provide additional insights on engagement and look for potential solutions to issues Automation: Increasing Segmentation It... --- ### 6 Ways to Use Social Media in Your Email Marketing Campaign > Incorporating social media in your marketing campaigns can help you experience a number of benefits. Here's how to use social in your email marketing. - Published: 2018-12-27 - Modified: 2024-10-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/6-ways-to-use-social-media-in-your-email-marketing-campaign/ - Categories: Email Marketing Incorporating social media in your marketing campaigns can help you experience a number of benefits. Not only are social media platforms used by millions of users from all around the world, they can also help you run your marketing campaign in a much more cost-efficient and faster way. Social media can really help you learn a lot of new things about running your own email marketing campaigns and they can help you not only attract more people to your brand but to also achieve higher conversion rates. Here are some effective ways to use social media in order to help make your email marketing campaign a success. 1. Use the Right Social Media Platforms The very first way for you to support your email marketing campaign and help it grow through social media is by picking the right social media platform to work on. There are millions of online users for every platform, but you might have a harder time working with some. For example, Instagram doesn’t allow you to share links directly through your posts and you will most likely have to link them on your profile’s bio. This might become a setback as many users will not take the time to visit your website and click on that link if it is not easily accessible to them. It is a lot wiser to use Twitter or Facebook instead. Both are platforms which are being used by many companies on the daily in order to promote their blogs and... --- ### Building and Nurturing a Customer Email List Prior to a Product Launch > Before you launch and promote your product, you want to make sure your customer email list is warm. Here's how to build and nurture a list before launch. - Published: 2018-12-18 - Modified: 2024-10-03 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/building-and-nurturing-a-customer-email-list-prior-to-a-product-launch/ - Categories: Email Marketing Your customer list is your most valuable asset. You’ve probably heard this many times, but I’m sure many have never actually taken any action on it. Dealing with many startups, I know for a fact most startups or even older more established companies do not interact with their current or ex-customer list often or ever, or if they do, they probably do not strive to keep a close relationship with the list, and are not really trying to sell the list anything. Coming from a heavy internet marketing background, I’ve seen most savvy marketers take a completely different route than traditional pre-internet companies. I’ve noticed that: They focus on building a list and capturing a targeted audience first They then develop and market products to said list It is really incredible how much money is all too often left on the table by having a dormant email list. As acquiring customers is often the biggest expense any company has, it makes no sense that companies are throwing money away when they acquire customers, but then forget about them once they’ve purchased a product. On the other hand, keeping your current or ex-customer list engaged can really make or break your business long term, as a higher customer engagement almost always means a larger customer lifetime value, which in turn means you can spend more dollars to acquire each customer. Maybe companies have gotten away with neglecting their list in the past, but in markets with higher maturity, and when going... --- ### How to Make your Marketing Emails More Clickable with Interactive Content > Interactive content is a must for your email marketing. Here's a step-by-step guide to make your marketing emails more clickable with interactive content. - Published: 2018-12-06 - Modified: 2023-12-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-make-your-marketing-emails-more-clickable-with-interactive-content/ - Categories: Email Marketing Say what you will about email marketing but 86% of business professionals still rely on it for business communication. It’s safe to say that you got to have a few tricks up your sleeve to stand out from the sea of marketing emails. Speaking of standing out, we suggest you do it in the best way possible- making interactive content a part of your email marketing strategy. Here is a step-by-step guide to make your marketing emails more clickable with interactive content. However, before we dive into the nitty-gritty of using interactive content in emails, let’s have a look at the reasons why we should. Interactive Content in Marketing Emails: The Why and How 1. Personalization According to research, marketers see an average 20% increase in sales when using personalized experiences. Interactive content, by its very character, is highly personalized. Unlike static content, interactive content actively involves the customer as their input decides the outcome that is specifically tailored for them. The consumers love a content piece that speaks to them at a personal level. It should come as no surprise, then, that quizzes and calculators are also written in an informal, personal tone. Using words like ‘you’, ‘me’ and ‘I’ in interactive experiences make them more shareworthy. In fact, according to a study, interactive content which uses more than 30 personal pronouns generates almost 6. 5X more views than those with less than 30. Moreover, personalized content leads to returning and loyal customers. And considering the fact that a... --- ### How To Grow Your Subscriber List Using Email Marketing Automation > Email marketing automation grows your email list and channels your email marketing process in the right direction. Here's how it can grow your email list. - Published: 2018-12-05 - Modified: 2023-04-24 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-grow-to-subscriber-list-using-email-marketing-automation/ - Categories: Marketing Automation - Tags: Automation You know how it goes - the bigger your subscriber list is, the better your email marketing campaign will turn out to be. However, with a less than stellar email list, your email marketing campaign is never going to skyrocket, even if it has huge potential. So, it always comes down to it - Where do you begin? And that’s the question that everyone cares about, because hey... all of us know that we have to work on our email marketing list but not a lot of us are aware of how to do it. Thus, today we are about to make this daunting task extremely smooth and easy by using a few quick email marketing automation tips. Ah! Now the real talk has started - email marketing automation. With the word “automation” attached, it’s a given that things are about to get interesting, not to say easier than ever. So, let’s begin! But, before we move further, let’s understand a bit what email marketing automation. So, What is Email Marketing Automation? Email marketing automation grows your email list and channels your email marketing process in the right direction. But you might think that it is what your regular email marketing strategies do. However, as opposed to the archaic email marketing, the automated email marketing process creates automatic email workflows that get sent with even a single trigger. Say, for example, imagine someone fills a form on your website or someone subscribes to your newsletter. The chances are that if... --- ### 8 Ways You Can Use Messaging Apps to Boost Your Christmas Email Marketing Strategy > Email marketing has always been popular. But the rise of messaging apps means that you'll need to rethink how you approach your strategy. - Published: 2018-11-27 - Modified: 2023-04-24 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/8-ways-you-can-use-messaging-apps-to-boost-your-christmas-email-marketing-strategy/ - Categories: Inbound Marketing - Tags: holiday Every year, the Christmas season brings a kind of frenzy unique to the season. According to Statista, Christmas is the largest economic stimulus worldwide. In the US alone, total holiday retail sales reach up to $719 billion. That’s about 23% of the total retail sales in the country, which is a little over $3 trillion. The internet has also changed the way people buy their Christmas presents. In 2018, holiday shopping e-commerce grew to 16. 6 percent compared to the previous year. And many experts expect this trend to continue well into the future. As more people shift to online shopping, brands will also need to embrace new ways of marketing. Email marketing has always been popular. But the rise of messaging apps means that you'll need to rethink how you approach your strategy. Don't know where to start? Don't worry. In this article, we'll cover eight ways you can use messaging apps to boost your Christmas email marketing. Christmas Email Marketing Strategy: Email or Messaging Apps? For the majority of brands, email marketing is the standard for holiday marketing. After all, holiday sales account for 20% of all retail sales, according to National Retail Federation. Although emails have been a staple for many marketers, messaging apps have recently taken the spotlight. Apps like Facebook Messenger and WeChat have enjoyed steady growth in the number of users. Research also shows these apps have 20% more active users per month than social media sites. What's even more impressive is the engagement... --- ### Top Effective Email Marketing Strategies That Will Boost Your Sales in 2019 > Boosting sales is a key to success, and marketing strategies are a key to boosting sales.Here are some strategies that are the most effective. - Published: 2018-11-19 - Modified: 2022-10-31 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/top-effective-email-marketing-strategies-will-boost-sales-2019/ - Categories: Email Marketing Boosting sales is a key to success, and effective marketing strategies are a key to boosting sales. Learn about the most potentially effective innovative email marketing strategies recommended as core shots for the upcoming 2019. This article aims to identify the most perspective email marketing strategies to be employed for boosting the revenue of a company in the next business year via highlights of triggers of their potential. The strategies will be discussed in terms of the main trends and priorities of the modern world of digital marketing. Triggering Headlines to Be Honored and Employed Are you still in a doubt whether headlines can trigger your sales? The Return On Investment (ROI) on email marketing is, on average, 38:1. That means you can earn $38 for every $1. 00 spent. No more doubts now, right? Awesome, cause we have a list of working tips for you to add this tool to effective daily use. Every perspective of response starts with the first words a receiver sees. As a rule, it is a headline in the context of email marketing. Having trouble with a headline is not a failure, but a high time to learn the strategy: be concise, be flamboyant, mean it. Do not overwhelm a reader with information – headlines are to attract attention, not to give every single detail. Triggering headline leads to reading further, which means that it should refer to the reader’s needs, values, or current emotions. Actually, it is emotions that are responsible primarily for... --- ### 5 Customer Retention Emails You Should Be Sending > One of the biggest contributors to a successful business is customer retention. Here are a few customer retention emails you should be sending. - Published: 2018-10-29 - Modified: 2024-10-03 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/5-customer-retention-emails-sending/ - Categories: Email Marketing For eCommerce business owners, email marketing is one of the best ways to stay in touch with your customers. Having a strong customer retention strategy is crucial for boosting conversions and revenue. Through email marketing automation and the delivery of consistent (and valuable) email marketing campaigns, you can keep customers coming back to your site for years to come. In fact, research shows that the probability of selling to an existing customer is 60-70%, as opposed to the 5-20% of selling to a new one. As a result, 80% of businesses rely on email marketing for customer retention, with 56% considering it the most effective method for doing so. With this in mind, you’ll want to curate a formulaic and intriguing email marketing campaign that will keep your clientele engaged. There are five specific kinds of emails you must include in your email marketing strategy for ultimate retention. #1) Welcome Email Set up a welcome series for new subscribers/shoppers. A friendly introduction will go a long way, and a welcome email provides you with an opportunity to engage with them in numerous ways. You can ask them to specify their product preferences so that you can send them email suggestions on what to buy. You might also include a first-time buyer discount. Welcome emails are also a great way to invite shoppers to follow your social media accounts. If possible, even consider including a live social feed in the email to entice them. If properly composed, welcome emails can elicit... --- ### Localization and CRM: An Ultimate Guide to Increase Your Global Reach and Sales > Having a CRM informs you of exactly who your prospects are and how to engage with them. When you add the power of localization, you can be unstoppable. - Published: 2018-10-24 - Modified: 2025-06-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/localization-and-crm-an-ultimate-guide-to-increase-your-global-reach-and-sales/ - Categories: CRM E-commerce businesses have long since understood the critical nature of CRM (Customer Relationship Management). In fact, they now see that function as beginning with the first contact with a customer and continuing far after the sale, with follow-up help/support and requests for feedback. Who of us has not had to return an item, contact customer support with an issue, or been the recipient of a request for feedback on our purchasing experience? All of these elements of customer relationship management have been “perfected” by companies whose reach is primarily within their national boundaries and whose language is the prevailing one for that country. But what happens when your customers come from foreign countries? Their languages and customs are different, but they are still interested in the products or services you offer. How do you provide for the same exceptional customer relationships that you have for your own native language customers? As businesses expand their global reach, staying informed about emerging technologies is crucial for adapting CRM strategies to new markets. Localization The answer, of course, lies in what has become known as “localization. ” Why is this important? Because, according to Statistica, global e-commerce revenue is expected to rise by 9. 7% by 2022. Companies that want in on that rise will need to honor their global audiences by localizing all of their efforts to reach out to them. Most companies have localized their websites for foreign audiences. This means that they have used softwares such as TMS (Translation Management... --- ### 15 Amazing Email Marketing Tips to Try Right Now > We could all use some more email marketing tips to help our emails not only get to the inbox, but resonate with our recipients. - Published: 2018-10-04 - Modified: 2023-04-24 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/15-amazing-email-marketing-tips-try-right-now/ - Categories: Email Marketing Think about those gimmicky emails that are marked as spam, which are mostly deleted or just keeps piling up in your inbox. If your business is also witnessing the same, then you aren’t properly grabbing your audience’s attention. As long as you aren’t bombarding your subscriber lists with spam, email marketing is the best resource that helps to develop a connection with your consumers. Now, let’s enlighten you on some of the best strategies for your email marketing endeavors: 1. Create a List of Your Subscribers Even when you already have a long list of emails for prospects and clients, you must keep adding more subscribers to it. Particularly when it’s not nearly as cumbersome as it seems. For instance, you should make sure your list is always growing with the help of a signup feature on your website. Subscription forms should be on the homepage of your website, on the blog section, and basically wherever you feel it’s appropriate to include a subscription form without coming across as too pushy or deviating from the content. The above-mentioned subscription form from the Spoon graphics shows how to incentivize the subscribers with a promise to offer something in return. 2. Consider A/B Testing the Subject Lines No amount of studies or external data points will ever be as effective as the results you derive on your own. Now, one of the ideal ways to gain meaningful insight into what works for your target audience is by conducting A/B tests. Speaking of... --- ### What is the Difference Between CRM And Email Marketing? > You’re looking to generate leads, manage your customers and automate your marketing. Which tool do you use? A CRM or an email marketing software? Both - Published: 2018-10-04 - Modified: 2024-10-03 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/what-is-the-difference-between-crm-and-email-marketing/ - Categories: CRM You’re looking to generate leads, manage your customers and automate your marketing. Which tool do you use? A CRM or an email marketing software? Both tools can help you achieve the above things. But still, they are vastly different pieces of software. If you aren’t familiar with either, choosing one for your business can become extremely confusing. That’s why, in this article, we’ll discuss – and differentiate – both CRM and email marketing software. We’ll show you what each tool does and how much each tool can help you with your business. So, let’s start by taking a brief look at what email marketing is, followed by a detailed study of how exactly it works. Email Marketing: An Introduction Before we can discuss the complex stuff, let’s look at the simplest definition of email marketing, courtesy of Wikipedia: “Email marketing is the act of sending a commercial message, typically to a group of people, using email. In its broadest sense, every email sent to a potential or current customer could be considered email marketing. ” Email Is A Mass Communications Tool This means email marketing is a mass communications tool that you can use to send promotional, educational content and updates to your current and potential customers. The purpose is to generate leads or to make sales, which is ultimately what a business needs to do in order to succeed. Email marketing is effective at this because it offers two powerful ways of personalization. Audience Segmentation: Email marketing software allows... --- ### 10 Successful Email Marketing Campaigns and Why They Worked > Email marketing is considered as one of the most cost-effective and online marketing strategies for business owners today, and for good reason. It isn’t - Published: 2018-09-26 - Modified: 2024-10-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/10-successful-email-marketing-campaigns-worked/ - Categories: Email Marketing Email marketing is considered as one of the most cost-effective and online marketing strategies for business owners today, and for good reason. It isn’t only practical, but with the right tools, it’s also a game-changing strategy that can lead to amazing results. Several reasons why email marketing is so popular is because of the plethora of advantages you get, such as: Building relationships with new prospects Attractive new leads; and Encouraging loyalty from old and new customers With that said, it’s crucial to do email marketing right if you want to achieve ‘drool-worthy’ results. But how do you do that? Before we go into how to do email marketing effectively, we’ll need to understand its significance as a part of your marketing mix. A Closer Look at the Statistics A couple of months back, WordStream published a detailed post sharing the figures on email marketing and the crucial part they play in driving your business to success. We’re hoping these numbers will convince you to jump on the email marketing bandwagon:: Email marketing is considered as the number one tool for customer retention according to a poll conducted among retail professionals last 2016. Social media marketing falls at a close second. Compared to other promotional emails, Welcome Emails have shown to create amazing results. They generate at least 320% more revenue, earning your business tons of money with just ONE email. Email subscribers spend 138% more on online purchases than people who don’t get emails. QuickSprout shares how email subscribers... --- ### Best Welcome Email Subject Lines to Greet Your New Subscribers > The first email that you send to your new subscribers can work wonders for your relationship with them (first impressions are the most lasting, - Published: 2018-08-27 - Modified: 2024-08-20 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/best-welcome-email-subject-lines-greet-new-subscribers/ - Categories: Email Marketing The first email that you send to your new subscribers can work wonders for your relationship with them (first impressions are the most lasting, remember? ). The fact that you have them on board doesn’t mean they’re ready to open and click on future emails, let alone trust you with their needs. In fact, they can use that first email to see if your business is reliable and trustworthy. So, capitalizing on this opportunity is crucial to set a foundation for a strong, long-term relationship with them. To help you roll the right digital welcome mat and increase the effectiveness of your email marketing, I’ve prepared a guide with the best welcome email subject lines that get clicks. Welcome Email Statistics To help you get a better understanding of why it’s so important to get your welcome email right, let’s quickly explore the experiences of other businesses through statistics: Welcome emails have 4x open rate and 5x click-through rate than other email marketing Welcome emails are the most effective email types for e-commerce brands So, as you can see, welcome emails are pretty special. And, as a marketer or a business owner, you know that a higher open rate and click-through rate equals more customers and traffic on your website. According to Asperian report on email marketing, 93 percent of email marketers use welcome emails at least monthly. Moreover, the report claims that welcome emails outperform regular promotional emails in terms of transaction rate and revenue per email as well.... --- ### Email Marketing vs. Marketing Automation: What Your Business Needs To Know > A lot of people are wondering what email marketing is and how it differs from marketing automation. Are they the same? They also want to recognize if - Published: 2018-08-20 - Modified: 2020-06-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-vs-marketing-automation-business-needs-know/ - Categories: Email Marketing, Marketing Automation - Tags: marketing, Email Marketing, Automation A lot of people are wondering what email marketing is and how it differs from marketing automation. Are they the same? They also want to recognize if their company is ready to switch. These are the issues that business owners are facing. And this blog post will try to resolve all of these issues. Most of us understand how useful and vital email marketing is to your advertising toolkit. However, carrying out marketing automation could significantly enhance the performance of the email marketing technique you currently have in place. There are several distinctions between an email marketing and a marketing automation application. An email provider will give you the capability to send out mass emails and track open rates. However, it’s not scalable. With marketing automation, however, you can access effective functions like multiple campaigns, lead analytics, and scoring. These features are useful in making your email strategies far more calculated. In that case, if you solely depend on email marketing without marketing automation, you’ll never meet your expectations. You’re mostly likely confronting a couple of obstacles, especially as you expand. Email Marketing vs. Marketing Automation: What Your Business Needs To Know What difficulties could you be confronting with email marketing alone? It Takes Time That’s an email provider is incapable of doing automation or adjusting your campaigns. You need to do a great deal of manual work to make certain that your target market received the email blasts at the correct time. Within email marketing automation, you can focus... --- ### 5 Fashion-Inspired Color Palettes for Your Summer Email Marketing Campaigns > If you are anything like me, you have been closely following the summer fashion trends and taking copious notes. What is hot this summer and what are the - Published: 2018-07-27 - Modified: 2024-10-03 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/5-fashion-inspired-color-palettes-summer-email-marketing-campaigns/ - Categories: Email Marketing If you are anything like me, you have been closely following the summer fashion trends and taking copious notes. What is hot this summer and what are the biggest names in fashion wearing this season? It is an especially exciting time in the fashion industry, as there seems to be a constant disruption and turnover sweeping the industry. According to the Pantone Color Institute, a trend forecaster and consultancy, as the color becomes increasingly important, designers are responding by featuring more shades in their collections. Vibrant and bold hues, new neutrals, and more pastels define the latest summer trends. At this point, you may be wondering what fashion trends have to do with your email marketing campaign. Let me explain: as a marketer, you should always look for ways to sustain and increase your competitive position. To do that, you need to stay on top of trends, and what better place to look for what is trending than the runway? Fashion trends can always give you a clue as to what is popular at the moment, and this summer, the runway has inspired some great looks. According to a 2015 study by Microsoft, the average consumer’s attention span has dropped to eight seconds. Considering that, on average, a reader spends about eight seconds on an email once opened. Given that small window of time, it is your job to capture your reader’s attention with all the tools at your disposal. Initially, visual elements such as design, imagery, and, of course,... --- ### Merge Tags Available in Benchmark Email > You can personalize or customize your Benchmark Email campaigns through the use of merge tags. The following categories of tags are available to show you - Published: 2018-06-18 - Modified: 2024-10-03 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/merge-tags-available-in-benchmark-email/ - Categories: Uncategorized You can personalize or customize your Benchmark Email campaigns through the use of merge tags. The following categories of tags are available to show you how you can personalize your email campaigns. General Merge Tags Merge Tags for Personalization RSS Related Merge Tags Social Merge Tags Merge Tags for Conditional Formatting QR / Bar Code Related Merge Tags General Merge Tags The address entered for the email The name of your company The phone number of your company To convert the text to upper case, e. g. ] will print BRUCE, for a contact whose first name has been entered as bRuce To convert the text to lower case, e. g. ] will print bruce, for a contact whose first name has been entered as bRuce To convert the first character of each word to upper case, e. g. ] will print Bruce, for a contact whose first name has been entered as bRuce ] will print Acme Inc, for a contact whose company name has been entered as ACME INC URL Link to forward your message. e. g. Click here to forward URL Link to allow users to unsubscribe (or "opt-out") of your messages. e. g. Click here to unsubscribe URL Link to allow opt-in, e. g. will print Click here to reconfirm URL Link to allow subscribe, e. g. will print Click here to subscribe URL Link to allow unsubscribe, e. g. will print Click here to unsubscribe URL Link to forward your message, e. g. will print... --- ### A Content Strategist's Guide to Creating Engaging Email Content > Your email marketing campaign is a crucial component of your overall content strategy and the best email marketing strategies will help you to reach and - Published: 2018-06-15 - Modified: 2020-01-30 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/content-strategists-guide-creating-engaging-email-content/ - Categories: Email Marketing Your email marketing campaign is a crucial component of your overall content strategy and the best email marketing strategies will help you to reach and engage with your target audience. A survey conducted by the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) and Demand Metric showed that email had a median ROI of 122%, more than four times that of other marketing formats also looked at, such as social media, direct mail and paid search. Email is your direct line of communication to your audience, but all too often it's treated as an afterthought in the content strategist's plan. This is a mistake, because an email content plan deserves to be a key part of your wider strategy. Here's our guide to creating engaging email content that will keep your audience engaged. Know Your Audience If you're taking a scattergun approach to your email marketing, then you're not focusing your resources effectively. The idea that in keeping your email content as broad as possible you've a better chance of appealing to a wider range of people simply isn't true. You'll only alienate more of your audience because they're far less likely to gain any connection or relevance from what you're saying. The extra time you spend getting to know and understand your target audience will be well worth it in the end, so find out who they are and what it is they want. That way you can tailor your content more effectively to your audience. If they feel a personal connection with... --- ### Benchmark Email is Swiss-US Privacy Shield Certified > At the start of the year, the U.S and Switzerland governments agreed to the Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield. This is important for understanding how you should - Published: 2018-05-27 - Modified: 2024-09-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/benchmark-email-swiss-us-privacy-shield-certified/ - Categories: Uncategorized At the start of the year, the U. S and Switzerland governments agreed to the Swiss-U. S. Privacy Shield. This is important for understanding how you should be handling your data. After all, you may not think you have any customers in Switzerland. However, the internet makes almost every business open to the world. It’s better to be safe. That’s why it’s important to use business tools who are certified for the Swiss-US Privacy Shield. Benchmark Email is Swiss-US Privacy Shield certified. What is the Swiss-US Privacy Shield? It’s an agreed upon framework between the governments of the United States and Switzerland that allows certified companies to handle data between both countries. It was modeled after the regulations in the rest of the European Union with a focus on consistency in the region. The Swiss-US Privacy Shield Offers Improved Protection This Framework, which replaces the previous Safe Harbor Framework, offers better protection than its predecessor. Here’s how: Companies who are Swiss-US Privacy Shield certified have a greater obligation to protect data as well as offer specific information to data subjects The U. S. Commerce Department and the Swiss data protection regulator will more together more Free and accessible dispute-resolution processes must be provided by certified companies, which includes the ability for data subjects to complain directly to a company or to submit them to a binding arbitration Benchmark Cares About Your Privacy If you’ve done any data protection and privacy research, you’ve likely read about the new General Data Protection... --- ### The Power Of A Strong Call To Action: How To Make Yours Click-Worthy > Calls to action might be the most important part of your business strategy: the jewel in your marketing crown. Your brand’s success goes hand in hand with - Published: 2018-05-23 - Modified: 2024-10-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/power-strong-call-action-make-click-worthy/ - Categories: Inbound Marketing - Tags: CTAs Calls to action might be the most important part of your business strategy: the jewel in your marketing crown. Your brand’s success goes hand in hand with a strong call to action. You will have experienced this first-hand, whether you’ve signed up to Netflix or bought a new jacket online: the chances are a good call to action led you there. I’ve seen countless CTAs in my work, so I know what works — and what doesn’t. If your CTAs aren’t on point, you’ll see conversions slow and sales fizzle out. So, if you want to know how to make your call to action truly click-worthy, read on... So why are calls to action important? Well, take this as an example: if you include just a single call to action as part of your email marketing strategy, your clicks could increase by up to 400%, and your sales by over 1000%. A good call to action works as part of a more comprehensive customer support and experience strategy, building on useful and engaging copy and high-quality aesthetics to work towards a final goal. It should be compelling and drive your customers to take a specific action: to make a purchase or sign up for your newsletter. Without a compelling call to action, your customers are just lost sheep on a mountain without a shepherd. Your CTA can lead them to where you want them to go. So, what makes for a strong call to action? A good call to action... --- ### How To Create GDPR-Compliant Sign-Up Forms > The new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) goes into effect on may 25th. There is only a few days left to prepare all your email marketing - Published: 2018-05-23 - Modified: 2024-09-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/gdpr-compliant-sign-up-forms/ - Categories: Email Marketing - Tags: Email Marketing, GDPR, data protection, sign up forms, 订阅表格 The new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) goes into effect on may 25th. There is only a few days left to prepare all your email marketing strategies and adapt to this new Regulation. With this blog, we want to help you adapt your existing signup forms to be GDPR-compliant or to create new ones. Use our Classic or Pop-Up Forms to create a GDPR compliant sign-up form: We provide you this text as an example: I have read and accepted the Privacy Policy. This text is 100% customizable, but we recommend using the “Blank” tag, as it will open the page in a new window or tab. You just need to replace the text in italics by your own link. How can I demonstrate the consent? Benchmark's sign up forms collect the subscriber's IP, which is unique and identifiable for each subscriber. The controller cannot access from his or her account, and it is only visible if you download the list. This way we avoid it can being edited or deleted. If you want to know more about the GDPR, we invite you to read and watch the webinar we held and in which we explain all the sensitive points that affect your email marketing strategy. Please, leave your comments or questions below and keep learning with Benchmark! --- ### How Benchmark adapts to the GDPR > We have spent months talking about the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The 25th of May, which is the day when it goes into effect, is fast - Published: 2018-05-18 - Modified: 2025-05-09 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-benchmark-adapts-to-the-gdpr/ - Categories: Uncategorized - Tags: Email Marketing, GDPR We have spent months talking about the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The 25th of May, which is the day when it goes into effect, is fast approaching. During this time, we have provide you with tons of information related to adapting your email marketing strategy. In this article, we want to make a recap of how has Benchmark adapted to the GDPR and about all the changes we have implemented and which you might need to know: "Right to be forgotten" This right is one of the biggest changes of this Regulation. For the very first time, this right is regulated and obliges the controller to completely remove the data if the data subject requests. To exercise the right to be forgotten, we have two different scenarios: Benchmark | Customer If a Benchmark customer wants to be "forgotten," he or she needs to request the deletion of the data by writing to support@benchmarkemail. wpengine. com and we will proceed with the removal of their data. Benchmark | Customer | Subscriber Any of our client's subscribers can request to be deleted from lists and/or records. It's the customer's responsibility to delete a subscriber from our (and other) systems, with one exception: if the subscriber has already unsubscribed, the client will not be able to remove the data from the "Unsubscribe" list. If this happens, the customer should forward the user's email to support@benchmarkemail. wpengine. com and we will proceed with the elimination of the subscriber from the list. In this... --- ### Adapt Your Email Marketing Strategy to the GDPR > We have spent months talking about the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The 25th of May, which is the day when it goes into effect, is fast - Published: 2018-05-06 - Modified: 2024-09-11 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/webinar-gdpr-email-marketing/ - Categories: Email Marketing We have spent months talking about the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The 25th of May, which is the day when it goes into effect, is fast approaching. During this time, we have provide you with tons of information related to adapting your email marketing strategy. On April 11th, 2018, we held a webinar going through the key points in which the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) affects the email marketing strategy. Editor’s Note: Benchmark provides information during the webinar and in this article for informational purposes only. Such information cannot be understood as legal advice. To get advice on any issue or aspect related to the GDPR, you should contact your lawyer. In this article, we’ll do a quick review of what GDPR is. We also want to do a recap of how has Benchmark has adapted to the GDPR and about all the changes we have implemented and which you might need to know. What is the goal of the new GDPR? The main goal of the new GDPR is to provide users with final control over their personal data. What benefits does the new GDPR provide? One continent, one law: a single, pan-European law for data protection, replacing the current inconsistent patchwork of national laws. Companies will deal with one law, not 28. One-stop-shop: a ‘one-stop-shop’ for businesses. Companies will only have to deal with one single supervisory authority, not 28, making it simpler and cheaper for companies to do business in the EU. The same... --- ### Marketing Automation: Promote and Follow-up > If you are using an email marketing service, you are promoting something. It could be a newsletter, your latest blog post, updates on your non-profit, - Published: 2018-04-27 - Modified: 2024-10-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/marketing-automation-promote-follow/ - Categories: Marketing Automation If you are using an email marketing service, you are promoting something. It could be a newsletter, your latest blog post, updates on your non-profit, business, and product updates, or new services you offer. Email Marketing is the perfect tool to announce, promote and keep your circle up to date with everything. The trick is, to send the right email, to the right person and at the right time. With marketing automation, you can do just that! Let’s say you are involved with a local non-profit, and you’re asked to create a campaign for an upcoming fundraiser. It would be awesome if you could just send one email and have donations flowing to the extent that you never needed to do another fundraiser again, right? Well, while anything is possible ... it is unlikely for just one email to do the job. When running a fundraiser or any promotion, you need to cast a wide net through as many channels as possible and with multiple messages. It’s not because your subscribers and followers don’t care about your cause or promotion; it's because you may catch them at a bad time or because the way the message was presented didn’t relate to them. This is why it is important to reach your audience through as many channels as possible and with different messages. Create a list of compelling reasons your subscribers can relate to and promote it through various channels following a cohesive storyline. Let’s take a look at one of... --- ### 6 Automation Rules to Skyrocket Your Email Marketing Performance > Email marketing is surely the most challenging yet rewarding path towards riches. Every type of business, no matter whether it’s a big brand or a small - Published: 2018-04-23 - Modified: 2024-10-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/6-automation-rules-skyrocket-email-marketing-performance/ - Categories: Marketing Automation Email marketing is surely the most challenging yet rewarding path towards riches. Every type of business, no matter whether it’s a big brand or a small business, must develop and nurture a close relationship with its customers. And because our current marketplace is slowly becoming 100% digital, email communication is and will continue to be the most effective method of building solid connections with your clients and customers. However, to perform an effective email marketing campaign, you should perfectly understand all of your options. Moreover, you need to grasp the basics of email automatization, which includes several important aspects that can differentiate a winning and a losing campaign. In today’s post, we’re going to focus on automation rules, one of the most intriguing and challenging features that every respectable email autoresponder offers. In case you’re not very familiar with the term, email automation rules are programmed cause-and-effect conditions that you set up according to your wishes. For example: if X customer buys Y product, he will be moved to List B, and he’ll start receiving new emails. By properly automating your email marketing, you’ll tap into great benefits that’ll allow you to simplify your work and cut the working hours. Well, that’s what today’s post is all about. Pay attention and add your twists. Lastly, make sure that you take action! Topic Automation Primary Triggers: Offer Downloads and/or Website Visits A business may sell different products that solve different problems for different customers. In this case, you should develop a... --- ### Top 5 Email Marketing Automation Triggers You Should Know > Over the years, marketers continued to use “spray and pray” email marketing tactics. The basic idea is to create a killer email list, send out the same - Published: 2018-03-23 - Modified: 2024-10-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/top-5-email-marketing-automation-triggers-know/ - Categories: Marketing Automation Over the years, marketers continued to use “spray and pray” email marketing tactics. The basic idea is to create a killer email list, send out the same message to the masses of people, hope and pray that someone will notice them and their hard work will prove its value. Regretfully, this tactic in email marketing is counter-productive. Sending spam can damage the reputation of your company and ruin relationships with your potential clients. Do you know that 90% of UK customers have unsubscribed from retail emails last year because of too many ham-fisted emails? I guess you don’t want to suffer from the same problem, and, conversely, you want to triple your sales. Instead of sending mass “one-size-fits-all: emails” focus on your audience, on their needs and behavior. Do it with marketing automation. For example, with the triggered emails. Those nurtured or operational emails are sent in response to a certain interaction with your website or your email program such as email opens, web-form filled, whitepaper download, etc. While triggered emails are often complex and highly customized, they work incredibly well. Due to specific user behavior or an event, a marketing automation tool sends out a personalized message at the right time to crack their problem. According to Smart Insights, triggered emails reach 71% higher open rates and 102% higher click-through rates compared to general email newsletters. Here are five email marketing triggers that help your business increase conversion rates and customer experience: 1. Welcome Emails The welcome email is... --- ### How to Pick the Best Free HTML Email Templates > We all see beautifully designed emails in our inbox every day. Even local mom and pop shops or kitchen table operations seem to have them. Do all those - Published: 2018-03-01 - Modified: 2024-10-03 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/3-elements-effective-newsletter-templates/ - Categories: Email Marketing We all see beautifully designed emails in our inbox every day. Even local mom and pop shops or kitchen table operations seem to have them. Do all those businesses have a budget for a top-notch designer? They must, right? I mean, look at how awesome those emails look. Nope! They don’t have to. That’s why free HTML email templates exist. With a free HTML email template, you can choose the design elements, graphics and layout that fits your brand. From there, you can customize it with your logo, company updates, product information and more. There are styles of templates for any email marketing need you could possibly have. Newsletters, holiday promotions, press releases, sales, events or anything else you could think of. In fact, perusing the types of templates could even give you inspiration for various types of email marketing campaigns you could be sending! With the help of free HTML email templates, it’s like having a graphic designer on call 24/7 without paying a retainer or hefty hourly rates. And it is now infused with captivating graphic design elements. Sorry, graphic designers. There is plenty of work for you to go around elsewhere. We promise. But we digress... Now that you know that free HTML email templates are there for you to take advantage of, let’s take a look at how to find the best one for the job at hand. Types of Free HTML Email Templates There’s an email template for every task. No matter the occasion or... --- ### The Importance of Configuring SPF and DKIM Records in Your Email Marketing > How many business emails do you send in a typical month? Probably a lot. Maybe thousands of them. At the very least a newsletter with weekly or monthly - Published: 2018-02-06 - Modified: 2022-10-28 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/importance-records-spf-dkim/ - Categories: Email Marketing How many business emails do you send in a typical month? Probably a lot. Maybe thousands of them. At the very least a newsletter with weekly or monthly special offers or related information about your company. Before the birth of Email Marketing, ISPs only managed a small amount of emails. However, in adopting this strategy, our whole database can be reached with a single click. Because of it, ISPs had to create ways to filter emails, letting the good senders have their space in the subscribers´ inbox. Gmail, Hotmail, and Yahoo, among others, have understood that this is a two-way task and demand the sender go through a series of actions to help them. Today, we want to explain how important it is to configure SPF and DKIM records in your email marketing strategy. This may be the first time you’re hearing both names. Thus, throughout this article, we want to help you all to achieve your Email Marketing strategy not only by basing it on designing, sending and measuring, but by addressing external factors that are familiar with your day-to-day routine, that affect your deliverability. As we said in the beginning of this article, inbox trays spend the day categorizing emails so we only receive messages from: A trustworthy sender, that is to say, any email with whom we have regular business, or an email from a colleague, a client, or a family related person. Special offers, eBooks, and newsletters in general, the information we have subscribed to. Nevertheless,... --- ### Celebrate Black History Month > February is Black History Month. It's a time for celebration and to remind ourselves how far we've come and how much further we have to go. - Published: 2018-01-30 - Modified: 2024-10-03 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/celebrate-february-with-a-black-history-month-email-template/ - Categories: Email Marketing February is Black History Month. It's a time for celebration and for reminding ourselves of how far we've come and how much further we have to go. Make sure you use this time to connect with your subscribers and show them how much you support Black communities and racial justice and certain actions you're taking to ensure diversity and inclusion is at the forefront of your company. Each year, Black History Month takes on a theme. You can use these themes to focus your message and create truly resonating email content. Here are some themes from years past: 2014: Civil Rights in America 2015: A Century of Black Life, History, and Culture 2016: Hallowed Grounds: Sites of African American Memories 2017: Crisis in Black Education 2018: African Americans in Time of War When creating your email campaigns, focus on what this time of year means. Feature Black creators, influencers, and industry leaders. Share Black stories and institutions that can help your network get involved and show support for the community. Use email templates to get creative and build a message you're proud to share. Most importantly, celebrate Black businesses, institutions, and individuals every month of the year. Happy Black History Month! --- ### Fear of Marketing Automation (#FOMA): Insufficient Customer Data > Technology can seem intimidating, especially to professionals who lack a strong technical background. However, in today’s competitive marketplace, failing - Published: 2018-01-17 - Modified: 2023-04-24 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/fear-marketing-automation-foma-insufficient-customer-data/ - Categories: Marketing Automation Technology can seem intimidating, especially to professionals who lack a strong technical background. However, in today’s competitive marketplace, failing to automate means potentially falling behind. Chances are, your competition has already fully embraced software, and in doing so, they have access to information you don’t have. If you haven’t adopted technology as part of your marketing efforts, however, you aren’t alone. According to Econsultancy’s State of B2B Marketing Automation study, 60 percent of companies still struggle to find the resources necessary to put marketing automation in place. That number is likely to decrease over time, so it’s important to begin researching automation for your marketing campaigns sooner, rather than later. For the many businesses who have let Fear of Marketing Automation (FOMA) hold them back, a small amount of research could make all the difference. This guide will help you as you prepare to automate your business’s marketing efforts, whether you’re considering email marketing automation, social media marketing automation, or another option. Addressing the Fear Fear serves a very real purpose. When presented with a danger, humans experience a rush of adrenaline necessary to take action. If that danger is a big bear or an approaching tornado, that sudden surge of energy can be useful. However, when you have a fear of the unknown, it can hold you back. There’s comfort in knowing you aren’t alone. In fact, 15. 7 percent of the population fears unfamiliar technology, ranking higher than germs, blood, and strangers. With technology driving so much of... --- ### Benchmark Email Now Integrates With 1,000+ Other Products > Do you remember Captain Planet? The famous line was “by your powers combined!” In case you’re too young to remember, have blocked it out or simply never - Published: 2018-01-10 - Modified: 2024-10-18 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/benchmark-email-now-integrates-1000-products/ - Categories: Uncategorized - Tags: integration Do you remember Captain Planet? The famous line was “by your powers combined! ” In case you’re too young to remember, have blocked it out or simply never watched, here’s a refresher: Each person’s powers individually had their strengths, but when combined was when the true heroism began. It was true for that cartoon, but it’s even truer in our actual day to day lives. Integrations Make us Great We know that getting your work done requires many different web tools. In fact, the average business uses between 10 and 16 apps. You have your email app, CRM, note-taking tool, cloud storage tool, team communication app, along with project management tools and various to-do lists. Sometimes, it can be a struggle to get them all working in tandem. Now that Benchmark Email has 1,000 integrations, you can choose your favorite tools and easily integrate them with Benchmark Email. Benchmark Email now connects to 1,000 other web tools, thanks to our Zapier integration. With the workflow automation tool Zapier, you can set up your own codeless integrations called “Zaps. ” These connections will automatically send information from one tool to another, so you’ll spend less time manually transferring data between your business tools and can dedicate more time to focus on creative or big picture tasks. Integrate Your eCommerce Store If you are using an eCommerce platform to sell through your website, you should have it connect to your email marketing account. It’s one of the most effective ways to turn... --- ### Here’s Your Sneak Peek at a New Benchmark Interface > Powerfully simple. Simply powerful. What does that mean? It means having the tools you need to accomplish your goals. It also means those tools are - Published: 2017-12-18 - Modified: 2023-05-02 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/heres-sneak-peek-new-benchmark-interface/ - Categories: Uncategorized Powerfully simple. Simply powerful. What does that mean? It means having the tools you need to accomplish your goals. It also means those tools are intuitive and have a low learning curve so that anyone can use them with ease. We’re about to take a major step forward to address the latter. Powerfully Simple and Simply Powerful Solutions Identifying the areas for improvement was only the first part. Creating solutions that were lean-focused and user-friendly is where the real work came in. We’re confident you’ll be pleased with what we’ve done. Clear and Concise Navigation The first thing you’ll notice in Benchmark Email’s new user interface is a clear and concise navigation. All of your favorite features are now easier to find. At any point, while using our tools, you will have a better understanding of where you’re at and from where you have come. In addition to a better navigation experience, we’ve also made sure the labels on your user account options are more clear as well. Continued Speed Enhancements We don’t need to get into how. What you need to know is that you’re in for a faster experience while creating email campaigns and automations with Benchmark. That means less load time when moving from one feature to another, reports load faster, and you’re free to move on to other important tasks that much quicker. Other Important Changes to Note In addition to these main updates, we’ve made a few other enhancements to the new interface. Improved Email... --- ### What is Marketing Automation? > By now, you must have heard about marketing automation. Some may see it as a buzz-word of the moment, and some others may be taking it very seriously, but - Published: 2017-11-23 - Modified: 2022-10-25 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/what-is-marketing-automation/ - Categories: Marketing Automation By now, you must have heard about marketing automation. Some may see it as a buzz-word of the moment, and some others may be taking it very seriously, but what is it and why does it matter? Marketing Automation refers to a piece of software that allows you to (as its name says) automate sales and marketing actions or processes. The scope of actions can range from: welcoming your new subscribers to even retargeting leads that may have gone cold. How far you go with it will usually depend on the nature of your business, and your creativity. What is true is that Marketing Automation makes repetitive marketing and sales tasks be performed with little effort. A statement that marketers agree with, according to VB insight, Three-quarters of marketers say the biggest benefit of automation is saving time. Other benefits include increased customer engagement (68%), more timely communications (58%) and increased opportunities such as upselling (58%). What can you do with it? I use this phrase more than I’d like to, but: The possibilities are endless. Nurturing your customers helps them be more engaged with your business or product and Offering them what you know is needed to convert them at the right time can be a game changer for your business or product. Actions like turning a one-time customer into a repeat customer, upselling, cross-selling, cycle-based selling, etc. Are strategies that if automated will not only give you more time to focus on getting new leads but always keep... --- ### New Feature: Personalize your Email From Address > You asked for it, you got it: Your CRM Emails sent on behalf of your own email address! Two Options: Highest Authentication or Highest Personalization - Published: 2017-11-15 - Modified: 2022-10-25 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/new-feature-personalize-your-email-from-address/ - Categories: CRM You asked for it, you got it: Your CRM Emails sent on behalf of your own email address! Two Options: Highest Authentication or Highest Personalization Option A: Use Bmarksend. com This default option will format your emails as: your first name + your last name + your company name @bmarksend. com Example: BobSmith. Acme@bmarksend. com this example shows how my own emails from the CRM look with option A Option B: Use your own email address This makes it so that your email’s FROM name will be the email you signed up with. Example: bobsmith@acme. com this example shows how my own emails from the CRM look with option B What option is right for me? There’s no difference in email functionality in the CRM With either option, emails get sent from our system to your contacts/leads, and their replies come right back to the CRM (along with email notifications sent to you as the user). Authentication is higher with option A When you send with option A, we send the email with a From Address using our email server “bmarksend. com. ” This enables us to authenticate your email using SPF, DKIM, DMARC protocols. This gets your email in the inbox with better deliverability rates with less chance of ending up in a spam or promotions box by your contact or lead’s email service provider. Support-oriented teams might choose this as they send less exploratory emails and are answering tickets where the email is already expected by the client.... --- ### New Feature: Google Maps Automatically Completes Your Addresses > We’ve integrated with Google Maps! Now you can enter an address for a contact or lead and Google will prompt probable matches based on your first few - Published: 2017-11-13 - Modified: 2024-10-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/new-feature-google-maps-automatically-completes-your-addresses/ - Categories: CRM We’ve integrated with Google Maps! Now you can enter an address for a contact or lead and Google will prompt probable matches based on your first few characters and location. This saves time This cuts down on address errors All you need to do to start is enter the address on the address line of your contact or lead. Let Google figure out the rest! In the unlikely event that the address you type in isn’t found, you can just ignore the suggestion. But like autocorrect, you’ll soon find you’re reliant on the little extra help. It’s so easy to use, there’s nothing else to explain. Next time you’re creating a lead or contact, see how a little text goes a long way when typing in your addresses. We love little time savers like these. Integrating with Google maps is just one more solution from Benchmark! --- ### New Feature: Upload Files Directly from Google Drive > Are you an avid Google Drive user? Read on for our latest CRM software solution: If you’re like us, you’ve seen the light and moved many of - Published: 2017-11-03 - Modified: 2020-02-27 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/new-feature-upload-files-directly-from-google-drive/ - Categories: CRM Are you an avid Google Drive user? Read on for our latest CRM software solution: If you’re like us, you’ve seen the light and moved many of your company’s documents, files and images to Google Drive. It’s convenient because it’s in the cloud and accessible anywhere. You’ll now be able to upload your Google files by clicking the Google Drive button in the documents tab on any record detail page. Sign in once, and you can grab your google files when you need them and attach them to your appropriate contacts, leads, opportunities, etc. so that you or your other users have the file handy in the CRM. You can grab common file types: . doc, . csv, . xls, . pdf and image files. This integration grabs real files. --- ### What is CRM? > CRM is Customer Relationship Management. CRM software helps you manage your customer relationships by improving your sales and support workflows. The - Published: 2017-11-02 - Modified: 2020-02-27 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/what-is-crm/ - Categories: CRM CRM is Customer Relationship Management. CRM software helps you manage your customer relationships by improving your sales and support workflows. The Benchmark CRM is a powerful cloud-based customer relationship software application that you access from your computer, laptop, or tablet. We strongly believe we are the best CRM software for small business. We’re awesome for small enterprise, too! As long as you have an internet connection, you’ll be able to better relate to your customers because: Each of your customers has a dedicated Contact record where you can: track the important, categorized data in fields add additional ad-hoc information via notes send and receive email with your contacts upload/download documents create and work tasks, events and calls manage support tickets create and close opportunities view opens and clicks from Benchmark Email Marketing campaigns Potential deals are Opportunity records where you can: track the important, categorized data in fields add additional ad-hoc information via notes send and receive email to contacts related to the opportunity upload/download documents create and work tasks, events and calls Support Cases are tracked via Support Ticket Records where you can: track the important, categorized data in fields add additional ad-hoc information via notes send and receive email to contacts and/or users related to the support ticket upload/download documents create and work tasks, events and calls Potential Customers are managed on Lead records track the important, categorized data in fields add additional ad-hoc information via notes send and receive email to help qualify the lead convert those... --- ### How To Use Your Email List To Create Facebook Ads That Deliver > Did you know that the average Click Through Rate (CTR) for Facebook Ads is just 0.9%? What if I said you could increase your Facebook ad CTR to 4% and - Published: 2017-10-16 - Modified: 2024-10-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/use-email-list-create-facebook-ads-deliver/ - Categories: Marketing Did you know that the average Click Through Rate (CTR) for Facebook Ads is just 0. 9%? What if I said you could increase your Facebook ad CTR to 4% and above? Well, that’s exactly what you could do with email list Facebook ad targeting. This isn’t a hoax. If you want to start creating Facebook ads that deliver, you’re going to want to consider changing the way you target your audience. It’s no secret that the key to boosting the relevance score of your Facebook ad lies in your Facebook ad targeting. The more relevant your ad is to your target audience, the higher your relevance score will be, and ultimately, the lower your CPC will be. Just look at Adespresso who cut their CPC by $1. 45 just by targeting a more relevant audience. So what better way to generate a relevant audience for your Facebook ad than by using an email list full of prospects which have already shown interest in your brand? Last year it was revealed that the costs of Facebook ads are increasing by 9% year on year. So there’s no better time to start managing your advertising spend better by utilizing your email list to deliver better Facebook ad targeting. So how can you do this? Generate A Lookalike Audience There are many ways to use email Facebook ad targeting to generate Facebook ads that deliver – but generating a lookalike audience is one of the most effective. When compared to a Facebook... --- ### Customer Feedback Through Email Marketing: How To Do It Right > Everyone in business knows customer feedback is worth its weight in gold. Who better to ask about your latest feature upgrade than the people paying money - Published: 2017-10-09 - Modified: 2024-10-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/customer-feedback-email-marketing-right/ - Categories: Marketing Everyone in business knows customer feedback is worth its weight in gold. Who better to ask about your latest feature upgrade than the people paying money to use it. The concept seems simple at first. Email your existing customers or leads, ask them the right questions and implement the changes that best align everyone’s needs. If only it were that simple. The truth is, no matter how much someone loves your business, they simply just don’t have the time or motivation to complete the typical survey. Doing Surveys the Old Way is Hard Studies indicate the average survey response rate hovers around 10-15%. This seems decent, especially if you have a huge email list. But even then you’re still leaving 85-90% of your list with a bad taste in their mouth... tempting them to hit unsubscribe. I faced this exact problem while setting up the email sequences for a startup I was working for last year. We had a tiny list of about 500 people who had signed up for a free trial to our tool. So I decided to create a survey and ask them a few quick questions regarding their experience. The response rate was terrible. Out of 500 emails sent, only 50 opened the email, of which only four people completed the survey. To add salt to my wounds, it turned out that six people had opted out of the list. Luckily, all hope isn’t lost. By thinking a little outside the box and using the right... --- ### How to Move Your Emails From Gmail's Promotions tab to Primary > Last year, in an attempt to make your email life easier, Gmail introduced the tabbed inbox. Its goal being to make sure you only see important emails in - Published: 2017-09-17 - Modified: 2022-10-25 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-move-your-emails-from-gmails-promotions-tab-to-primary/ - Categories: Email Marketing - Tags: email, marketing, primary, Gmail, htmlメール, promotions, tab Last year, in an attempt to make your email life easier, Gmail introduced the tabbed inbox. Its goal being to make sure you only see important emails in your Primary tab. Not very long after, marketers started complaining about decreased email open rates. Are you one of those worried your email campaigns are not performing as well? Then read on and discover how to successfully land your emails in the primary tab of Gmail’s inbox. There are several methods that have been tested, such as changing header format, using no more than one link or not including images, but none proved to be a a solution. One workaround is to tell your subscribers to do it manually in their Gmail account. How do you do that? It’s possible your email request to do so fails to reach the primary tab as well. Then, the best way out is to educate your customers on how to do this through your blog or through personal engagement. There are three ways to do it manually: Drag & Drop Method This is done by dragging the email from Promotion tab to Primary. It will then ask whether you want to make this change for future messages too. Click on yes to ensure that all message from that email address will make it to your primary tab. Right-Click Method (Control + Click on Mac) The second option is to right-click (Control + click on Mac) on the email you want to move and select the... --- ### The Advantages of Using A Dedicated IP in Email Marketing > In this second article of our deliverability series, we’re going to be looking at the importance of using a Dedicated IP. If you’re not sure what that is, - Published: 2017-06-19 - Modified: 2024-09-13 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/advantages-using-dedicated-ip-email-marketing/ - Categories: Email Marketing - Tags: Email Marketing, deliverability, IPアドレス, サーバー, 共有IP, 専用IP In this second article of our deliverability series, we’re going to be looking at the importance of using a Dedicated IP. If you’re not sure what that is, or if you’re finding that your emails often end up in the spam folder, get comfortable, take note and get ready to put our second installment of expert advice into practice. If you’re running your own business or working in email marketing, you’ll expect that your emails arrive safe and sound in your recipient’s inbox. What you'd least want, of course, is that they end up in the spam folder. To reduce the chances of this happening, one of the things that you can do is use a Dedicated IP. Boosting your chances of avoiding the spam folder is just one of the advantages of using a Dedicated IP in your email marketing. Let’s have a look at a few more. What is a Dedicated IP? Most of you have probably heard of Dedicated IPs but you may not be sure of exactly what they are. Let’s imagine then that an IP address is a road where, instead of having cars, we have lots of people's emails using the road. This would be a Shared IP. A Dedicated IP, on the other hand, is a private road where only the owner’s emails can travel. The advantage is that emails on a Dedicated IP move quicker and remain unaffected by the potential “accidents” of other users along the way. A Dedicated IP is... --- ### 6 Email Subject Line Templates That Will Get Your Emails Opened > Back in 1963, David Ogilvy reminded his profession that ‘on the average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have - Published: 2017-05-31 - Modified: 2025-02-12 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/6-email-subject-line-templates-will-get-emails-opened/ - Categories: Uncategorized Back in 1963, David Ogilvy reminded his profession that ‘on the average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have written your headline, you have spent eighty cents out of your dollar. ’ Email open rates average 18. 2% for ad agencies, rising to 27. 3% for car and transport businesses. So it looks like Ogilvy is still reliable. Your subject line, like his headline, is 80 cents of your email dollar. And it counts: 47% of readers open emails based on subject line alone. 70% will dismiss you as spam on the same basis. It’s the biggest variable you can control. Great subject lines can impact your deliverability and your open rate, and open rates count because they’re the first step to conversions. Of the people who don’t open your email, 100% don’t convert. Upping open rates has a dramatic effect on ROI. Want to see what it could do for yours? Check out the email ROI calculator. Our subject lines have to make it through spam filters, and they have to engage readers and ‘sell’ them the rest of the email. Here are six email subject line templates that will do both. 1: The Reason Why Why nobody is actually reading your content – and what you can do about it Inbound. org ‘Reason Why’ subject lines combine two powerful effects: curiosity and self-interest. They convince readers that they should do something, and offer compelling reasons. (Bonus points for numbering... --- ### Your Questions Answered: List Uploads & List Verification > Your list is your most valuable asset in email marketing. Having a good quality list plays a huge role in the success of your campaigns and your - Published: 2017-05-02 - Modified: 2024-10-03 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/questions-answered-list-uploads-list-verification/ - Categories: Uncategorized Your list is your most valuable asset in email marketing. Having a good quality list plays a huge role in the success of your campaigns and your deliverability, and you should make sure that you do everything you can to send only to valid email addresses. To help you understand the quality of your list before you send a campaign and make sure you don’t damage your reputation in the meantime, we run checks on every single list uploaded to our platform. What does this mean for you? Read on to find out. What are the benefits of list verification? Lower bounce rates. If you send to an invalid email address, it will bounce. The more bounces you have, the lower your sender reputation will fall, and a low sender reputation has a very negative impact on whether or not your emails go through to the inbox. You might not have considered how important your bounce rate is but ISPs, anti-spam groups and corporate email protection services all set thresholds for bounces, spam complaints and unsubscribe requests and they use this info to prioritise emails in the inbox. Additionally, if you get too many bounces, your ESP may suspend your account. Better sender reputation. It might help if you think of your sender reputation a bit like a credit score. If the results of a campaign aren’t very positive, then this will leave a negative mark on your sender history. Also, just like a credit history, once your reputation drops,... --- ### Benchmark is Proudly TRUSTe Certified > There are certain emails you receive that make your day. This was one of them: Congratulations! After a thorough assessment against TRUSTe’s Certification - Published: 2017-03-08 - Modified: 2024-10-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/benchmark-proudly-truste-certified/ - Categories: Uncategorized There are certain emails you receive that make your day. This was one of them: Congratulations! After a thorough assessment against TRUSTe’s Certification Standards, TRUSTe has certified the privacy practices and statement for Benchmark Internet Group. This is not an effort we took lightly, and we are thrilled to see those words on the page. What is TRUSTe? For those that don’t know, TRUSTe is a service that aids businesses in adhering to the best practices in regards to privacy and the collection and use of personal information. The protection of your data is paramount to us. That’s why we will proudly boast our TRUSTe certification at every opportunity. During the process, TRUSTe reviewed our Privacy Policy as well as our data collection practices. --- ### Year in Review: Most Important Email Marketing Developments in 2016 > This year has been a major year for email marketers. It’s been a year that’s seen email marketing platforms both grow and simply at the same time. On the - Published: 2016-12-19 - Modified: 2022-10-25 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/year-review-important-email-marketing-developments-2016/ - Categories: Email Marketing This year has been a major year for email marketers. It’s been a year that’s seen email marketing platforms both grow and simply at the same time. On the one hand, we have more dynamic ways to be marketers, and at the same time, we don’t need as many cooks in the kitchen to create something that will be impactful and impressive. We’ve already told you about the Gmail CSS update that will make your email campaigns more interactive. Here are two more changes that have changed the email marketing landscape. It’s also the two things you can work on this month to kick off 2017 in full force. Development #1: Forget “Dear Everyone” Why It’s Important: Several times through the years we’ve suggested ditching the mass emails once in a while and favor personalization. In fact, last year I talked about the benefit of targeted email lists, offering four key steps to get through this process. And years prior, I recommended creating a customer profile to help with what later lead to segmentation. Yet some marketers are now suggesting to completely ditch the mass email campaigns for no other reason than that it does not capture the heart-led business focused on the individual. There’s now a new term for this: hyper-personalization. On the need for personalization, Business 2 Community’s Keval Padia writes, “Email recipients are now interested in messages that are addressed to personal taste, preference and focus areas rather than just their first name. ” The reason being... --- ### How Often Should I Revise My Email Marketing Strategy? > Many businesses check their marketing efforts monthly, quarterly, bi-annually or even annually. This is a normal practice, and you may even have meetings - Published: 2016-11-23 - Modified: 2022-10-25 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/often-revise-email-marketing-strategy/ - Categories: Email Marketing Many businesses check their marketing efforts monthly, quarterly, bi-annually or even annually. This is a normal practice, and you may even have meetings scheduled around these time frames, but there are many other scenarios that could push you to revise your email marketing strategies. Below, I will point out a few reasons as to why and when you may want to check up on email marketing. The Season Calls For It If you are a retail store or your business is affected by holidays or seasons, it is important to check your marketing efforts around these dates. I suggest making opening and closing dates for each season. These dates mark the start and finish of each marketing cycle. During a cycle, your marketing is executing on all cylinders. Rarely should you change things within these dates. The idea is to create a plan, execute it and then review the results to make improvements. If you try to make changes while your plan is being executed, it could be difficult to pinpoint what made your plan actually work. Be patient and try to create plans you can execute from start to finish. If you are new to email marketing, start with small campaigns of just 1 – 2 emails and then branch out to more as you get the hang of it. When planning out a season, I suggest planning at least 1 – 3 months before it starts (Depending on the size of your company and people involved) larger companies... --- ### Introducing Pop Up Signup Forms > Timing is everything. To grow your email list and see your subscriber base increase, you need to connect with potential subscribers at the time that they - Published: 2016-11-21 - Modified: 2023-04-24 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/introducing-pop-signup-forms/ - Categories: Uncategorized Timing is everything. To grow your email list and see your subscriber base increase, you need to connect with potential subscribers at the time that they would be most likely to sign up. Enter popup signup forms. With the popup signup form, you can call to attention your signup by having it pop up at the exact right moment. The uses for this feature are numerous. Say you’ve brought a potential customer to your website via a PPC ad or a Facebook ad. Let them take in your homepage, then greet them with a pop up signup form offering a discount on their first purchase. Complete that marketing funnel! Perhaps you’ve got a blog and would love for people to subscribe to keep them coming back. You can have a signup form pop up once a reader has scrolled through a certain percentage of your blog. That way they’re already hooked and excited to subscribe. Here’s the various things you can do to achieve the right timing/placement: Be careful when you place a popup signup form on a landing page or homepage. New visitors won’t have had the chance to take a look at your website so there is not a lot enticing them to give up their email address ... unless you did a good enough job with luring them there in the first place or craft masterful copy for that signup form. Have popup forms trigger further down a blog post or your eCommerce store so the viewer... --- ### Two Powerful Ways To Use Keywords & Hashtags In Your Email Marketing > We’re all about keywords … until it comes to email marketing. Yet, did you know that keywords and hashtags are just as powerful in your email - Published: 2016-09-09 - Modified: 2022-10-25 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/two-powerful-ways-use-keywords-hashtags-email-marketing/ - Categories: Email Marketing We’re all about keywords ... until it comes to email marketing. Yet, did you know that keywords and hashtags are just as powerful in your email campaign as they are in your website content and social posts? Now, this really only works if you’re posting your email campaigns to your website. Yet, even if you aren’t, you’re not sure if someone else plans to. The same approach here is to think online. Imagine every single email campaign is going to hit the web even if you’re not putting it up there yourself. I know I’ve pulled passages from email campaigns and quoted them in articles or shared them socially, giving credit back to the source. A keyword or a hashtag will spread your message and keep its longevity beyond just the “send” button. Here’s how you do it: Keywords in Subject Lines Even though the subject line may never hit the web, people use their email platform’s search tool the same way they’d use a Google search. This is even more important if your readers have a Gmail. Most email marketing campaigns will fall into the black hole that is the “promotions” tab. Most of us don’t even look at that tab or bother filtering through it – unless we’re looking for something specific, in which case we just do a search. So if your email campaign has keywords, hashtags and even phrases that help make it more identifiable in a search, it goes a long way in helping make... --- ### How Do I Make Sure My Emails Are Mobile Friendly? > How many of you start the day by waking up and then instantly start reaching for your phone (by reaching I mean if it’s not already under your pillow)? I - Published: 2016-08-19 - Modified: 2023-04-24 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/make-sure-emails-mobile-friendly/ - Categories: Email Marketing - Tags: Email Marketing, Mobile How many of you start the day by waking up and then instantly start reaching for your phone (by reaching I mean if it’s not already under your pillow)? I know I do. Certainly the fact that our smartphones are such a huge part of our lives explains the data that shows that 56% of the email opens come from mobile devices according to Litmus. So yes, mobile opens are at an impressive 56% overall, with webmail taking 2nd place (22%) and desktop placing 3rd (17%). If you’re already thinking of ways to make your email be spotlight ready and most importantly results ready for mobile, here’s some advice you should follow. Before we start, I’d like to add a note here, as with everything: Data should be your ultimate decision-making aid before you go all out with these awesome improvements. You should check your email reports to study your subscribers and learn which device they are using the most to open your emails. Now let’s get started! Look Great Everywhere, Always Responsive design is such a trending topic and rightfully so. In short, what a responsive design does is display your content properly no matter how someone views it or the device that’s used to access it. Benchmark Email offers an Email Designer that automatically makes your emails responsive for you, so you don’t have to worry about more complex approaches like fluid or scalable design (apologies if that comes off as sales-y but I had to mention we’ve... --- ### How Do I Know If I'm Sending Too Many Emails? > The answer to this question is a matter of actions speaking louder than words, but you may get some subscribers that tell you to, “stop sending so many - Published: 2016-08-15 - Modified: 2023-04-24 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/know-im-sending-many-emails/ - Categories: Email Marketing - Tags: Email Marketing, Send Frequency The answer to this question is a matter of actions speaking louder than words, but you may get some subscribers that tell you to, “stop sending so many emails! ” It makes it easier when they say that, but it won’t happen often. The far more likely scenario is that unhappy contacts in your list will hit the unsubscribe button and you’ll never hear from them again. So how do you know? A subscriber opting out of your email campaigns is not solely an indicator that you’re sending too often. Perhaps the content no longer resonates with them. Maybe they’re just trying to receive fewer emails. Or, if you haven’t been sending frequently enough, they may have forgotten they subscribed with you in the first place. Finding out how often you can send, and if it’s becoming too often, is a matter of trial and error. Test your sending frequency. As you increase the frequency of sending, eventually you’ll see an uptick in unsubscribes. That’s your subscribers speaking to you through their actions. Pay attention, and eventually, you’ll find the frequency sweet spot. That’s not the end of the story, though. Some subscribers may not mind hearing from you more often. However, once you start increasing the frequency and subscribers start heading for the exit, it’s possible to catch them on their way out the proverbial door. With the use of a preference center, those that were about to opt-out may decide that once per month is an acceptable amount... --- ### Benchmark Email Shopify Integration > Taking your business from in-store to online can be a very daunting experience. Not only is there a whole new system to learn – HTML, design, coding, etc. - Published: 2015-04-07 - Modified: 2024-10-18 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/benchmark-email-shopify-integration/ - Categories: Ecommerce - Tags: Benchmark, email, marketing, integration, integración, shopify Taking your business from in-store to online can be a very daunting experience. Not only is there a whole new system to learn – HTML, design, coding, etc. , but it takes forever and a day to set up yourself ... or a ton of money to pay an expert to do it for you. Would it be great if there was already a system that is made, and all you got to do is fill in the blanks and BAM, it will all be done? Then Shopify is your e-commerce fairy godmother. With a wave of a wand, or couple clicks of a button, you can build the shopping site of your dreams. Shopify has everything already built for you. Anyone can do it, and it just takes a few minutes! You can simply name your store, upload your products, and select a customizable design template. Shopify even offers a wide selection of add-ons to increase the functionality of your website, including, a live chat customer service, allowing customers to submit product reviews, social media buttons to increase marketing efforts, tracking reports, tools for payment processing, and more. Basically 90% of the work is already done for you with some added bonuses! With all the road already paved for you, all you need to worry about is adding your own flair to the site and making it all your own. It has to look appealing, be easy to use, and leave a lasting impression in order of customers to... --- ### The 10 Commandments of Email > Despite how much has changed in the last 20 years in how we communicate and gather information, one thing still stands strong: email. Today, we’re sending - Published: 2014-10-06 - Modified: 2024-10-03 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-10-commandments-of-email/ - Categories: Email Marketing Despite how much has changed in the last 20 years in how we communicate and gather information, one thing still stands strong: email. Today, we’re sending over 100 BILLION emails per day. It’s still considered the “go-to” form of business communication. And oddly enough, while we were, for the most part, all trained to use a keyboard in typing classes, no one has stopped considering whether we should be trained to use other technology-driven platforms like email and social media. Now, if you consider email the dominant means of communication in business, shouldn’t it warrant some set standard of practice? Recently, I’ve encountered so many email blunders—whether it's about knowing how to communicate via email, fine-tuning how you come across emails, or even people confusing how their business should use email. There have been so many moments lately that I feel we need a brush-up on basic email skills... or, as I like to call it, the 10 Commandments of Email. 1. Though Shalt Not Think Less of Email – Email is critical in a fast-paced, driven economy, and here’s why. First, mobile technology has made it possible to always be “on the go. ” That, in turn, means that people are not always available to answer your call – which brings us to our second point. Because we’re such a flexible workforce, we’re now taking on two, sometimes three different things simultaneously. People usually juggle two jobs and multiple projects or divide their time between work and other professional... --- ### 4 Things You Didn’t Know About Community Managers > Community managers are the gatekeepers of your social accounts. If this sounds vague to you, you’re not the only one. In fact, the role of a community - Published: 2014-09-25 - Modified: 2024-10-03 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/4-things-you-didnt-know-about-community-managers/ - Categories: Social Media Community managers are the gatekeepers of your social accounts. If this sounds vague to you, you’re not the only one. In fact, the role of a community manager is the most misunderstood position in any marketing department... until now. Read on to discover four curated facts about community managers that might make you see them as more than just professional chatterers. 1. They’re the Face of Brands Seen as the face of a brand, community managers are responsible for interacting with audiences and communities online and drumming up buzz for their company or brand. Their job description usually includes the following: Effectively communicating the brand message to online communities Excellent writing skills Content Creator Content curator Audience segment analyzer Managing several platforms Data/metrics/analytics scientist (or at least data/metrics/analytics collector) Cheerleader (aka getting engagement, interaction, sparking conversation, and lobbying for brand loyalty) The ability to find and use, tools conducive to their strategy Culture creator Source: Steamfeed 2. They’re Intelligence Analysts A community manager’s job is more than finding out what’s going on with your brand. It’s their job also to know what’s going on with other brands, trends, and how people interact with them. This includes the following: Sign up for events: There are plenty of social media-related conferences and events for you to choose from—no matter where you live. Search for local seminars in your area where you can learn more about community management best practices from others in the field. If you can't personally attend, find the hashtags... --- ### 5 Alternative Training and Development Ideas > Classic training and development horror stories recall experiences very similar to scenarios pulled from TV’s The Office. Purgatory redefined, the idea of - Published: 2014-08-13 - Modified: 2024-10-03 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/5-alternative-training-and-development-ideas/ - Categories: Small Business Classic training and development horror stories recall experiences very similar to scenarios pulled from TV’s The Office. Purgatory redefined, the idea of sitting in a circle with an over paid facilitator seems like (a) a waste of time and money and (b) a completely unimaginative way to get the job done. If training and development is your goal, then shouldn’t your means to that end be infused with a little more creativity and imagination? After all, you cannot ask employs to better themselves if you’re doing very little to raise the bar yourself. Here are ten ways to do it better. 1. Shadowing I recently worked with a team of professionals on a specific project. Some of these professionals were better than others. Meanwhile, a conversation with one team member disclosed how she wanted to improve her training and experience. I advised she shadow who I thought was the best among them. Unfortunately for her, the company didn’t really facilitate this sort of training – even if she offered to shadow voluntarily and without compensation. In a shadowing opportunity, one or two team members will follow and observe another team member without distraction or interference. The ‘shadows’ have a chance to interact as requested and engage in dialogue with the more trained professional in order to learn from their experience and skills. Shadowing is a method great method to use to get lesser team members exposed to training and development opportunities through a secure channel and at a comfortable pace.... --- ### Pop Culture Marketing: 5-Steps to Success for Companies Great and Small > If asked a decade ago to comment on the potential for pop culture to increase sales and visibility in a marketing strategy, three things would have come - Published: 2014-07-23 - Modified: 2023-01-18 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/pop-culture-marketing-5-steps-to-success-for-companies-great-and-small/ - Categories: Marketing If asked a decade ago to comment on the potential for pop culture to increase sales and visibility in a marketing strategy, three things would have come to mind: mass media, big brands and big budgets. Since the mid 20th century, there are countless examples of pop culture marketing success stories involving product placement, endorsements and capitalization of brands with societal trends, sport, art and celebrities. Pop culture is simply defined as “Commercial culture based on popular taste. ”* To illustrate this phenomena - a well placed Apple Mac in a thrilling moment in the latest Hollywood blockbuster, a pop star taking a swig of Coke during a live concert with screaming fans, tennis stars wearing Nike at Wimbledon, or even the latest Barbie doll reflecting the latest in fashion for young girls around the globe. Is Pop Culture All About Big Brands? Not anymore - nowadays, things have transformed. Pop culture marketing still encompasses all things big, however there are now unique opportunities for smaller players, on smaller budgets. In a converged and globalized media environment, integration into a marketing strategy can be affordable and achievable to small business - with potential for mass influence and engagement. Many marketers now view social media and digital marketing as forms of popular culture in their own right. Opportunities to News Jack or News Lead Due to technological ingenuity, pop culture now forms the omnipresent chicken and egg syndrome: lead or follow? The speed at which pop culture is embraced, consumed and... --- ### Unroll.me: A Flawed, Misleading Unsubscribe Service > Have you ever glanced at a friend or family member’s phone or computer and been shocked at the number of unread emails in their inbox? I may be far too - Published: 2014-01-23 - Modified: 2023-05-02 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/unroll-flawed-misleading-unsubscribe-service/ - Categories: Marketing - Tags: Email Marketing Have you ever glanced at a friend or family member’s phone or computer and been shocked at the number of unread emails in their inbox? I may be far too neurotic not to zero-out my push notifications in my inbox, but I know I’m in the minority. Most people receive so much email on a daily basis that they can’t even keep up. Sound familiar? According to a report from the Radicati Group, the number of business emails sent and received per person in a day totals 122 emails in 2015. This figure is expected to increase to an average of 126 messages sent and received per person in a day by the end of 2019. Set Them Free Should an email marketer fear the unsubscribe? Sure, in an ideal world every individual that subscribes to your email campaigns would want to read them for the rest of time. However, you don’t want to send to people who don’t want to hear from you. In that instance, those who unsubscribe save you the time of removing them from your list once they go inactive. Unsubscribes can save you from low Open Rates and Abuse complaints. Is Unroll. me the Solution? It is one of the most perplexing paradoxes to face any marketer in any industry through any channel in the world. Every day any brand marketer is confronted with customers who have voluntarily subscribed to their email campaigns but now want out for any variety of reasons. While some unsubscribe... --- ### The State of Email Marketing in 2023 > The third year of the Justin Timberlake Administration was far less stormy than the first two when the new musician turned President had ordered the - Published: 2013-11-11 - Modified: 2023-02-22 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-state-of-email-marketing-in-2023/ - Categories: Email Marketing The third year of the Justin Timberlake Administration was far less stormy than the first two when the new musician turned President had ordered the crossing of the Jordan River by allied US/Russian troops. The media coverage of the debacle that followed crossed another watershed: The number of times that Cry Me A River could be played in reference to the invasion. Regardless of his profoundly botched foreign policy, Pres. Timberlake proved to be a savvy manager of the economy through the shrewd interventions of Secretary of the Treasury Sean (Diddy) Combs and the United States of North America was experiencing its first strong economic upturn since the 2008 recession fifteen years earlier. In the newly buoyant economic climate brand marketers were experiencing a Renaissance of their own, branching off into advanced technological outreach avenues which were no longer truly recognizable as “email marketing. ” A fully realistic shopping trip without leaving home The advent of the “virtual shopping interface” in 2017 had blurred the division between brick & mortar shopping and its online cousin to the point where it required a very slight suspension of disbelief for the customer to engage in an extensive and fully realistic shopping trip without leaving the comfort of their homes. Using three holographic projectors affixed to the ceiling of their living room, the customer could stroll on a specially designed treadmill down literally endless aisles of any type of store they desired, picking up and examining any product they wished. A quick toss... --- ### The Top 7 Tips To Fight The Shorter Holiday Selling Season > Not since 2008 has Cyber Monday fallen into December, and in 2013 it occurs a mere 23 days prior to Christmas versus the more expansive 29 days last year. - Published: 2013-10-29 - Modified: 2023-02-22 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-top-7-tips-to-fight-the-shorter-holiday-selling-season/ - Categories: Sales Not since 2008 has Cyber Monday fallen into December, and in 2013 it occurs a mere 23 days prior to Christmas versus the more expansive 29 days last year. Those six lost days actually represent over 20% of that selling season which has vanished into the crisp holiday season air and marketers simply have to work harder in order to keep their critical year-end sales from taking a dive as compared to last year. Expand to a Cyber Week The answer seems to be found in the ever increasing adoption of Cyber Week to drastically extend the Black Friday to Cyber Monday cycle. By focusing on an entire week to propel your technology sales, you face the prospect of being able to expand your sales in this critical period. A longer campaign won’t necessarily translate to automatically greater sales as you’ll have to take a good long hard look at your entire Cyber Week marketing strategy to ensure that it is as efficient as you can make it. Check off the 7 key boxes Your Cyber Week campaign will stand a greater chance of success if it checks off all these top seven key boxes: Bundle ‘em up. Not only do bundles provide “turn-key gifts” but the discounts on each individual item can be totaled up to impress the customer with an even greater total amount of savings than if they were to shop for the items individually. Don’t stop at free shipping. Cyber Week shoppers are taking the concept... --- ### Infographics Structure: The Martini Glass > Clients ask me for data visualizations or infographics when they want a mixture of the two, which online newspapers call interactive graphics. Data - Published: 2013-10-24 - Modified: 2025-05-13 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/infographics-structure-the-martini-glass/ - Categories: Marketing Clients ask me for data visualizations or infographics when they want a mixture of the two, which online newspapers call interactive graphics. Data visualizations are reader-driven, where the interface allows viewers to drill into the data to find stories using their insights. This can be very subjective, and each reader may interpret the data in several ways, resulting in viewers finding different stories or none at all. Metaphorically, data visualizations are like holidays where readers go sightseeing in the data; just like when on holiday, you’re bound to discover hidden gems like local restaurants not in the guidebook. This is a plus point of data visualizations. They are good for people with time on their hands. Infographics are author-driven, usually annotating interesting parts of a dataset. Returning to the holiday metaphor, infographics would be a guided tour of your destination. Journalists usually prefer to avoid producing infographics because they are factually driven, and most journalists want to be columnists with an emphasis on their opinions. What clients usually want: a mixture of reader and author driven content commonly achieved using a structuring approach known as the martini glass. It's called a martini glass because the stages at which the reader is exposed to the data are reminiscent of the shape of a martini glass from bottom to top. Beginning: The bottom base of a martini glass has a large circumference. The interactive graphic mimics this base by showing an overview of the data. Middle: The martini glass has a narrow... --- ### Finding Creative Inspiration For Your Email Designs > Now that we have a couple of decades of email marketing history to draw from, it could seem that every possible design concept that has is possible to - Published: 2013-09-13 - Modified: 2023-02-22 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/finding-creative-inspiration-for-your-email-designs/ - Categories: Email Marketing Now that we have a couple of decades of email marketing history to draw from, it could seem that every possible design concept that has is possible to place on a two dimensional email format has been already been applied by a plethora of businesses. However you don’t have to resign yourself to just recycling the same old designs and layouts if you use these tips to find truly creative inspiration! Check old magazines. Magazine design in the 50s, 60s and 70s was very experimental and many publications created layouts that were never duplicated again. Some of these designs rightfully fell out of favor as they were uglier than sin, but some were innovative and flashy enough to stand the test of time. You can’t just get to see these pages online as most of the magazines which were designed in the boldest manner are not the ones whose back issues are usually available on the internet, but the more marginal ones. Some of the best and most inspiring designs will be found in magazines that deal in popular cultural issues such as music, movies, and television rather than news or trade topics. You’ll have no choice but to actually go to a library (you know... that big stately old building in the middle of your town that you haven’t been in since you were a kid) and go through the dusty old stacks or even reel through miles of microfilm. The treasures you will unearth will be more than... --- ### New Feature: Inbox Checker > Emails are being opened and read on more devices than ever before. That shouldn’t be news to you. It’s been one of the top headlines in regards to email - Published: 2013-09-10 - Modified: 2023-03-14 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/new-feature-inbox-checker/ - Categories: Uncategorized Emails are being opened and read on more devices than ever before. That shouldn’t be news to you. It’s been one of the top headlines in regards to email marketing for the past few years. That means your email could look differently to your various subscribers, depending on which device they’re viewing your email. In the past, this could create issues for some. For others, it meant tedious testing and time spent test viewing your email campaigns across as many devices possible. Well, now it’s an issue of the past! That’s right. Benchmark is proud to introduce our brand new Inbox Checker. It’s a tool that will check your email campaigns across multiple devices for you. It’s super simple to use. Gone are the days of burdening everyone in your office with a different device with test emails. Email Dashboard - Using The Inbox Checker Tool wistiaEmbed = Wistia. embed("hg3dfspqzh"); The Inbox Checker is a paid add-on service. It is $14. 00 for 100 tests and is not a recurring payment. You’ll have to re-up for another 100 tests once you’ve used up the batch you purchased. While it is an additional service, our industry low price points still let you do big marketing on a modest budget. However, you can test on Gmail (Explorer) and Outlook 2003 ... totally free! Those two are included with every Benchmark account. Please note, this is a different feature than both our Inbox Preview and Spam Test in the editor. The Inbox Preview... --- ### The Best Leadership Quotes Of All Time > World history has been marked with many great leaders, and we can learn their leadership secrets through their quotes. "Leadership and learning are - Published: 2013-06-26 - Modified: 2023-03-21 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-best-leadership-quotes-of-all-time/ - Categories: Small Business World history has been marked with many great leaders, and we can learn their leadership secrets through their quotes. "Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other. " - John F. Kennedy A leader has to be committed to lifelong learning and must acknowledge that there will never be a time when they are able to confidently state that they know it all. Even the greatest leaders need mentors and teachers so that their knowledge can grow into wisdom. "If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader. " - John Quincy Adams A fundamental evaluation of a great leader is in what they can inspire others to achieve. If you are focused on your own goals and aspirations you can never lead, only excel in egotism. "As for the best leaders, the people do not notice their existence. " – Lao Tzu A great leader is not a self-promoting narcissist but one dedicated to serving the stakeholders and clientele to the utmost of their ability. Ego inevitably gets in the way of leadership thus transforming the impression that your followers are being directed by a dedicated peer into one where they believe they are being driven by a petty dictator. "Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things. " - Peter F. Drucker In every leader’s career there are innumerable situations where doing the right thing is essentially at odds with the tangible interests of the... --- ### Yapmo Explains Social Enterprise vs. Social Media > Big business and small business have one thing in common: They’re not sure where to draw the line with social media in the workplace. Some companies - Published: 2013-01-16 - Modified: 2023-04-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/yapmo-explains-social-enterprise-vs-social-media/ - Categories: Social Media Big business and small business have one thing in common: They’re not sure where to draw the line with social media in the workplace. Some companies prefer to keep social media out of a professional business environment, while others think integrating modern tools within a corporate social framework benefits their business. By pulling from the best of social media and filling the gaps where needed, Yapmo provides business-friendly corporate social networking. Instead of inundating activity streams, they offer focused discussion threads. Instead of generic outreach to all “followers,” Yapmo lets you reach out to your specific group of followers in need of what you have to offer – or who may have what you need. Social media is great, but for business to get it right there really needs to be a social media designed just for business. This is what Yapmo offers with enterprise social network software. Instead of being impeded by useless updates and distracting chatter, employees can get in, get what you need and move on. Whether or not you use Yapmo, there’s one defining move that cannot be ignored – and that’s the line in the sand between social enterprise and social media. The Evolving Need for Enterprise-Class Private Social Networks Social’s getting complicated, or so it would seem. First there was social media, then the social web. Now businesses are venturing in by applying a social media-inspired network to their enterprises, which leads to another facet: business social enterprise. Social media is based on a... --- ### Kapost Sets the Benchmark for Content Marketing Software > What started out as a service for large media companies looking to manage their content workflow, has now been turned into a portal to help business do - Published: 2012-08-16 - Modified: 2023-05-01 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/kapost-sets-the-benchmark-for-content-marketing-software/ - Categories: Content Marketing What started out as a service for large media companies looking to manage their content workflow, has now been turned into a portal to help business do the same. Kapost has clearly proven itself through vetted services in helping media outlets pitch, assign, edit and manage payment for content contributors. So why not let them help you do the same? There are lot of content marketing tools and software – and a lot of them are quite good too. Whether you use tool “A” or tool “B” will depend a lot on your budget and needs. Though chances are that you’ll be using more than just one and often finding that you need to scale between a few depending on growth and content performance. Even if you decide against going with a platform right now, you need to understand how serious content marketing works through all stages of content lifecycles. And the best way to learn how is to watch the pros in action. Kapost manages the content cycle from content strategy to publishing. They help you harness ideas, organize writers, manage your content and editorial calendar, distribute content across various channels and promote content to generate links. Business owners that haven’t been convinced of content marketing are usually the types that base activity on return. They only want to partake in productivity channels that offer some calculated promise of ROI. That said, they don’t understand how content marketing and publishing can help them reach that end goal. But Kapost... --- ### Benchmark Email Joins Zendesk's Elite List of Integrations > Press Room From press releases to company announcements, you'll find it all here. Summary: Benchmark Email Joins Zendesk's Elite List of Integrations - Published: 2012-08-13 - Modified: 2020-01-20 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/pressroomnews13august12-2/ - Categories: Uncategorized Press Room From press releases to company announcements, you'll find it all here. Summary: Benchmark Email Joins Zendesk's Elite List of Integrations Benchmark Email Joins Zendesk's Elite List of Integrations The global email marketing service joins the popular help desk company's list of integration partners, which includes Salesforce, Facebook, and more. Los Alamitos, CA, August 13, 2012 -- Benchmark Email, a global email marketing company with Web-based, affordable service in eight languages, has joined an elite set of integration partners of help desk service Zendesk. The Benchmark Email integration, which allows email marketing customers pull their contacts from their Zendesk accounts, puts it in rare company with other Zendesk integration partners including Microsoft, WordPress and Google. "We are always excited when a new integration is created, but this one is really special because we're not only fans of Zendesk, we're users," says Paul Rijnders, Product Manager for Benchmark Email. "We have a good relationship with Zendesk, and we believe this integration (https://www-new. benchmarkemail. wpengine. com/resources/zendesk-integration), which lets our customers import their Zendesk contacts into their email marketing accounts, will make it that much stronger. " Zendesk is the latest integration created by Benchmark Email, which includes Zoho. com, Highrise CRM, Flickr and more (https://www-new. benchmarkemail. wpengine. com/resources/plugins). Using the integrations, Benchmark Email's customers can pull email addresses, data, and more from their accounts with other services. At Benchmark Email (https://www-new. benchmarkemail. wpengine. com) clients get access to a full suite of online tools for managing contact lists, building email newsletters... --- ### Benchmark Email CEO Featured in Entrepreneur Journeys Series > Press Room From press releases to company announcements, you'll find it all here. Summary: Benchmark Email CEO Featured in Entrepreneur Journeys Series - Published: 2012-06-27 - Modified: 2020-01-20 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/pressroomnews27june12/ - Categories: Uncategorized Press Room From press releases to company announcements, you'll find it all here. Summary: Benchmark Email CEO Featured in Entrepreneur Journeys Series Benchmark Email CEO Featured in Entrepreneur Journeys Series Curt Keller talks SEO, growing a business and more for Sramana Mitra's popular Web and books series on entrepreneur success. Los Alamitos, CA, June 27, 2012 -- Curt Keller, CEO of a major, global email marketing service, was recently interviewed for a well-known book series that digs deep into what it takes to run a successful business. Sramana Mitra, founder of the series, talked SEO, bootstrapping and more with Keller in an interview featured online, as well as in the popular Entrepreneur Journeys book series. "After building Benchmark Email from a small startup to a global company in less than 10 years, I'm extremely happy to pass along what I've learned to other entrepreneurs," says Keller. "With this Entrepreneur Journeys interview (part one can be seen at http://www. sramanamitra. com/2012/06/28/an-seo-driven-bootstrapping-success-benchmark-email-ceo-curt-keller-part-1/#more-57272), Sramana and I were able to discuss the highs and lows of running a business, and I hope readers can benefit from my experiences in growing a leading company. " Keller is CEO of Benchmark Email, a do-it-yourself email marketing company offering Web-based service in seven languages, while Entrepreneur Journeys is the brainchild of Sramana Mitra, a Silicon Valley-based entrepreneur and consultant who has founded three companies. Keller is a prolific blogger that has been featured in Entrepreneur Magazine, Allbusiness. com and other top-notch outlets. Benchmark Email offers paid plans... --- ### 9 Trends in Project Management Software > Do you know what the new top competition to airline companies such as American Airlines, British Airways or Singapore Airlines is? - Published: 2012-06-20 - Modified: 2024-10-30 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/9-trends-in-project-management-software/ - Categories: Marketing - Tags: Project Management Software Do you know what the new top competition to airline companies such as American Airlines, British Airways or Singapore Airlines is? If your guess is some other airline company – think again. These companies are facing considerable competition from collaboration software like WebEx, GoToMeeting, Skype and so on. New technology has forever changed business conditions. They’ve enabled executives to opt into cost-effective collaboration tools rather than spending the time and money to physically shift human resources from one place to another in order to execute business transactions. In short, the business dynamics are changing. As estimated by Forrester research, the market for project and portfolio management software has grown over $2. 8 billion in 2011. But to really observe the changing dynamics in this space, you have to start by looking at the top trends observed in project management software and also check membership management software. 1. New Collaboration Demands Companies are realizing the importance of collaboration. It extends beyond the core team to include your partners, vendors, customers, and in each instance, as your network grows, both parties can see the benefits. The project management tools that enable collaboration are gaining vital importance. 2. Expanded Project Management Roles If you are a seasoned project manager, you will certainly realize this difference. Gone are the days when project management software was the exclusive territory of project managers. The new generation of project management tools are designed for team usage, and you get much better results when your entire team actively... --- ### Understanding YouTube’s New Analytics and Ad Features > While most other social networks have been fast evolving over the last year, while others have been sprouting like mushrooms, there was one network that - Published: 2012-06-04 - Modified: 2023-05-02 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/understanding-youtubes-new-analytics-and-ad-features/ - Categories: Social Media While most other social networks have been fast evolving over the last year, while others have been sprouting like mushrooms, there was one network that remained constant. YouTube seemed unbending to the tidal wave of tweaks and changes all platforms were witnessing, leading us to think that it was either limited in adaptability or perhaps dead. Neither are true, as YouTube recently unveiled its new analytics feature. And we shouldn’t be surprised. Since the platform is owned by search engine giant Google, it should come as no surprise that its subsidiary should also host the analytics that its parent company demands of themselves. YouTube’s new analytics feature is founded upon adwords for videos. Designed for small to mid sized businesses, Google has created a self serve option for advertisers to get on board. It works much like the way Google Adwords do, but for video. To start with, you should know that there are four types of ads: In-stream – Ads play like a TV-style ad before, during or after another video from a YouTube partner In-search – Ad appears in a special promoted section of the video search results pages on YouTube and Google video results In-slate – Ads show before YouTube partner videos that are 10 minutes or longer In-display – Ads appear alongside other YouTube videos, or on websites on the Google Display Network that match your target audience Advertisers can bid on categories and keywords for the 3 billion YouTube videos that get viewed daily. Another... --- ### Pros and Cons of Affiliate Marketing > Used by many merchants as an online marketing strategy and by website and blog owners as a means of “semi-passive” income generation, affiliate marketing - Published: 2012-05-21 - Modified: 2024-10-03 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/pros-and-cons-of-affiliate-marketing/ - Categories: Marketing Used by many merchants as an online marketing strategy and by website and blog owners as a means of “semi-passive” income generation, affiliate marketing is one of the best ways both ends can earn money online. It is basically a partnership between a merchant and an affiliate, where the affiliate’s aim is to promote the merchant’s product or service by placing ads or links through his or her website. The merchant, in turn, pays commission to the affiliate for promoting the product (promotion tactics include sales, clicks, registrations, downloads, etc. ). The rate of commission depends entirely on the merchant and affiliate’s agreement. In 1994, CDNOW and Amazon launched affiliate programs as a marketing strategy, making them among the earliest companies to utilize it. The idea is to have publishers place ads for products in their websites. The publishers then get commissions every time they make a sale. It is said that Amazon has over a million affiliates worldwide. However, like most other money-making opportunities online, affiliate marketing has its pros and cons. This article focuses on the advantages and disadvantages when engaging in the world of affiliate marketing. Advantages of Affiliate Marketing Online merchants get free ad space and will only pay for proven results (pay per sale, pay per click, pay per lead). Affiliates, on the other hand, require only an ad-space to promote the merchants’ products, and thus can enjoy watching the beautiful sunset while earning cash. Advertisers can promote a product to a vast audience, giving... --- ### Facebook Develops Tool to Bypass Google’s Search Plus Your World > 2012 has already been an interesting year for the search market, one filled with twists, turns and plenty of drama. It all started with Search Plus Your - Published: 2012-04-16 - Modified: 2023-05-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/facebook-develops-tool-to-bypass-googles-search-plus-your-world/ - Categories: Social Media 2012 has already been an interesting year for the search market, one filled with twists, turns and plenty of drama. It all started with Search Plus Your World, a search engine update Google rolled out back in January. The feature, which uses activity from the company’s social platform Google+, serves up personalized results to users who are logged into the network. Search Plus Your World was instantly met with resistance from individual members of the internet community, including a few of Google’s longtime rivals. The World vs. Google A group of social networking forces teamed up to circumvent Google’s Search Plus Your World - or at least gave it a shot. With the aid of engineers from Twitter, MySpace and other companies in the social space, Blake Ross, Facebook’s Director of Product, developed a bookmarklet that overrides the feature. Freely available at FocusOnTheUser. org, the tool has been made open-source so that others can contribute to the project and make improvements. Considering that Google allows users to turn the feature on or off, this was obviously more of a stance to show the search giant that its enemies strongly opposed the feature. The Focus On The User initiative is certainly interesting, but if Facebook in particular wants to undo the perceived damage of Search Plus Your World, it may have to take a different approach, one that according to rumors has already been initiated. Various outlets are reporting that the social giant is in the process of enhancing its internal... --- ### What Brands Can Learn from Macy’s Social Media Strategy > Department store giant, Macy’s recently revamped their shopping strategy with a clever marriage between concierge shopping and social media. With over 800 - Published: 2012-03-29 - Modified: 2024-10-03 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/what-brands-can-learn-from-macys-social-media-strategy/ - Categories: Social Media Department store giant, Macy’s recently revamped their shopping strategy with a clever marriage between concierge shopping and social media. With over 800 stores worldwide, the company has taken what would have been an otherwise blanket generic marketing campaign for any competitor of comparable size, and turned it inside out with a social media strategy that invites customers into “back doors” for an experience that delivers exclusivity. In just 2010, Macy’s worked to enhance their social media presence by launching Facebook, Twitter and YouTube campaigns. Macy’s now boasts over 2. 4 million Facebook fans (with the help of a clever “Million Dollar Makeover” campaign), and continues to utilize various Twitter strategies with a range of Twitter feeds. But here’s how the company went beyond just basic social media use and soared into success... Backstage Passes – An in-store effort, Macy’s now offers customers a “Backstage Pass” program. Customers can snap a picture of a QR code with their phones to pop up a promotional video of a specific product. The idea isn’t completely unique. Just yesterday I saw the same type of marketing approach in Home Depot, of all places. Snapping a QR code there could get me tips on planting my favorite flowers. Macy’s approach is getting their star-backed products synced with videos made by those stars. You may not have celebrities to rely upon, but you could partner with other authorities or even local personalities. You could also take a cue from the custom content Macy’s offers with their... --- ### What Is Social Discovery and Why Does It Matter to Marketers? > Even though you may have never heard of it, social discovery is nothing new. It has been at the core of social networking for years and started to gain - Published: 2012-03-28 - Modified: 2024-10-03 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/what-is-social-discovery-and-why-does-it-matter-to-marketers/ - Categories: Marketing Even though you may have never heard of it, social discovery is nothing new. It has been at the core of social networking for years and started to gain more visibility before SXSW (South by Southwest) - where it was touted as one of the top trends to keep an eye on. However, its exposure at the annual festival in Austin could be what propels it to a hot topic on the tongues of the internet community for some time to come. Social Discovery Defined Social discovery can be described as the process of locating users through social media. It may entail simply finding someone online, learning details such as their name, age, and interests, or actually locating them by physical location. The first part is something that could easily take place through a site like Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn. The second is a little more complex, which is what made the apps showcased at the SXSW event so interesting. There were a plethora of social discovery apps unveiled at the recent SXSW. Among them were Bango, Glancee, Sonar and Highlight, the latter of which arguably made the biggest splash of them all. Although each application is fueled by the same general concept, they all offer something that makes them a little unique. For example, Highlight puts together a list of people who pass by the user, giving them the chance to discover individuals they are connected with. Glancee functions in a similar manner, yet prefers to connect the user... --- ### Benchmark Email Releases Mobile Marketing iPhone App > Press Room From press releases to company announcements, you'll find it all here. Summary: Benchmark Email Releases Mobile Marketing iPhone App Benchmark - Published: 2012-02-28 - Modified: 2020-10-13 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/pressroomnews28feb12/ - Categories: Uncategorized Press Room From press releases to company announcements, you'll find it all here. Summary: Benchmark Email Releases Mobile Marketing iPhone App Benchmark Email Releases Free iPhone App for Creating Email Campaigns on the Go The free app lets users add contacts, create and send email campaigns, and check response stats from an iPhone. Users can post emails to Twitter and Facebook, and send messages that include text, video and images using 10 different mobile email templates. Los Alamitos, CA, Feb. 28, 2012 -- Benchmark Email, an award-winning email marketing service for small business, has released a free iPhone app that lets users build an email list, send multimedia email campaigns, and track subscriber response from the palm of their hand. Also available for the iPad in 2X mode, the email marketing app lets users shoot video or photos with their phone, add the media into any of 10 free email templates, create text, and send out a message in seconds. "As the world becomes ultra-mobile, more and more bulk email campaigns will be created and sent on the fly from coffee shops, trade shows, airport lounges, and thousands of other places," says Curt Keller, CEO of Benchmark Email, an award-winning email marketing company. "The iconic iPhone is a huge part of the lives of millions of people, and the instantaneous, media-friendly and social nature of email marketing is tailor-made for this versatile hand-held device. " Other email marketing services include instant YouTube syncing for video, posting of emails and newsletters... --- ### Snap! Snapp? Clear Snap Confusion with Creative DIY Apps > Apps are a big business and everyone’s cashing in on them – so maybe that’s why they might be having trouble coming up with unique names, or their - Published: 2012-01-16 - Modified: 2020-01-30 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/snap-snapp-clear-snap-confusion-and-create-diy-apps/ - Categories: Uncategorized Apps are a big business and everyone’s cashing in on them – so maybe that’s why they might be having trouble coming up with unique names, or their marketing department isn’t quite putting in the research to make sure there isn’t another application with a similar name. So let me break it down for you. Snapp App First, there’s Snapp App, an applications company that’s created a “Tipping Tips” app that lets globetrotters know exactly how much to tip. So, sure, you won’t come across as rude or uncultured, but it doesn’t do anything to help you with business. Let’s move on. Snapp! (iPhone) Then there’s iPhone’s Snapp! – the app that revolutionizes the way you meet people. Say goodbye to archaic business cards that are bulky to carry around and a waste of space as they pile up... and say hello to the ability to socially connect with all the people you meet in less than 10 seconds. You get all their data, social connections, an associated photo if you want, an accompanying note if needed... and they get an email with all your data and an impressively short business brochure. What I love about Snapp! is that all this is done instantly, including the tiresome email that we all dutifully send out (ideally) within days of meeting a contact. Easily, this has shaved a good day to two days work off my time when I go to a networking event. Normally I’d have to lug cards around, including... --- ### Lacking True Innovation, CES Goes Crazy-Gadget Crazy > Some of the biggest news at CES was how little news came out of the show. Most of the exhibition floor featured larger and more advanced television - Published: 2012-01-16 - Modified: 2020-01-30 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/lacking-true-innovation-ces-goes-crazy-gadget-crazy/ - Categories: Uncategorized Some of the biggest news at CES was how little news came out of the show. Most of the exhibition floor featured larger and more advanced television screens but, as most buyers can’t tell the difference between 720 and 1080, it is evident that this industry is swiftly approaching the point of diminishing returns. TVs have grown so huge that most living rooms simply can no longer accommodate them, and manufacturers are finding that it may not be enough to count on upgrade paths motivated by “I simply have to replace my old 55 inch TV with a new one since it has a half-inch thinner bezel! ” The other major “innovation” at CES was the ultrabook, which most will recognize as a MacBook Air without the Apple symbol. The question of whether consumers in this economy will shell out about twice as much as comparable notebooks to gain the cleaver cross-section will be one of the defining market determinations of 2012. There were plenty of the usual CES wacky stuff that makes you wonder how it ever found its way to market, and here are some of the more entertaining eccentricities: Atari Arcade iPad Dock. You can now plug in your state of the art tablet and use its advanced technology to play Centipede or Asteroids, just like it was 1979! Autocorrecting Glasses. A $1,200 LCD array in the frame turns your reading correction on or off. What happens if it turns on while you’re driving? “Watch out for... --- ### Online Marketing Tips: The Human Touch in the Digital Age > Automation is a word most of us equate to convenience. To a person at home, it might mean sitting in bed with a remote control that handles your home - Published: 2012-01-13 - Modified: 2020-01-30 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/online-marketing-tips-the-human-touch-in-the-digital-age/ - Categories: Uncategorized Automation is a word most of us equate to convenience. To a person at home, it might mean sitting in bed with a remote control that handles your home theatre, windows, garage, microwave or washing machine at the touch of a button. To a shopper, it might mean clicking through a menu of items before you order and having them delivered to your doorstep. And to a business owner, it might mean dispensing tons of auto replies to potential customers with one hit of the "send" button. Cyborg Service With all this automation at your disposal, it’s possible to lose the human touch in the digital age. Marketing and customer service may have become quick and easy nowadays with all the strategies and methods the new advances have brought us, but don’t let these automated tools fool you. They're Real, and So Are You The face of marketing and customer service may have changed dramatically during the past decade, but some things remain consistent—such as the heart of the consumer. Real people are still the end users, not programs or bots. It’s all about the customer: her wants, her needs, her preferences. That’s why effective marketing requires human touch. We are wired to crave relationships: real connections with fellow human beings. But so far, there isn’t an intelligent, automated tool that’s been invented to provide all the flexibility, sincerity, warmth and genuine care consumers relate to. Wouldn’t you always prefer to have a real, live, sincere person responding to you... --- ### Zoho Helps Companies Excel in the Art of Customer Relationships > It’s always easier to grow your business through satisfied existing customers than to seek out new ones. Of course, any marketing plan should pursue both - Published: 2012-01-11 - Modified: 2020-01-30 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/zoho-helps-companies-excel-in-the-art-of-customer-relationships/ - Categories: Uncategorized It’s always easier to grow your business through satisfied existing customers than to seek out new ones. Of course, any marketing plan should pursue both options. Nonetheless, it holds true that in order for your customers to continue flocking to you for their business needs, you’ll have to make sure your business excels in customer relationship management (CRM). Zoho excels in just this. They offer a platform encompassing just about any services you need to successfully launch and maintain a powerful CRM campaign, including automation, tracking and customer reach. Plus you can use the Zoho app for iPhone and blackberry mobility as well as Google Apps for easy interaction. Ordering Administrative Workflow Small to mid-sized businesses will agree that administrative tasks are one of the biggest time killers. While they recognize this, these businesses rarely make it to the big leagues, simply because they fail to manage these tasks. Zoho offers business owners the ability to knock out this major time vacuum by setting up a workflow that lets you automate sales, marketing and support services. This is done through customer records that can be shifted, assigned and transferred as needed to the right personnel or agent – a process fueled by a set of assigned triggers made more efficient since there’s no longer any need to continually update records. The CRM automation process also captures incoming leads and filters it to the right sales agent. Agents can then create more niche assignments and filters to make sure that a... --- ### How Facebook’s Privacy Policies Freely Sold User Data > It’s difficult to feel sorry for mega-zillionaire Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, but you have to admit that his social network is in a bit of a bind. - Published: 2011-12-06 - Modified: 2020-01-30 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-facebooks-privacy-policies-freely-sold-user-data/ - Categories: Uncategorized - Tags: ftc, social media marketing, mark zuckerberg, business blog, facebook privacy, federal trade commission, total information awareness It’s difficult to feel sorry for mega-zillionaire Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, but you have to admit that his social network is in a bit of a bind. With an upcoming Initial Public Offering (IPO) which could value the company on the high side of $100 billion (yes, with a b) its less than stellar history of privacy protection may be placing the 2012 Wall Street debut between a stock and a hard place. On one side are the 800+ million Facebookers who would really rather not divulge every single aspect of what they share on profiles and posts they believe to be private. On the other side are the advertisers who consider every byte of “private” information to be an invaluable data mining motherlode. How deftly Facebook manages to keep these opposing parties appeased may determine the extent of success the stratospheric IPO can achieve. Mysteriously Targeted Ads The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently released an investigative report that the agency conducted on the world’s largest social network. The FTC called out Facebook on a number of duplicitous policies violating user privacy after reassuring them that they would do nothing of the sort. The most critical failing was in sharing personal data marked as private with advertisers. Any Facebook user who would innocuously post various key words and phrases on profiles or posts would find that they were now presented with “mysteriously” but very accurately targeted ads. “I love to play hockey , jetski , and jog , then... --- ### The Steve Jobs Legacy: Luck, Genius & Serendipity > In eulogy, every sinner becomes a saint." Although Steve Jobs is still with us, and it can only be hoped for a very long time, the recent photo of his - Published: 2011-09-26 - Modified: 2020-01-20 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-steve-jobs-legacy-luck-genius-serendipity/ - Categories: Uncategorized In eulogy, every sinner becomes a saint. " Although Steve Jobs is still with us, and it can only be hoped for a very long time, the recent photo of his emaciated frame being buttressed up on a street corner by a sorrowful associate brought home the extent of his very serious illness. Given this inescapable reality a review of his legacy may be in order: a difficult task when it is considered that Steve Jobs has been the most influential technological/cultural icon of the past quarter-century, and easily the most controversial figure in the history of computing. The 2 Steves: An Insanely Great Movie It is surprising that no movie has yet been made of the early adventures of the two Steves, Jobs & Wozniak, and their creation of the first Apple computer using stone knives and bearskins. The massive success of this cobbled-together computer defied the fact that there were many other similarly adept competitors and quickly became the primary icon of the digitalization paradigm that has shaped our generation. Apple wasn't just a computer company, it was a missionary organization out to change the world. Leading the charge into the future was the young dapper wunderkind with his mop of hair and silly bow ties, who quickly gained a reputation for a brilliance that was matched only by his imperiousness. His Triumphant Return to Apple Mecca Brilliance does not necessarily equate foresight, as Jobs essentially ridiculed the Macintosh in favor of the Lisa, a rough application of... --- ### Email Marketing Services: Calculating Revenue per Email > There are a number of different metrics that can provide insight into the overall performance of your email marketing initiatives. Most marketers focus on - Published: 2011-09-15 - Modified: 2023-03-06 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/email-marketing-services-calculating-revenue-per-email/ - Categories: Uncategorized There are a number of different metrics that can provide insight into the overall performance of your email marketing initiatives. Most marketers focus on the basics like opens, clicks and unsubscribes, while some choose to look at the bigger picture by measuring their ROI. Analyzing all these metrics is fine and dandy, but the one measurement email marketers are not keeping up with nearly enough is their RPE. What Is RPE? Short for revenue per email, RPE as a metric is pretty much what it sounds like - a calculation that tells you how much revenue your email marketing efforts are generating per message. Now it isn’t the most reliable metric in comparison to ROI, which when calculated precisely, can give you an exact dollar amount on how much you are getting back from your investment. However, it is much more straightforward than ROI and considerably easier to calculate as well. Figuring out your ROI can be a real drag as you typically have to factor so many different elements into the equation in order to get an accurate assessment. RPE doesn’t necessarily speak to what you’re gaining or losing in terms of profit with your efforts, and calculating your revenue per email is as simple as dividing the revenue generated by the number of messages sent, minus the number of bounces. For example, if you decide to narrow your measurement to a segment of your list, seeing that 20 successfully delivered messages generated $200 would mean that your RPE... --- ### Customize an Email Template to Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month! > When I was in college I had the opportunity to go on a Birthright trip to Israel with my brother, roommate and a few other friends. It was an incredible - Published: 2011-09-14 - Modified: 2020-11-27 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/customize-an-email-template-to-celebrate-hispanic-heritage-month/ - Categories: Uncategorized When I was in college I had the opportunity to go on a Birthright trip to Israel with my brother, roommate and a few other friends. It was an incredible experience. It was a hands on trip, where I was able to live and breathe my Jewish heritage. I have never felt so connected to my past and it was an experience I will not soon forget. Everyone should have a chance to feel that way towards their heritage. September 15 through October 15 is Hispanic Heritage Month. Seven Latin American countries celebrate their independence during that time and all honor their heritage. In North America, it is a time to celebrate the long and substantial presence of Hispanic Americans. Many of your subscribers may be celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month. Send out an email campaign that honors them. Perhaps it’s just my affinity for Mexican food, but I think sending out your favorite recipe inspired by hispanic cuisine could be a fun and involving email campaign. Even if you’re not promoting your own business or products, it will do well for your branding. Say someone wants to share your delicious recipe with a friend or family member. That’s someone not on your list that’s going to have your email forwarded to them. Whatever you choose to send in an email campaign for Hispanic Heritage Month, make sure it will make your hispanic subscribers proud of their heritage. Customize any one of our professional HTML email templates. If you can create... --- ### Small Business Marketing: How to Market Your Webinar > Last week I talked about the benefits of marketing content with webinars and white papers. Webinars are such a powerful tool that the marketing strategy - Published: 2011-08-31 - Modified: 2020-12-02 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/small-business-marketing-how-to-market-your-webinar/ - Categories: Uncategorized Last week I talked about the benefits of marketing content with webinars and white papers. Webinars are such a powerful tool that the marketing strategy merits a little specialized attention. If you’re not on board with webinars yet, know that they’re easily shared opportunities to boast about your company’s knowledge and specialties. They also set you up as an authority in your field, and allow you to remotely attract a pool of curious-minded folks that can convert into customers at best and loyal brand followers if nothing else. Webinars also let you hone your own skill by tailoring your message. What do you do? How do you do it best? And what are key points that get people’s attention? These are all easily lengthy answers that you have to present in concise points once you decide to host a webinar. If you’re already established with a following, webinars become another way to cash in on your business know how. It’s not rare to offer freebie mini webinars and then charge a bit more for bigger more in depth ones (that are normally paired with some post presentation notes). But forum dialogues hit the nail on the head. One marketing forum member from MarketingProfs said: "Webinars can be very effective. I have seen them used usually for products/services that require a lot of convincing for someone to buy, like enterprise software. What the selling company usually tries to do is get a current customer to take part in the webinar. The... --- ### How to Work Google+ into Your Existing Marketing Strategy > The hype surrounding Google+ has died down somewhat, but Google’s new social toy continues to roll along during its beta stage. Already we have witnessed - Published: 2011-08-22 - Modified: 2023-03-06 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-to-work-google-into-your-existing-marketing-strategy/ - Categories: Uncategorized The hype surrounding Google+ has died down somewhat, but Google’s new social toy continues to roll along during its beta stage. Already we have witnessed the platform experience record setting growth, address some minor privacy issues and even introduce a gaming component that gives it a bit more recreational value. And although we are all anxiously awaiting the launch of the promised business-centric version, which could be here as early as the upcoming fall season, there are still quite a few ways to incorporate Google+ into your existing online marketing strategy right now. Build “Circles” around Your Brand Circles is one of the main components that drives Google+. It is essentially a feature that lets the user segment their contacts into groups, or as the name implies, circles. The cool thing about this feature is that those groups can be customized as segments like “friends,” “relatives,” or whatever categories you choose. Even cooler is that instead of sharing the exact same content with all of your fans as you would on Facebook, Circles lets you share select content with the specific groups you are targeting, meaning there is no need to expose your contacts to content that may not exactly be relevant to them. In the early stages, creating targeted circles on Google+ should be among your top priorities. “Spark” the Conversation in Your Circles When it comes to content discovery, Google is second to none, beating out both the popular social bookmarking sites and competitors in its own market... --- ### Benchmark Email offers free email accounts to PTAs, PTOs, PTSAs and to non-profit organizations that benefit children. > Press Room From press releases to company announcements, you'll find it all here. Summary: Benchmark Email offers free email accounts to PTAs, PTOs, PTSAs - Published: 2011-08-08 - Modified: 2024-10-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/pressroomnews08aug11-02/ - Categories: Uncategorized Press Room From press releases to company announcements, you'll find it all here. Summary: Benchmark Email offers free email accounts to PTAs, PTOs, PTSAs and to non-profit organizations that benefit children. Benchmark Email Offers Free Email Accounts to Help Children, PTAs With the new We Care About Kids program, in which free email accounts are granted to child-focused non-profits, Benchmark Email is sponsoring PTAs, PTSAs and PTOs by giving away free, unending email accounts to improve parent, teacher and student communication. Los Alamitos, Calif. , Aug. 8, 2011 – Benchmark Email, one of the world's leading, global email marketing services, is giving Parent Teacher Organizations 100% free, unending email accounts as part of the company's new charity program, We Care About Kids. With the new email accounts, PTA, PTSA and PTO leaders will not just be able to effectively communicate with students, teachers and parents, but manage contacts, send surveys and polls, create scheduled email campaigns and send multimedia emails. "With an extremely shaky economy forcing vast cuts to education programs, we at Benchmark are deeply committed to doing everything we can to nurture and strengthen the link between teacher, student and parent," says Judy Searing, director of the Benchmark Email program. "As a company, we're proud to sponsor email accounts for PTAs and PTOs because we know that when budgets are slashed and programs disappear, it is more important than ever for parents and teachers to come together and help the children losing those resources. " The sponsored Benchmark... --- ### Comparz Offers User-Based B2B Online Marketing Reviews > One of the toughest things about marketing is getting your name out there. But there are many tools available in social media marketing. - Published: 2011-08-03 - Modified: 2022-01-27 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/comparz-offers-user-based-b2b-online-marketing-reviews/ - Categories: Uncategorized - Tags: Email Marketing One of the toughest things about marketing is getting your name out there. But there are many tools available in social media marketing. Let’s check them out quickly and discover their drawbacks. You can boost your business on LinkedIn via LinkedIn Recommendations. The drawback is that of course you’re going to have the best recommendations on there. No one in their right business mind would allow a negative recommendation. Moreover, everyone who does leave a recommendation makes sure it’s a positive one. You can boost your business on Facebook and Twitter, but those are still bias sources where the kudos is due to your tooting your own horn. More reliable and authentic sources are found at Yelp, but the problem there is that those user review sites are often frequented by mostly disgruntled clients. What you need is a business-to-business referral site that moves far beyond just Hoover’s business listings and bio. This is where Comparz steps in. As Comparz best phrases it, “We know that more and more services for businesses are available online that you can buy with a few clicks, but that doesn’t make them easier to understand. Selecting a service is often confusing and we’d like to help you determine what will work best for your business. ” Comparz offers user and editorial reviews for businesses, and the benefit is two fold. The right business review can boost your company image and reach a whole new b2b marketplace. Secondly, smart business owners will tap into Comparz... --- ### How SMS Can Work with Email Marketing > The phenomenon that is texting gives SMS tremendous potential as a marketing tool. That and the fact that just about everyone seems to have a smart or not - Published: 2011-06-23 - Modified: 2020-01-20 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-sms-can-work-with-email-marketing/ - Categories: Uncategorized - Tags: sms, email marketing blog, event marketing, mobile marketing The phenomenon that is texting gives SMS tremendous potential as a marketing tool. That and the fact that just about everyone seems to have a smart or not so smartphone capable of sending and receiving these short messages. While this exciting new form of mobile marketing has a lot to offer, it is best suited for an integrated marketing strategy. This post will discuss how it can work beside your email marketing program. Add More Subscribers to Your Lists SMS marketing is like email marketing in many ways, especially when it comes to building your list. In order to engage users with your mobile content, you must get their permission, in addition to their phone number. And just like email, you need to give potential subscribers a compelling reason to hand over the goods. Maybe it’s a free gift, valuable information or just the promise of irresistible savings. Whatever it is, it should be integrated into the message you communicate at every point of interaction. This includes the cash register, direct mail pieces and the preference center you have online for your customers. Play your cards right and you may be able to capture SMS and email subscriptions in one fell swoop. Use Them Together in Your Communication Strategy The idea behind picking up SMS is not to replace email but to actually use them together for the greater benefit of your overall marketing efforts. Using both methods to engage readers with timely communications can help to ensure that your... --- ### Celebrate Flag Day on June 14 with a Custom Email Template > If you have never attended a Chicago Blackhawks game at the United Center, I highly suggest you do so. Not just because I love the Blackhawks and think - Published: 2011-06-07 - Modified: 2020-01-20 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/celebrate-flag-day-on-june-14-with-a-custom-email-template/ - Categories: Uncategorized - Tags: email newsletters, june holiday templates, flag day, flag day email template If you have never attended a Chicago Blackhawks game at the United Center, I highly suggest you do so. Not just because I love the Blackhawks and think that everyone else should too (although that is one reason). It’s to see the National Anthem being sung by Jim Cornelison. Unlike every other time the Anthem is sung and you can hear a pin drop, it is a raucous occasion at the good ol’ UC. Opposing teams often tell their friends and family in attendance to make sure they’re at the game in time for the Anthem. It is while Cornelison belts out our country’s National Anthem and raises his hand towards the flag as he sings “and our flag was still there” that I can feel the pride for our country coursing through me. Flag Day, celebrated June 14, honors the adoption of our flag. I think that Jim Cornelison should sing the National Anthem on a national broadcast. Every person, whether at home, work or in the car should stop what they’re doing and cheer for the Anthem. Sorry productivity at work, we’re gonna take a moment to celebrate our country’s flag. So maybe that won’t happen. You can honor Flag Day in your own way. Use a Benchmark Flag Day email template, and celebrate the occasion with your subscribers. Perhaps you have your own story or connection to the flag. Your subscribers probably will too. Tell them your story and ask your subscribers to share theirs. You can... --- ### Support Update: Accidentally Unsubscribing Your Subscribers > This week’s Support Blog is to bring awareness to a situation that could potentially slow things down for our clients. We like it when things run smoothly - Published: 2011-04-21 - Modified: 2020-01-30 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/support-update-accidentally-unsubscribing-your-subscribers/ - Categories: Uncategorized This week’s Support Blog is to bring awareness to a situation that could potentially slow things down for our clients. We like it when things run smoothly and your experience is a happy one. However, there are some bumps that happen along the way. Perhaps this will help you to avoid hitting this particular bump along the road of email marketing. Imagine this: You have logged into your Benchmark Email account today in order to upload your new contacts into an existing list. You follow the steps and voilà! Your list is uploaded and ready to use. Except for one very important detail... you have somehow managed to upload the names into your “Master Unsubscribe List” by mistake. Don’t feel bad. This has happened many times in the past and there is a way of fixing the error. It is just very time consuming and can be avoided altogether. On Step 1 of Add Contacts to Lists, you will see the following screen. This is where you will select which of your existing lists you want the new contacts to go into. It is important that you do not select the box for the “Master Unsubscribe List” if these new contacts are active subscribers. The only time you would need to upload contacts into the Master Unsubscribe List is when you actually have a list of users you do not want to contact. Once an email address is added to this list, you do not have the ability to remove... --- ### A Beginner’s Guide to the Top 10 Web Coding Languages > When you consider developing your own website for the very first time, you might be left utterly befuddled by the alphabet soup of programming languages. - Published: 2011-04-05 - Modified: 2022-03-08 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/a-beginners-guide-to-the-top-10-web-coding-languages/ - Categories: Uncategorized - Tags: Top 10 Web Coding Languages When you consider developing your own website for the very first time, you might be left utterly befuddled by the alphabet soup of programming languages. If you think an ASP is what bit Cleopatra; a . NET is what you catch butterflies with; Ruby and Perl are jewelry; Java is what you get at Starbucks; and Ajax is what you use to clean your sink, here is the beginner’s guide to the top 10 web coding languages. HTML This one is the granddaddy of them all. Computer users old enough to remember Macintosh’s HyperCard will know that hyperlinkage predates the Web. HyperText Markup Language (HTML) is just a way to describe a page in code so that a browser can display it accurately. One of the most important features of HTML is that it allows a link on a page to launch another page. The link can be embedded within the text, an image, a banner, or pretty well anything else you want. Hyperlinks have freed the world from linear reading by jumping around within content to find the specific information that interests them. CSS When coding a very complex web page, HTML code can get messy and difficult to sort out. Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) help by separating the content of the document from the presentation code. Many CSS documents have a separate style sheet that is not included in the actual page at all that allows you to make a change to a hundred elements on a page... --- ### Barrack for Australia Day Email Templates! > January 26th is Australia Day. On this day, the entire country listens to "Land Down Under" by Men at Work on repeat for the whole day. OK, maybe that's - Published: 2011-01-21 - Modified: 2020-01-30 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/barrack-for-australia-day-email-templates/ - Categories: Uncategorized January 26th is Australia Day. On this day, the entire country listens to "Land Down Under" by Men at Work on repeat for the whole day. OK, maybe that's not how all Australians celebrate the official national day of Australia. That may not be how any Australians celebrate the day. Perhaps only myself and J. D. from Scrubs would celebrate that way. I'm pretty sure they're not throwing any shrimps on any barbies either. They don't even call shrimp shrimp. They're prawns there. There's also probably some playing with their didgeridoos (it's a musical instrument). Australians are much better than me at coming up with great celebrations to honor the foundation of their country. On the 26th there are outdoor concerts, barbecues (so maybe they do throw some prawns on there), sports competitions, festivals and fireworks. There are also ferry races and tall ship races in the harbor. There is also an Australian of the Year presentation that apparently isn't just a fight between Russell Crowe and Hugh Jackman every year... but it should be. Wish your Australian subscribers a happy Australia Day with a Benchmark Australia Day email template. I suggest recording your personal cover of “Land Down Under” and sending it out to your list. Everyone should get a kick out of that. I know I would. Free Benchmark Australia Day email templatefrom Benchmark Email Check out more January and holiday email templates by following the link. --- ### New Benchmark Feature: Search Email Contacts across Lists > Ask and you shall receive…. You know, as long as enough of your peers vote for it too in the Feature Request Forum. Many of our users requested the - Published: 2011-01-18 - Modified: 2020-06-05 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/new-benchmark-feature-search-contacts-across-lists/ - Categories: Uncategorized Ask and you shall receive... . You know, as long as enough of your peers vote for it too in the Feature Request Forum. Many of our users requested the ability to search for contacts across all lists. Call off the dogs. Now you can. It’s easy, too. Simply log into your Benchmark Email account and go to the Lists tab. Below that, click on Search Contacts. Type in the email address of the contact you are looking for and click Search. That’s it!                   This new feature makes it very easy to update your lists. From time to time, a contact may send an email informing you of a new email address. Now it is very easy to search your lists and keep them as up-to-date as possible. This is a great tool in the fight for list hygiene. --- ### How Man-In-The-Middle Attacks Can Impact Email Marketers > What Is Man-in-the-Middle? Phishers and other email fraudsters are upping their game on a continual basis, consistently coming up with new and imaginative - Published: 2011-01-17 - Modified: 2020-02-27 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/how-man-in-the-middle-attacks-can-impact-email-marketers/ - Categories: Uncategorized What Is Man-in-the-Middle? Phishers and other email fraudsters are upping their game on a continual basis, consistently coming up with new and imaginative ways to ply their criminal trade. One of the most popular of their ploys is what is known as a Man-In-The-Middle (MITM) attack, which tricks an email recipient into divulging their credentials, passwords and other critical personal information on a site that can bear a stunning similarity to your landing pages. The criminals then use this information to conduct identity theft and other felonies. Even if you are not operating in the financial arena, this form of attack can impact your customers and your business, so it’s wise to take precautions against it now before it’s too late. MITM Can Affect Any Site Selling Anything Any business that has subscribers storing purchasing information of any kind in their accounts is liable for MITM attack. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the juiciest targets for online criminals are no longer the banks, which have taken extraordinary measures to counter their scams, but conventional sales sites that offer any type of payment-based product or service. These sites capture personal as well as financial information in the form of credit card numbers or Paypal logins, and once a fraudster has access to this data they can clean out a customer’s accounts in a matter of seconds. The traditional MITM strategy is to inform your subscriber that someone has tried to log into their account and that they need to “confirm” their identity... --- ### Making Great Email Videos Part 3 - What Kinds of Mics Plug into My Camera? > In the last audio installment of our "Making Great Video Emails" series, we talked about a few scenarios that might necessitate the use of an external microphone. - Published: 2011-01-05 - Modified: 2022-02-24 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/making-great-email-videos-part-3-what-kinds-of-mics-plug-into-my-camera/ - Categories: Uncategorized In the last audio installment of our "Making Great Video Emails" series, we talked about a few scenarios that might necessitate the use of an external microphone. The plus side to doing this is that your audio situation should improve dramatically in the form of less noise, stronger and louder voices, and controlling the pick up of indirect reverberant noise. Making a professional audio impression will be key to your successful video email marketing. So what are my mic options? There are probably a few hundred models from a few dozen manufacturers that are built specifically for audio to video, but what's right for you depends on both your budget AND what kind of camera you have. Portable Camera Revolution Are you a Flip Mino owner? Do you have a handheld Kodak (like the Z series)? Maybe you have another model of the small, portable, no optical zoom, I-can't-believe-I-got-an-HD-camcorder-for-under-a-hundred variety. Chances are that these small, great, fun cameras get an acceptable picture (if you hold really still or use a tripod), but the audio needs help. Hopefully the camera has a mic input. It is easy to miss because it sometimes looks like a headphone jack. you may also need Mixing and Mastering for a cleaner sound. My Camera Has a 1/8 Mini-Jack Though not the most professionally spec'd input, there are many mics available to plug into this 1/8 inch mini-jack. Just don't expect to plug in a standard studio mic. Many professional level mics require an XLR connector... --- ### Benchmark Email New Feature: Add Personal Greetings > I hope all of you found some fun new toys under the Christmas tree or Chanukah bush this year (or however else your faith and family may bring you - Published: 2010-12-29 - Modified: 2021-03-12 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/benchmark-email-new-feature-add-personal-greetings/ - Categories: Uncategorized - Tags: features, new, email marketing strategy, feature, new feature, personal greetings, your content preference I hope all of you found some fun new toys under the Christmas tree or Chanukah bush this year (or however else your faith and family may bring you presents). While everyone was sipping on egg nog this past weekend, we were preparing a new toy for our users. We have added the option to insert a greeting into your emails. Holiday season or not, we could all stand to be a little friendlier. A personalized greeting in your email campaigns shows your subscribers that they're more than just an address. To include a personalized greeting in your email, first select the block in the editor that you want to add the greeting to. Within the block, click where you would like the greeting to appear. Select Greeting from the Insert Additional Elements section on the lefthand side of your screen. A box will pop up allowing you to customize the greeting. Dear is the default for the Primary Greeting but it can be changed. You can choose First Name, Last Name or both First Name & Last Name. The Primary Greeting will display whatever contact information you set to appear. If there is no information for a particular contact, the greeting will go to the Alternative Greeting. This can be something simple like Greetings! (which is the default). For example, if you choose First Name in the Primary Greeting, the Alternative Greeting will display for any contact who has the first name blank in your contact information. Personalization is... --- ### Are You a Consummate Email Designer or a Cake Decorator? > Jakob Nielsen was listed as one of the world's most influential designers by Business Week and is a leading researcher into online usability issues. He - Published: 2010-12-20 - Modified: 2020-01-30 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/are-you-a-consummate-email-designer-or-a-cake-decorator/ - Categories: Uncategorized Jakob Nielsen was listed as one of the world's most influential designers by Business Week and is a leading researcher into online usability issues. He recently published his latest eyetracking study on photos as online content, and his conclusions bear close scrutiny by any email marketer for critical insights into how your readers are actually "seeing" your emails. Some Images Are Studied While Others Are Disregarded The designs adopted by email marketers for their campaigns can be divided up into two camps. On one side, there are the consummate experts, who craft each textual and visual content element to be harmonious and relevant. On the other side, there are the "cake decorators," who slather on design with a stucco trowel and slap oversized and strictly decorative images all over their emails. By studying how the eyes of readers actually "track" over various online pages, Nielsen was able to determine the marked difference between how various types of images are perceived by your customers. Eyetracking Studies Prove Large Decorative Images Are Ignored Nielsen's study discovered that some types of images are entirely ignored by readers. These are the types of images included in emails and other online content that are out of proportion to the rest of the page and used strictly for decoration. One truly "eye-opening" eyetracking study showed over one hundred points where a reader's eye rested to take in the information on the Yale School Of Management's application webpage. Not a single one of them was on a... --- ### The Benefits Of Staging A Fourth Of July Patriotic Social Network Fest > With less than two months until the Independence Day holiday, email marketers would be well served to consider the feasibility of incorporating a - Published: 2010-05-11 - Modified: 2020-02-27 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-benefits-of-staging-a-fourth-of-july-patriotic-social-network-fest/ - Categories: Uncategorized With less than two months until the Independence Day holiday, email marketers would be well served to consider the feasibility of incorporating a thoroughly patriotic and even borderline jingoistic appeal in their late June and early July campaigns. Pride in America runs deep, and a truly uplifting and positive message about the nation and its future could resonate powerfully in your customers and serve to associate your brand with a groundswell in public opinion. America’s Gone Through Some Tough Times Lately Well the eagle’s been flyin’ slow And the flag’s been flyin’ low And a lotta people sayin’ that America’s fixin’ to fall These were the opening lyrics of the Charlie Daniels Band 1980 hit song “In America”. Although that song was written in reaction to a very different set of political and social challenges to the Pax Americana, many of the same concerns have popped up again a full three decades later, this time centering around terrorism, climate change and the recessionary economic malaise. Celebrate The Nation & The Flag The subsequent lyrics of the song, however, celebrate the astounding resilience of the American people and the rejection of any permanent decline: Well speakin’ just for me And some people from Tennessee We’ve got a thing or two to tell you all This lady may have stumbled But she ain’t never failed And if (our enemies) don’t believe that They can all go straight to hell We’re gonna put her feet back On the path of righteousness and then... --- ### Benchmark Expands Your Video Integration Options > Video continues to be one of the hottest trends in email marketing. Benchmark Email is proud to announce even greater video email services than ever - Published: 2010-03-17 - Modified: 2023-05-02 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/benchmark-expands-your-video-integration-options/ - Categories: Uncategorized - Tags: email, video, provider, blip, video email, vimeo, youtube Video continues to be one of the hottest trends in email marketing. Benchmark Email is proud to announce even greater video email services than ever before. In addition to our established YouTube support, you now have the option of uploading videos from blip. tv and Vimeo. Take the next step in email marketing with by utilizing the three major video providers. Video with Benchmark Email is simple and easy: Click on the video button and copy and paste the embed code when prompted. Video email is a great way to engage your email list. Enjoy these new features and the ROI they should bring. --- ### The Top 15 Suggestions To Make Your Emails Pop! > Email marketers are always looking for ways to increase impact, so here are the top 15 suggestions for fairly simple inclusions and tweaks to get those - Published: 2010-01-26 - Modified: 2023-02-10 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/the-top-15-suggestions-to-make-your-emails-pop/ - Categories: Uncategorized - Tags: email, consist, deadline, demo, encourage, graphic, incentive, pop, subhead Email marketers are always looking for ways to increase impact, so here are the top 15 suggestions for fairly simple inclusions and tweaks to get those response rates up. Dont Rite Laik Dis - An inordenate number of marketing emails contain grammar, punctuation and spelling errors which turns readers off and devalues your companys image. (OK, now find the six errors in that sentence! Answers next week. ) Set Your Point Size To Fit Your Demographic - Younger readers appreciate 10 point or smaller type as it fits more information onto a monitor, but older users prefer 13 point or larger to suit their eyesight. Keep It Positive - The news is depressing enough, so avoid references to recession, politics, war, and the pervading malaise of our age. You want to associate your brand to happy, good times and feelings. Incentives Work... - When your customer asks the question "what's in it for me" ensure that you have prizes, discounts, and other hooks to pull in the reader and get them interested... . So Do Deadlines - When you're offering an incentive never keep it open-ended. A short deadline in the immediate future will motivate the reader to respond positively. Encourage Contribution - Many of your customers would love to have something they've created publicly associated with your company. Why not have an online poem contest, or an art show, or photo exhibition connected with your brand? Consistency Wins - It is imperative to keep delivering relevant and informative content... --- ### 10 Ways to Build an Opt-In Email List > As an email marketer, your first job is to build an opt-in email list. Without this list there is no way to send out your email newsletters. If you are - Published: 2009-11-14 - Modified: 2020-01-20 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/10-ways-to-build-an-opt-in-email-list/ - Categories: Uncategorized - Tags: email, tip, list, newsletter, blog, free, opt-in, optin, website, client, e-book, e-report, ezine, info, quality As an email marketer, your first job is to build an opt-in email list. Without this list there is no way to send out your email newsletters. If you are building an opt-in list for the first time, don’t worry. Take a look at some great tips to help you compile a fantastic opt-in list! 1. Create a website Creating a website is a pretty simple thing to do. It can even be done for free. Once you create your website you can request visitors to register with you and thus get them to sign up. 2. Prominent Opt-ins Place prominent opt-in forms where ever you think potentials may see it. People do not have to time to hunt for your sign in forms. Place these forms in easy to see locations. 3. Write an E-book or E-report An E-book or E-report is a great way to get potential customers to visit your website. In this way they will be motivated to sign up for your newsletter. 4. Guest-write blogs A lot of blogs permit guest writers to place articles on their blogs along with a link leading to their website. This technique is excellent for gaining publicity. 5. Use ezine directories Get yourself listed in ezine directories. The best part is, this option requires no subscribers and is usually a free service! So make the most of it and get listed now! 6. Give out freebies Give out free stuff to your potential clients. Give away free screensavers, games,... --- ### Benchmark Email Integration with Twitter and other Social Sites > If you now want to share your Email Campaign on twitter, you can now do so with our new feature. You can Select the "Send to Twitter" option in the 'Email - Published: 2009-09-30 - Modified: 2020-01-30 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/benchmark-email-integration-with-twitter-and-other-social-sites/ - Categories: Uncategorized - Tags: campaign, Facebook, myspace, network, digg, social, add, addition, delicious, incorporate, integration, mix, mixing, share, site, twittre If you now want to share your Email Campaign on twitter, you can now do so with our new feature. You can Select the "Send to Twitter" option in the 'Email Creation' Step. If you check the auto-tweet option, we will automatically post a link to Twitter when the campaign is sent. In addition if you use the Send Immediately option, you can then immediately share the URL on Twitter. You can also share the campaign email URL on other social networking accounts Facebook, MySpace, Digg, Delicious and StumbleUpon. --- ### Benchmark Email introduces custom polling feature for client Websites > Press Room From press releases to company announcements, you'll find it all here. Benchmark Email introduces custom polling feature for client Websites - Published: 2009-07-30 - Modified: 2024-10-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/pressroomnews30jul09/ - Categories: Uncategorized Press Room From press releases to company announcements, you'll find it all here. Benchmark Email introduces custom polling feature for client Websites The new, easy feature lets Benchmark Email customers create custom questions, place polls on their Websites, and view the voting results in real time. Long Beach, CA, July 30, 2009 – Leading email marketing service Benchmark Email has created a tool that lets clients create and place interactive polls on their Web pages. The feature lets clients create and use their own custom questions, place polls on their site by pasting HTML code, and even view the answers as they come in – in real time. "As our clients struggle through this rough economy, they're looking for inexpensive ways to not only get the answers they need on what site visitors like or don't like, but also make their sites more interesting and appealing," says Curt Keller, CEO of Benchmark Email. "With this polling feature, not only can clients gather important, relevant data on what customers think, but also make the entire shopping experience more interactive and fulfilling. " Benchmark Email's custom polling feature lets clients adjust fonts, colors and even add logos to make each poll match the design of their Website. Once a poll is created, clients are given HTML code for the poll and a link URL. When a visitor clicks on the link URL, a new browser featuring the poll opens up, letting customers take the survey and continue shopping without being interrupted or... --- ### Benchmark Introduces API To Integrate The Email Marketing Service With Other Sites > Press Room From press releases to company announcements, you'll find it all here. Benchmark Introduces API To Integrate The Email Marketing Service With - Published: 2009-06-10 - Modified: 2024-10-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/pressroomnews10jun09/ - Categories: Uncategorized Press Room From press releases to company announcements, you'll find it all here. Benchmark Introduces API To Integrate The Email Marketing Service With Other Sites The Application Programming Interface (API) makes it possible for tech-savvy users to trade lists, data, layouts and more between other email marketing-focused sites and Benchmark. Long Beach, CA, June 10, 2009 – Benchmark Email, a leading, award-winning email marketing service, has introduced an Application Programming Interface (API) to make trading information between other sites and benchmarkemail. com easy and convenient. With this new platform, tech-savvy customers and programmers alike can link Benchmark with other email marketing-focused sites and trade lists, data, layouts and other email campaign elements. "With so many services handling different parts of the email marketing process, we thought it would be a fantastic idea to give our clients the option to easily merge and trade their data back and forth between other services and ours” says Curt Keller, CEO of Benchmark Email. “We plan on working with many services in the email marketing sphere to trade info and make the user experience all the more convenient, thanks to the API. " Using XML-RPC, programmers and coders can use their own technical skills to fuse Benchmark Email with other sites. With the email marketing API, customers can, for example, from build an email layout in another program or software and still send their layout and campaign to recipients via Benchmark. It also lets users work back and forth between Benchmark and other services,... --- ### Benchmark Email Adds Social Networking And Sharing Links To Email Campaigns > Press Room From press releases to company announcements, you'll find it all here. Benchmark Email Adds Social Networking And Sharing Links To Email - Published: 2009-06-07 - Modified: 2024-10-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/pressroomnews07jun09/ - Categories: Uncategorized Press Room From press releases to company announcements, you'll find it all here. Benchmark Email Adds Social Networking And Sharing Links To Email Campaigns With this new feature, every email and newsletter sent through Benchmark can reach thousands of additional online users via Twitter, Facebook, Digg and more. Long Beach, CA, June 7, 2009 – Benchmark Email, the leading email marketing service for more than 65,000+ users and businesses, has introduced a new feature that lets customers share their email and newsletter campaigns on leading social networks. With the new feature, once an email is sent and a copy placed online at the Benchmark Email Community, anyone who sees it can publicize it via social networking sites Twitter and Facebook, and social bookmarking sites like Delicious, Digg and more. "Email marketing continues to lead other types of advertising in both price and return on investment, but social bookmarks and networking services can help take your email or newsletter campaign to the next level,” says Curt Keller, CEO of Benchmark Internet Group. “With these easy social sharing links, you can maximize the publicity and visibility of your email or newsletter with little effort – and for no additional price. " The social networking tools each visitor can use to publicize online emails include myspace, the wildly popular Facebook, and micro-blogging site Twitter. Social bookmarking sites, which allow registered users to share links to pages they like, include Delicious, Digg, Reddit and Stumbleupon. Once these emails and newsletters are highlighted via the... --- ### Benchmark Introduces Video Email Feature With All Email Marketing Plans > Press Room From press releases to company announcements, you'll find it all here. Benchmark Introduces Video Email Feature With All Email Marketing Plans - Published: 2009-04-06 - Modified: 2020-01-20 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/pressroomnews06apr09/ - Categories: Uncategorized Press Room From press releases to company announcements, you'll find it all here. Benchmark Introduces Video Email Feature With All Email Marketing Plans The new tool lets all Benchmark customers store YouTube and Google videos, drop them into their layouts, and send them to the permission-based recipients of their email marketing campaigns. Long Beach, CA, April 6, 2009 - Benchmark Email, a leading, award-winning email marketing service, has introduced a new feature that lets customers create and send video email. As part of this new tool, customers can now insert how-to clips, personal messages, customer testimonials, product showcases and other types of videos in their email layouts, tracking click-through rates and other data in real time. "We've heard for a long time that video email would be the next big thing when it comes to promoting products and services, but we needed to find a way to bypass the video blocking feature most email clients use," says Curt Keller, CEO of Benchmark Email. "With this new feature, customers can embed their videos in their own gallery at the Benchmark Email site, drop them right into their layouts, and send these video emails to their opt-in customers without any worry about the blocking feature. " The main roadblock with video email has always been video blocking by email service providers, which many email experts say was put in place to prevent the spread of viruses via email. With Benchmark's video email feature, opt-in subscribers receive an email in their in box... --- ### Benchmark Email Launches New Email Marketing Service With Expanded Features > Press Room From press releases to company announcements, you'll find it all here. Benchmark Email Launches New Email Marketing Service With Expanded - Published: 2009-03-23 - Modified: 2020-01-20 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/pressroomnews23mar09/ - Categories: Uncategorized Press Room From press releases to company announcements, you'll find it all here. Benchmark Email Launches New Email Marketing Service With Expanded Features The new service boasts a richer feature and tool-set, better customization and an entirely new Website designed with easier navigation and speed in mind. Long Beach, CA (PRWeb), March 23, 2009 – Benchmark Email, an award-winning email marketing service for businesses, has launched a new site with expanded tools, better features and easier navigation. The new Benchmark Email focuses on customization, ease of use and sophisticated elements that allow email marketers to not just create and send HTML email and newsletter campaigns, but send out email surveys and polls, archive emails online for easy viewing, and even send video email campaigns. "We realized that in order to preserve our reputation as one of the top email marketing services out there, we needed to change and stay ahead of the curve," says Curt Keller, CEO of Benchmark Email. "We took the heart of the old Benchmark Email – the powerful features, great tracking and affordable price -- and packaged all of this in a way that makes it easy for anyone to use the service, whether they're a newbie or a seasoned email marketer. It was critical that we find a balance that lets the beginning email marketer use our service with ease, and the experienced email marketer enjoy a new and expanded set of highly advanced features. " The Benchmark Email staff spent months focusing on the... --- ### Benchmark Introduces Next Generation, Web-Based Email Builder > Press Room From press releases to company announcements, you'll find it all here. Benchmark Introduces Next Generation, Web-Based Email Builder Benchmark - Published: 2008-05-20 - Modified: 2024-10-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/pressroomnews20may08/ - Categories: Uncategorized Press Room From press releases to company announcements, you'll find it all here. Benchmark Introduces Next Generation, Web-Based Email Builder Benchmark Email's new email editor, named Email Builder, includes a whole slew of new templates, a spam checker, a spell checker, and the ability to drag-and-drop in text, photos and more. Long Beach, CA (PRWEB) May 20, 2008 - Benchmark Email, a leading provider of Web-based email marketing tools, has launched Email Builder, a Web 2. 0. editor for creating and adjusting email layouts and templates. Conceived and tested with usability and easy navigation in mind, Email Builder enables Benchmark Email customers to construct and arrange their layouts using drag- and-drop techniques, see if their email templates contain wording that may set off spam filters, and check the spelling of their email copy " all on the same Web page. "We are extremely proud to introduce Email Builder, a next generation email editing tool," says Curt Keller, CEO of Benchmark Internet Group. "Email Builder was built from the ground up by a team of award-winning developers and was created with a lot of input from our customers. Thanks to this collaboration, Email Builder provides an unprecedented ease of use and the very features our customers really want. " Benchmark's current customers have the choice of staying with the current email editor or using Email Builder, while new customers will start by using Email Builder as soon as they sign up. To adjust to the sophistication of the new template tool,... --- ### Benchmark kicks off new and improved email marketing affiliate program > Press Room From press releases to company announcements, you'll find it all here. Benchmark kicks off new and improved email marketing affiliate program - Published: 2007-10-30 - Modified: 2020-01-20 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/pressroomnews30oct07/ - Categories: Uncategorized Press Room From press releases to company announcements, you'll find it all here. Benchmark kicks off new and improved email marketing affiliate program Backed by award-winning MYAP and Kolimbo software, Benchmark Email Rewards pays out commissions of $5. 50, $35, $65 and 25% for life. Long Beach, CA (PRWEB), Oct. 30, 2007 – Benchmark Email, a leading, Web-based email marketing service, has just launched an entirely new MYAP/Kolimbo-backed affiliate program. Named Benchmark Email Rewards, the program will pay affiliates $5. 50 per free trial sign up plus $35 or $65 for each paid sign up. The best Benchmark Email affiliates will eventually be invited to join the lifetime commissions program, getting 25% of each sale every single month. "We are absolutely thrilled to announce our new Benchmark Email Rewards program," says Curt Keller, CEO of Benchmark Email. "Our new structure is extremely flexible, rewarding affiliates for free trials, paid plans, or both. For our very best affiliates, we’re even offering 25% to life, every single month, as long as the person who signed up remains a Benchmark Email customer. " Benchmark’s email marketing suite includes list management, list building, layout creation, campaign scheduling and robust reporting tools. The service requires no downloads and features a free, no-risk 30-day trial. Commissions are paid out when a minimum of $25 is reached and affiliates have 24/7 access to MYAP’s tracking software, where they can view all their customer transactions. Potential affiliates can find out more by clicking here. PR Contact Jennifer Perez... --- ### Benchmark Email introduces SPF records for email marketing campaigns > Press Room From press releases to company announcements, you'll find it all here. Benchmark Email introduces SPF records for email marketing campaigns - Published: 2007-08-09 - Modified: 2020-01-20 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/pressroomnews9aug07/ - Categories: Uncategorized Press Room From press releases to company announcements, you'll find it all here. Benchmark Email introduces SPF records for email marketing campaigns Sender Policy Framework (SPF) records protect against fraud and boost delivery rates by authenticating the origin of email. LONG BEACH, CA (PRWeb) August 9, 2007 - Benchmark Email, a leading Web and permission-based email marketing service, now features SPF email domain addresses to protect customers from sender fraud. Using Sender Policy Framework technology, Benchmark Email can create a record that shows ISPs that customer emails are coming from a trusted source. "Benchmark Email makes it extremely easy to use SPF records with our email marketing system," says Curt Keller, CEO of Benchmark Email. "We can not only register a new email domain on behalf of our clients, but we can make certain that it features an SPF record to show email providers that our customers are who they say they are. If an SPF customer is also using good email marketing practices, the end result is higher delivery rates. " Benchmark Email customers can start the process by creating a domain name similar to the one they use for their business. For instance, if the customer’s domain is vacations. com, the SPF domain might be vacationsmail. com. Once this new domain is established and registered through Benchmark Email, ISPs can verify that the mail came from a list of "safe" IP addresses. Ultimately, if someone hijacks the SPF email address of a Benchmark customer and sends email from... --- ### Benchmark Email Introduces Custom Email and Image Hosting Services > Press Room From press releases to company announcements, you'll find it all here. Benchmark Email Introduces Custom Email and Image Hosting Services The - Published: 2007-07-18 - Modified: 2020-01-20 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/pressroomnews18jul07/ - Categories: Uncategorized Press Room From press releases to company announcements, you'll find it all here. Benchmark Email Introduces Custom Email and Image Hosting Services The image hosting feature lets clients upload their images and use them in their layouts, while the custom email service lets clients decide which address to use when sending email marketing campaigns. Long Beach, CA (PRWEB) July 18, 2007 -- Benchmark Email, one of the leading Web and permission-based email marketing services, has introduced two new features: image hosting and custom email addresses. With the image hosting feature, clients can upload their photos or company logos, store them online, and add them to their newsletters and email layouts. The new custom email element lets clients decide where their email or newsletters will originate from. "These new features, image hosting and custom email addresses, are just two more solid additions to our robust set of online tools," says Curt Keller, CEO of The Benchmark Internet Group. "Now clients can store their images online and drop them into their layouts or decide which email address they want customers to see when they send their email newsletters and campaigns. " When Benchmark clients use the semi-custom email option, they can personalize their campaigns by creating an address that combines their company name and Benchmark's email domain name. Benchmark's custom email feature empowers clients to put their own company or personal email address in the "from" field when they send email marketing campaigns. To use the semi-custom option, clients must pay a... --- ### Benchmark Email Now features Custom Autoresponders for Email Marketing Campaigns > Press Room From press releases to company announcements, you'll find it all here. Benchmark Email Now features Custom Autoresponders for Email Marketing - Published: 2007-07-10 - Modified: 2024-10-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/pressroomnews10jul07/ - Categories: Uncategorized Press Room From press releases to company announcements, you'll find it all here. Benchmark Email Now features Custom Autoresponders for Email Marketing Campaigns The feature empowers customers to create "drip" campaigns, sending a string of custom emails to clients. Long Beach, CA (PRWEB) July 10, 2007 -- Benchmark Email, a Web and permission-based email marketing service, now features custom autoresponders that work directly with a Website sign-up box. Each autoresponder activates after a client enters their contact info into a ListBuilder, and sends a string of custom emails over a set span of time. "Autoresponders are the ultimate in email marketing personalization," says Curt Keller, CEO of The Benchmark Internet Group. "With autoresponders, customers can create a campaign that sends a different email every single time. They can set up their autoresponder, watch it go and measure their campaign results. " Benchmark Email customers can use different layouts and copy for each autoresponder email. These emails can be used to cross-sell products, announce sales events or extend time-sensitive discounts to clients. The campaigns are scheduled on customer preference and can span as long as 90 days. After each autoresponder email is opened, data is immediately sent to Benchmark's reporting suite where customers can view real-time reports on the effectiveness of their campaigns. Benchmark's autoresponder service costs $7. 95 a month with a paid pricing plan. --- ### Benchmark Email Launches Elite Program for Franchisers and Franchisees > Press Room From press releases to company announcements, you'll find it all here. Benchmark Email Launches Elite Program for Franchisers and Franchisees - Published: 2007-04-17 - Modified: 2020-01-20 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/pressroomnews17apr07/ - Categories: Uncategorized Press Room From press releases to company announcements, you'll find it all here. Benchmark Email Launches Elite Program for Franchisers and Franchisees The flexible setup gives deep discounts to franchisees and an easily managed account to franchisers. Long beach, CA (PRWEB) April 17, 2007 -- Benchmark Email, the leading software as a service provider of Web-based email marketing tools, has kicked off a specialty program for multi-branch franchises. The scalable program gives franchisers overall control of a custom account, while an unlimited number of software users, franchisees, are charged for services as a single entity. The program is equally optimal for main office and branch system businesses including real estate, insurance and travel. "This new program is a solid setup for franchisers and franchisees," says Curt Keller, CEO of The Benchmark Internet Group. "Because Benchmark Email is strictly permission based and Can-Spam compliant, franchisers can rest easy that the company brand is protected, even if over-eager franchisees try to send email without permission. Meanwhile, the franchisees can build their customer base and promote products, services and seasonal specials, boosting their own business as well as the company brand. " If franchiser account holders want all email to customers to have a unified look, Benchmark's seasoned design team can create custom email templates for a discount. Franchisee and branch office customers will also have access more than 150 templates. Benchmark users can boost their client lists with forward-to-a-friend buttons and Signup Forms, and even solicit customer opinion though email-based surveys. Benchmark... --- ### The Benchmark Internet Group Launches Bulk Email Dedicated Server Program > Press Room From press releases to company announcements, you'll find it all here. The Benchmark Internet Group Launches Bulk Email Dedicated Server - Published: 2007-03-27 - Modified: 2024-10-04 - URL: https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/pressroomnews27mar07/ - Categories: Uncategorized Press Room From press releases to company announcements, you'll find it all here. The Benchmark Internet Group Launches Bulk Email Dedicated Server Program The elite, affordable service helps bulk email senders build solid reputations with ISPs LONG BEACH, Calif. (PRWEB) March 27, 2007 -- The Benchmark Internet Group has launched a world-class Bulk Email Dedicated Server Program, specifically designed for permission-based, high-volume email senders. The new service, targeting customers that send at least 250,000 emails a month, not only gives clients their own IP address and server space, but helps them foster goodwill with Internet service providers. "Our program gives bulk senders and companies with a large Internet presence the unique opportunity to build great reputations with ISPs," says Curt Keller, CEO of The Benchmark Internet Group. "If clients use our service, emails sent from them will always feature the same IP address. We also use SPF as one of our authentication schemes. By using a permission-based list and good practices, our bulk email clients come across as trustworthy with ISPs, improving delivery rates and their overall reputation as a sender. " Benchmark's Bulk Email Dedicated Server Program also gives clients the distinct advantage of not having to share IP addresses with other email senders. By sharing IP addresses with senders using less-than-stellar practices, the delivery rates of even the most reputable customers can suffer. Another bonus of the program is individual care and support from Benchmark's specialized help team, which is constantly updated on the latest filtering methods of... --- ---