Creative Ways to Turn Your Content Into Cash

When it comes to monetizing your content, thinking outside the box is key. Here are a few creative ideas that can help you transform your valuable content into a lucrative income stream:

1. Offer premium subscription plans: Take your email marketing to the next level by offering exclusive content and perks to subscribers who are willing to pay a monthly fee. This can include in-depth industry insights, expert interviews, or access to a private community where members can network and learn from each other.Creating premium subscription plans not only provides an additional revenue stream, but it also allows you to establish a deeper connection with your audience. By offering exclusive content, you can provide your subscribers with valuable insights that they can’t find anywhere else. This can help you position yourself as an industry expert and build a loyal community of subscribers who are willing to invest in your knowledge.Furthermore, the private community aspect of the subscription plan can foster networking opportunities among your subscribers. They can share their experiences, exchange ideas, and learn from each other, creating a valuable and supportive environment. This added benefit can be a strong selling point for potential subscribers, as they not only gain access to premium content but also become part of a community of like-minded individuals.
2. Create and sell digital products: If you have a niche expertise or a unique perspective, consider packaging your knowledge into digital products such as eBooks, online courses, or webinars. These offerings can provide immense value to your audience while generating a passive income stream for you.When creating digital products, it’s important to identify the specific needs and pain points of your audience. By addressing these challenges through your products, you can position yourself as a problem solver and provide practical solutions. This not only enhances the value of your digital products but also increases the likelihood of attracting customers.Additionally, digital products offer scalability and flexibility. Once created, they can be sold repeatedly without incurring additional production costs. This means that you can continue to generate income from your digital products long after the initial creation. Furthermore, you have the freedom to update and improve your products based on customer feedback, ensuring that they remain relevant and valuable over time.
3. Partner with brands for sponsored content: As an email marketer, you have built a loyal and engaged audience. Leverage this trust by partnering with relevant brands to create sponsored content. Whether it’s reviews, tutorials, or sponsored newsletters, working with brands can provide a steady income stream while still delivering value to your subscribers.Sponsored content allows you to collaborate with brands that align with your audience’s interests and values. By selecting the right partners, you can ensure that the sponsored content resonates with your subscribers and adds value to their experience. This can be achieved through authentic product reviews, informative tutorials, or exclusive offers and discounts.When entering into sponsored content partnerships, it’s crucial to maintain transparency with your audience. Clearly disclosing that the content is sponsored helps build trust and ensures that your subscribers understand the nature of the collaboration. By being transparent, you can maintain the integrity of your content while still benefiting from the financial support provided by brands.

Exploring New Monetization Strategies

The digital landscape is constantly evolving, and so are the monetization opportunities. Here are some new strategies that can help you stay ahead of the curve:

One of the most effective ways to monetize your email marketing business is by offering membership or micro-subscriptions. Consider offering different tiers of membership with varying benefits. This allows subscribers to choose a plan that aligns with their needs and budget, ensuring a steady and recurring income for your business. With membership or micro-subscriptions, you can provide exclusive content, personalized offers, and other perks to incentivize subscribers to upgrade to a higher tier.

In addition to membership, another strategy to consider is native advertising. Native ads seamlessly blend in with your content, providing a non-intrusive way to monetize your emails. By partnering with third-party advertisers, you can generate revenue while still maintaining the trust and engagement of your subscribers. Native ads can be tailored to match the tone and style of your emails, ensuring a seamless integration that doesn’t disrupt the user experience.

Affiliate marketing is yet another powerful strategy to explore. With affiliate marketing, you can promote products or services that align with your audience’s interests and earn a commission for every sale. This can be a win-win situation, where your subscribers benefit from valuable recommendations, and you earn a passive income through affiliate partnerships. By carefully selecting affiliate programs that resonate with your audience, you can provide genuine recommendations that add value to your subscribers’ lives.

Furthermore, it’s important to continuously analyze and optimize your monetization strategies. Regularly monitor the performance of different monetization channels and make data-driven decisions to maximize your revenue. Experiment with different ad placements, subscription pricing models, and affiliate partnerships to find the optimal mix for your business.

Remember, the key to successful monetization is to strike a balance between generating revenue and providing value to your subscribers. By offering a variety of monetization options and continuously refining your approach, you can create a sustainable and profitable email marketing business.

Leveraging Digital Platforms to Maximize Profits

With the rise of social media and other digital platforms, email marketers now have more avenues than ever to monetize their content. Here’s how you can make the most of these platforms:

Firstly, leverage social media channels to drive traffic to your website or landing pages. Engage with your audience, build a community, and promote your premium offerings to interested subscribers.

One effective strategy is to create engaging and shareable content that resonates with your target audience. By understanding their needs and preferences, you can tailor your social media posts to capture their attention and encourage them to visit your website. Additionally, consider collaborating with influencers or running social media contests to further boost your reach and attract new followers.

Secondly, explore the potential of video content. Platforms like YouTube offer excellent opportunities to monetize your expertise by creating informational videos, tutorials, or behind-the-scenes content.

When creating video content, it’s important to focus on providing value to your viewers. By offering practical tips, insightful advice, or entertaining stories, you can establish yourself as an authority in your niche and attract a loyal following. To monetize your videos, consider incorporating affiliate partnerships or sponsored content. This allows you to earn a commission or receive payment for promoting products or services relevant to your audience.

Last but not least, consider launching a podcast. This audio format allows you to reach a wider audience, attract sponsorships, and communicate with your subscribers in a more personal way.

Podcasts are gaining popularity, and this trend is expected to continue in 2024. To make your podcast successful, focus on delivering valuable and engaging content that appeals to your target audience. Invite industry experts as guests, share personal experiences, and provide actionable insights. By consistently delivering high-quality episodes, you can attract loyal listeners and open doors to potential sponsorships or partnerships.

Furthermore, promote your podcast across various platforms to increase its visibility. Share snippets or highlights on social media, collaborate with other podcasters for cross-promotion, and optimize your podcast for search engines. By implementing these strategies, you can maximize the reach and profitability of your podcast.

Unlocking the Potential of Content Monetization in 2024

As an email marketer, there has never been a better time to monetize your content. By exploring creative ways to turn your content into cash, staying updated with new strategies, and leveraging digital platforms, you can unlock the true potential of content monetization in 2024.

One of the key aspects to consider when monetizing your content is providing value to your subscribers. In a world where information is readily available, it’s crucial to offer something unique and valuable to your audience. This could be in the form of exclusive insights, expert advice, or industry trends that they can’t find elsewhere. By consistently delivering high-quality content, you can build trust with your subscribers and establish yourself as an authority in your niche.

However, providing value alone is not enough. To truly unlock the potential of content monetization, you need to think outside the box and find innovative ways to monetize your offerings. Traditional methods such as sponsored content or affiliate marketing can be effective, but there are also new and exciting opportunities emerging in the digital landscape.

One such opportunity is the rise of microtransactions. With the increasing popularity of digital wallets and payment platforms, it has become easier than ever for subscribers to make small, incremental purchases. This opens up a whole new world of possibilities for content monetization. You could offer premium content or additional resources for a small fee, allowing your subscribers to customize their experience and access exclusive content.

Another emerging trend is the integration of interactive elements into your content. By incorporating quizzes, polls, or interactive videos, you can create a more engaging experience for your subscribers. This not only keeps them coming back for more but also provides opportunities for monetization. For example, you could offer sponsored quizzes or interactive ads that provide a seamless and enjoyable experience for your audience while generating revenue for your business.

Furthermore, it’s essential to stay updated with the latest strategies and trends in content monetization. The digital landscape is constantly evolving, and what works today may not work tomorrow. By staying informed and adapting to changes, you can stay ahead of the curve and maximize your monetization efforts.

Lastly, leveraging digital platforms is crucial in unlocking the potential of content monetization. With the rise of social media and other online channels, there are numerous opportunities to reach a wider audience and generate revenue. By strategically promoting your content on these platforms, you can attract new subscribers and increase your monetization potential.

So, as you embark on your journey to monetize your content in 2024, remember to provide value, think outside the box, stay updated, and leverage digital platforms. With the right strategies and a commitment to innovation, you can unlock the true potential of content monetization and take your email marketing endeavors to new heights!

If you want to learn more about marketing, check out the rest of our blog. If you’re ready to start making content, sign up for a free trial to get the tools you need to make great marketing campaigns!

The post How to monetize your content in 2024 appeared first on VerticalResponse.

1. Recap your best posts

Identify the best-performing posts from your Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn and Instagram accounts. Then, turn them into a roundup email. Since these are the posts your audience likes and shares, it’s a good bet your email subscribers will likewise appreciate them. Your social audience is vetting your email content for you!

You can do a new roundup each week or month, depending on how often you post to social media; or, create an annual end-of-year email that recaps the best posts for the entire year.

2. List favorite social tips

You probably post tips your social audience can use to solve problems or achieve their goals. Turn your favorite tips into a list you can send via email.

For example, a beauty salon might routinely post styling and makeup tips on its Facebook page. The salon can take its ten favorite tips and create an email with the subject line “Top 10 Makeover Tips” for a quick and easy blast its audience will love.

3. Reuse social images

Images are central to many social accounts, and for good reason: People tend to like and share images more than text-only content. You can identify the best performing images on your social accounts and repurpose them into email content.

Back to our beauty salon. Let’s say the salon posts images of satisfied customers rocking their new styles. Take the ten best performers — or perhaps the most interesting images — then turn them into an email: “Which hairstyle should you get? Be inspired by these customer photos.”

4. Poll results

Facebook polls can offer unique insights your audience will find interesting. If you run Facebook polls, repurpose the results into email content.

For example, let’s say our beauty salon runs a Facebook poll asking customers to rate four different hairstyles. Once the poll is complete, it can repurpose the results into email content: “This is the sexiest hairstyle today, according to readers.”

5. Link to social videos

Even though videos won’t play in most email clients, you can take a screenshot with the play button overlay and embed it into your email body. Then, link to the video hosted on your own website, social page, YouTube or Vimeo.

This strategy is excellent for how-to videos that help your audience. The video screenshot will naturally attract readers’ eyes and yield more clicks than a typical text link, and it’s a great way to introduce your audience to your other platforms — plus motivate new likes and follows.

6. Hot takes on recent events

What events are dominating the news? Do you post commentary on your social media accounts? If so, that commentary can be repurposed as email content.

You’re not limited to your own social content, either. You might do a roundup of hot takes from popular social influencers, complete with your own commentary for a unique and entertaining email that resonates with your audience.

7. Use social discussion as a springboard

What is your audience talking about? Do they have different opinions about a hot topic? Read through discussions on your social posts and use them as a springboard to create unique emails that offer thought-provoking insights.

For example, let’s say our hair salon posts an image and it sparks a debate about the impact culture has on hairstyle choices. The salon could use that discussion to craft a post that explores the debate, presents different points of view and naturally segues to choosing the right hairstyle for each subscriber.

8. Feature user-generated images

When users share images with you or tag you in photos, repurpose those images as email content. User-generated content lends a level of authority to your business and fosters trust. It also suggests authenticity and solidarity with your audience.

For example, our salon could create an email that features photos of users showing off their new hairstyles or beauty makeovers — inspiring content that’s likely to generate new leads from email subscribers.

9. List user-generated quotes

User-generated content is a great way to engage your email audience. Subscribers will identify with your social audience, so they’ll be interested in hearing what other people like them have to say.

You could list quotes from post discussions, social debates or feel-good quotes your followers have shared. Find a way to portray user-generated content as inspiration for subscribers, which can motivate lead generation and sales.

10. List social testimonials

Social testimonials — or social proof — can go a long way toward fostering trust from your email subscribers. Testimonials make it easy to list the perks and benefits of your business, products and services without coming across as overly promotional.

For example, you might identify your favorite testimonials then create an email titled “Why customers love our company.” Then, list the testimonials in your email body, along with links to relevant on-site content.

Bonus Tip

Content repurposing works both ways. Not only can you repurpose social content for email, you can also repurpose your best email content for social media. For example, you might ask subscribers a question and post the results on your social media page. Or, you can use your best emails (those with the most opens, clicks and replies) as inspiration for short-form social posts.

Use these strategies to double your marketing reach without doubling your effort. Put your messaging in front of more customers and free time to grow your business by repurposing social media content in emails today and every day.

If you want to learn more about marketing, check out the rest of our blog. If you’re ready to start making content, sign up for a free trial to get the tools you need to make great marketing campaigns!

The post Tips to Recap Your Social Media Posts appeared first on VerticalResponse.

But many hospitality businesses struggle with this scenario — you train your staff well and aim to give customers the best experience, only to still have disgruntled guests. The solution? Customer surveys.

When surveying past guests, you’ll learn more about their experience and any pain points that you can improve. Here’s why surveying your past guests is vital to your hotel or any hospitality business.

Why Surveying Guests Is Important

The hotel and hospitality industry is only becoming more competitive.

While more people are traveling, opening up the lines of revenue for your business, world travelers have more lodging options. From Airbnb to hostels and even crashing on couches, nomads will do what they can to save a buck and will get the best travel experience.

Not only that, but the COVID-19 pandemic put a damper on the hospitality industry. So much so to where the pandemic set the hotel industry back 10 years.

What’s an effective way to remain competitive and increase your revenue? Not only focusing on customer service but improving the lines of communication between you and your customers.

You’ll know what your past guests thought of their experience and you can make changes to improve the experience for future guests. In addition, this may even lead to better customer retention. Overall, offering a survey can lead to more loyalty, less churn, and more sales.

How to Survey Guests Using Vertical Response

Now that you know why satisfaction surveys are integral for your hospitality business, it’s time to make the best surveys and send them out. But how do you do this? Fortunately, Vertical Response offers a convenient solution.

They offer a free platform to create the best surveys for your business. You can choose from 11 question types, split your survey across multiple pages, and you can even make written responses optional. From here, you can distribute these surveys to your customers via email.

The best part? No coding experience is required. These surveys are easy to create and only require a few clicks to design the best survey for your hotel or hospitality business.

Best Practices When Creating Your Survey

While Vertical Response makes it simple to create the perfect survey, there are some best practices that you should know. Here’s what we recommend.

Ask Questions That Relate to Your End Goal

When compiling your survey questions, it can be difficult to know what to ask. You’ll first want to identify your goals and only ask questions that pertain to that goal.

For example, let’s say your goal is knowing your guest’s experience staying at your hotel. If that’s the case, you may not want to ask how they found your business.

But Don’t Make Them Biased

Another problem that businesses have when creating their surveys is they focus too much on accomplishing their end goal, making their survey completely biased.

This may annoy your surveyors, causing abandonment. And if your survey questions are too direct, you may not receive an honest answer.

Instead, ask open-ended questions that pertain to your end goal. Starting a question with a phrase like “what do you think of…” is neutral but also a better way to lead into a question.

Keep It Short

With that being said, keep your survey as short as possible. If your survey is clear and concise, your past guests will be more likely to fill it out. If you’re sending a lengthy survey, your abandonment rates will likely increase.

Add Text Fields When Necessary

Text fields can offer the most insightful information. At the same time, they can also be intimidating. Offer them whenever appropriate.

Most businesses will offer a few multiple-choice questions before including the text box. Others will only make the text box optional.

When you do offer the text box, include an open-ended question. Something like, “how did you feel when staying at our hotel” will encourage customers to provide a more detailed answer.

Make Ratings Consistent

Instead of offering textboxes or even multiple-choice questions, many businesses only include a star rating for simplicity. While this is convenient, it’s important to make star ratings consistent. For example, stick with the basic format: 1 star is poor and 5 stars mean excellent.

If you make 1 star the best, this will confuse your surveyors and you won’t receive accurate responses.

Avoid Assumptions and Nichey Language

Sure, you and your staff develop nichey language to benefit your business processes. However, don’t assume your customers will understand what this means. Avoid niche language in your surveys.

Make your surveys clear and concise so anyone can understand them. Avoid acronyms, industry jargon, and references to competitors.

In addition, don’t assume your guests know the ins and outs of the hospitality industry. Instead, make your survey about their experience.

Use Yes/No Answers

Simple answers are key to surveys. And what simpler answer can someone provide than yes or no? Yes/no responses are easier for your customers to evaluate and answer. Yes/no responses will also cut out more complex answers, such as “highly agree” and “not valued,” responses that can easily confuse your customers.

How do you do this? Vertical Response offers a drop-down option where you can input yes/no answers to your questions.

Vertical Response Makes Surveying Customers Easy

One of the best ways to improve your hotel or hospitality business is by surveying past customers. You can easily get started with any of Vertical Response’s products.

While we offer a free survey creator, we also have many email marketing tools that can convert more leads and retain customers. You can send an email at the perfect time, create beautiful marketing emails, create a custom landing page, and monitor your campaign performance all in one place.

Sign up here to start your free trial.

The post Win More Guests by Surveying Your Last Guests appeared first on VerticalResponse.

If you run accommodations through Airbnb, then you need to use all the right marketing for Airbnb strategies.

However, you might not be sure where to get started. When you are marketing your Airbnb, you have to worry about things like digital marketing, branding, social media posting, and sending out emails.

It can feel overwhelming to come up with your Airbnb marketing strategy.

That’s why we’ve put together this article. In it, we’ll review how you can market your Airbnb using email automation through Vertical Response.

Finally, you can get more guests and make more money than ever. Read on to learn more.

Build Your Email List

To market your Airbnb using email automation, you first need to build your email list. If you don’t have one, then you don’t have any customers to send your email newsletter to, which means you won’t be able to get your marketing off the ground in the first place.

While there are a few tricks you can use to build your email list, like asking your guests to provide your email in a message or to write it in a guestbook at your home, there is another strategy you can use.

You can create what’s called a CTA on a landing page on your website. Don’t have a website for your Airbnb? You definitely should, as this helps with building your brand and getting more attention from customers.

Once you have your website, you can create landing pages. These are pages your customers are led to, after which they’re asked to complete an action. (“CTA” stands for “call to action.”)

In this case, your CTA should encourage your customers to sign up for your email list.

However, a CTA page needs to have great copy and design. This is where Vertical Response can help. They offer CTA page designs that are easy for you to adapt to your brand and tailor to your customers.

They’re optimized so that it’s easier for you to get your lead information. check out: Gain more followers with social media invite emails

Make It Personal

When advertising your Airbnb, you need to make the emails you send out automatically after someone has expressed interest in or stayed at your Airbnb are personalized. This will make your guests feel like you care, and they’ll choose your Airbnb over someone else’s.

With Vertical Response, making emails you send personal is much easier. This is because, whenever someone engages with your email newsletters, Vertical Response collects data on that customer.

This data includes information about your guest’s location, whether they’ve opened the email, what they’ve clicked in the email, and what type of device they’re using.

Once you have this information, you can make the emails more personal.

Additionally, you can design the emails to reflect both your brand and the aesthetic preferences of your customers.

Because Vertical Response has many templates available, you can create a beautiful email effortlessly. If you need to make any changes, you can also customize it easily.

Create an Email Campaign

If you want to advertise your Airbnb successfully, you need to create an email campaign where you send emails to your Airbnb customers every step of the way. This way, you can keep them engaged and make them loyal customers.

For example, you could create a welcome email that you send to every customer when they sign up for your newsletter.

You should also create a campaign anytime you’re offering discounts, Airbnb activities, or want to get your reservations for after the summer. It’s also smart to remind your past guests about your Airbnb during the off-season.

Of course, you should also send an email anytime a guest has checked out of your Airbnb so you can thank them for visiting.

Considering how many emails you have to send and the specific order for each, this might seem overwhelming to have to do. However, you can easily create an automated email campaign with Vertical Response.

Once you’ve set it up, you don’t have to worry about sending out the emails.

Your guests will receive emails when they’re supposed to, so they think of you first when they’re looking to spend a vacation in your area again.

Send Surveys

By sending surveys to your customers, it’s a win-win. You can learn from past guests about what they enjoyed from their experience staying at your Airbnb—and what they didn’t—so you can make their experience better next time.

Additionally, you can ask for permission to make the survey results public. In this way, you can advertise what people enjoyed about staying at your Airbnb.

If you include an area in the survey where people can leave comments, you can include positive views on your website, too.

With Vertical Response, it’s easy to send surveys. They’re easy to design and can be easily filled out on a smartphone, making your marketing efforts even easier.

Need More More Tips for Marketing Your Airbnb?

Now that you’ve learned about how marketing your Airbnb with email automation is easy with the use of Vertical Response, you might want additional marketing tips. Maybe you want to learn about how to understand your audience better to craft effective emails.

Or maybe you want help figuring out which emails you should send out in which order.

Whatever tips you need, we can help. At Vertical Response, we’re experts when it comes to email automation and marketing. We also offer the Vertical Response solution. Check out the free trial now.

The post Marketing Your Airbnb with Email Automation from Vertical Response appeared first on VerticalResponse.

As the season of gift-giving draws near, companies are hopping onto holiday trends. The holidays are a great opportunity for businesses to make more sales. However, when it comes to holiday marketing, it can be different every year.

New marketing trends see growth and fall every year. Many companies look to past strategies to see what worked best for them. Are you looking to ramp up your holiday social media?

In this article, we show you how to boost your holiday social media campaign. From giveaways to holiday discounts, we give you nine holiday marketing ideas. Read on to discover some great social media campaigns for the holidays!

1. Instagram Giveaways

The post 9 Amazing Ideas Will Make Your Holiday Social Media Campaign Pop appeared first on VerticalResponse.

A social media challenge involves a series of activities that creators offer to their subscribers for various reasons. The activities involve several steps and with the guidance of pre-written content.

One of the end-goals for the creator is to build their followers. Ever since the health crisis began, social media challenges began popping up left and right.

As for the nature of the challenges, there are many. Some of the most popular ones include the “Flip the Switch Challenge;” the “Bin Isolation Outing Challenge,” and the “Pillow Challenge.”

But the question is, how do you exactly make a challenge for your business? Check out our guide below.

A Social Media Challenge Starts with the Audience

Creating a social media challenge is not as easy as you think. There are certain steps and areas you need to cover. But what you need to realize is that everything starts with your target audience.

The first order of business is to determine what your audience wants. Here, you need to align your challenge with what interests your target market. Don’t pose a 30-day-25-pushup challenge if you’re catering to a market of seniors.

Not sure what your followers want? Start by asking some questions through email. The key to ensuring the success of your email inquiries is hiring a company that offers comprehensive email marketing services.

Start by creating your automation rules. You also want to set up your tags. Thereafter, you can proceed with the email’s contents.

The rule of thumb is to keep your email short and sweet. Stick to around three to five questions. And for each question, include a link trigger connecting them to the tags you decided on earlier.

When they click on a question, it will automatically add them to a corresponding tag.

Alternatively, you can create a Facebook poll. Here, you will use your Facebook business page where you want to increase your number of followers. In turn, you want these new followers to be part of your email list.

Additionally, you can run a Facebook poll in other Facebook groups you belong to. But make sure these groups are relevant to your niche market.

Determine the Type of Challenge

After gathering the results of the email and/or Facebook polls, the next step is to analyze them. This is the part where you begin to determine the type of social media challenge ideas that will pique the interest of your followers.

Gather the results of the poll and see which one garnered the most responses is the winner. Thereafter, you can start drafting the rules of the challenge.

Before you finalize the rules, you need to be clear and specific about the benefits of joining the challenge. What is the end benefit that your audience will get if they join the challenge? You want the final outcome of the challenge to be something your target audience truly wants.

Be clear with the end benefit, and make sure you can explain it in a maximum of two sentences.

Also, you want your social media challenge to be unique. With so many challenges coming out, you need to keep your users’ excitement level up by becoming creative. You don’t need to make your challenge a one-of-a-kind thing.

There is no problem taking a few elements from other social media challenges. However, be sure to put a different twist to your challenge. Some unique changes will go a long way in making your challenge stand out from the rest.

As for the rules, you need to explain them clearly. How long do you wish the challenge to run for? How will you deliver the challenge?

Lastly, make the challenge short and doable.

Launching Your Challenge

Now you are ready to launch your social media challenge. The first thing to do is to promote it. You have the option to invest in Facebook Ads.

You can also post promos on your Instagram account. If your business has a YouTube channel, you can launch the challenge through a short video.

Your goal is to promote your challenge everywhere you can. Also, decide how you want to share the challenge.

For starters, there is the good old email. With emails, you can reach anyone who is already on your mailing list. Ideally, you want to send daily emails about the challenge.

You want to remind the people of the upcoming challenge. You want to build their excitement leading to the launch.

But the problem with this is that only the ones on your list will get to see the challenge.

Thus, consider partnering your email approach with your social media posts. But in doing so, consider your goal of growing your list. Do you want to grow a list that comes mostly from your Facebook followers?

If so, then use your Facebook page to share your challenge.

The Follow-Through

Lastly, you need to come up with a follow-through strategy. If you see that your list doubled during the event, then congratulations on launching a successful social media challenge.

However, that shouldn’t be the end of your efforts. You need to capitalize on what you already built. Hence, the next step is to convert the participants into sales.

As their excitement is still high, offer special deals for your products or services. You can do so by sending a closing email for the challenge.

You may even conduct a webinar to formally close the challenge. In turn, you can use the webinar for conversion purposes.

Let’s Work on Your Email Marketing Needs Today!

Launching a social media challenge is one of the most exciting and effective ways of reaching your target market. It increases your engagement level and opens up growth opportunities. But if you’re too tied up handling the other aspects of your business, we can step in and extend a helping hand.

We offer full-service email marketing and other digital solutions. Connect with us and start a free trial. Let’s start working on your marketing needs today!

The post If You Build It They Will Come: Growing Your Presence With a Social Media Challenge appeared first on VerticalResponse.

1. Photo contests

Halloween photo contests are one of the easiest ways to earn tons of social shares for your brand. Start with a killer prize, then ask your audience to enter by posting their best photos of:

• Halloween costumes
• Haunted house décor
• Group photos
• Pet Halloween costumes
• Creepy local haunts
• Spooky vacations
• Halloween treats

If possible, select a theme that’s relevant to your products and services. For example, a grocery store might launch a Facebook contest for the best Halloween recipes.

Choose winners based on likes and shares, or use a third-party app to tally votes. By doing this, your audience will generate engagement for your brand.

2. Spooktacular sales

Hosting a Halloween sale? Facebook is a great way to get the word out. Incorporate frighteningly fun Halloween images into your posts, such as:

• Ghosts, goblins and ghouls
• Witches
• Vampires
• Werewolves
• Pumpkins and Jack O’ Lanterns
• Zombies
• Bats
• Famous horror monsters (Frankenstein, Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers, etc.)
• Kids in Halloween costumes
• Pets in Halloween costumes
• Haunted houses

The goal is to make your posts stand out with a relevant Halloween theme that people want to share.

3. Event invites

If your business is sponsoring a festival, promoting a booth at a local event or hosting a special Halloween party, use Facebook to invite your audience to attend. You can:

• Create an event on Facebook
• Share the event on your Facebook page and within Facebook groups
• Ask for RSVPs (people can select “Going” or “Interested” right on Facebook)
• Offer incentives for people who RSVP, such as a freebie, VIP parking or a discount
• Use Facebook ads to promote your event

If your event looks fun, event invites will earn interest and shares — ultimately driving customers to your door.

4. Halloween tips and tricks

Identify relevant tips and tricks you can share to help your audience enjoy the best Halloween ever. Ideas include:

• Halloween costume ideas and DIY tips
• Halloween decoration tricks
• Halloween recipes
• Halloween party hosting tips
• Halloween crafts
• Halloween on a budget tips

Again, the best strategy is to find a correlation between your tips, your audience and your business so you have a natural segue from post to sales.

5. Halloween lead magnets

Create an eBook packed with Halloween tips, then promote it on Facebook. The eBook serves as a lead magnet: To get it, your audience must visit your site and enter their email addresses, then you can market to them. Ideas include:

• How to host the perfect Halloween party
• 10 cool Halloween craft ideas
• Halloween kids safety tips
• Halloween cookbook
• Halloween travel guide (spookiest places in America)

Your eBook should contain valuable information your audience won’t find elsewhere, and it can be peppered with product mentions to help influence sales. Plus, you can continue reaching your audience with ongoing email marketing.

6. Halloween safety tips

Create a series of Facebook posts focused on Halloween safety tips for kids. It’s a great way to earn shares, as parents will want to help friends and family members keep their kids safe, too. Ideas include:

• Wear bright colors and add reflective strips so drivers can see children
• Stay with a parent or group of friends — no one goes alone
• Stay in trusted neighborhoods
• Keep a phone handy and know emergency numbers
• Have a parent check candy before eating it (plus tips on how to check it)
• Make sure toy weapons do not have sharp points
• Pumpkin carving safety tips
• Stay on sidewalks and don’t text and walk
• Safety tips for drivers

With a little research, you can develop a series of Halloween safety tips; or, create one post with a long list that’s infinitely shareable.

7. Scavenger hunt

Develop a fun, family-friendly Halloween scavenger hunt and promote it on Facebook. People who complete the hunt the fastest can win a prize. Have a family member submit photos of each item they find to prove they completed the hunt. Ideas include:

• Items hidden around local landmarks
• Clues to find local historical or creepy sites
• Halloween-themed items found at home
• Animals and items found in nature
• Items found in local shops (you might even partner with local businesses to sponsor the scavenger hunt, so that players must visit each store)
• Local restaurant menus

Do some research to identify the best Halloween scavenger hunt ideas for your business and audience, then promote it on Facebook.

8. Store décor and employee costumes

Spotlight your store and employees by posting photos of your Halloween décor and their best costumes. Ideas include:

• Your store or storefront, transformed into a haunted house
• “Monster” footprint stickers that lead to your best Halloween sales
• Costumed employees in fun Halloween scenes (perhaps recreate famous movie scenes)

The idea here is to post shareable content that adds a human element to your business.

9. Creepy product promos

You invest a lot in making your products appeal to your customer base. For Halloween, have a little fun by creating creepy product promos that are sure to be shared. Ideas include:

• Photos of products set in an eerie Halloween setting
• A video commercial of a product used in a unique way by a Halloween character
• A special Halloween version of one of your most popular products — a perfect idea for restaurants that can create unique Halloween-themed menu items

Have fun with this type of promotion, and you can create a unique Facebook photo or video that’s destined to go viral.

10. Halloween facts

Dig up interesting Halloween facts and statistics — another great way to motivate social shares. Ideas include:

• Halloween statistics, such as how much candy is sold each year
• Halloween facts, such as which costumes are the most popular this year
• Historical and creepy facts about your town, such as famous local murders or the story behind that one “haunted” house

Look for ways to tie your Halloween facts to your business. For example, you might list the ten most popular Halloween candies, then let people know you have every one of them ready to go in a special edition Halloween gift box.

11. Halloween countdown

Create a unique post each day that counts down to Halloween. Some ideas:

• Post Halloween prep tips by date, like the fact that you should know which costume you’re going to wear by day 15
• Post a fun fact that correlates with the countdown number, like facts about triskaidekaphobia on countdown day 13
• Post a tip of the day to a collection of handy Halloween tips and post a different one each day

A Halloween countdown is fun and engaging, and your audience will look forward to your daily posts.

12. Halloween survey

National statistics are one thing, but what do local customers like? You can use a Facebook survey to find out their favorite:

• Halloween candy
• Halloween costumes
• Horror movies
• Halloween traditions
• Spooky local places
• Halloween party games

Once the survey is complete, you can publish the results in a post that’s sure to be shared between local customers.

13. Repost memes

This one is super easy, but it can generate a lot of likes, shares and engagement for your business.

• Search for Halloween memes that are relevant to your business
• Post them and add your own commentary
• Ask customers to post their favorite Halloween memes
• Ask your audience to vote for their favorite Halloween memes — turn it into a contest!

Reposting memes is a great way to get more Halloween-themed content with minimal effort, but it can also serve as a natural segue to your business when you select relevant memes.

14. In-store photo booth

Use Facebook to invite customers to visit your in-store Halloween photo booth. You can:

• Set up a photo booth in your store, complete with Halloween costumes and props
• Snap photos and share them on Facebook
• Offer customers an instant incentive for participating

This is a fun and engaging promotion that invites customers to interact with your brand and motivates Facebook shares, which will increase brand awareness and drive more customers to your door.

15. Infographics

Infographics are ultra-shareable content that’s perfect for Facebook. Ideas include:

• Halloween recipes
• Halloween costume tips
• Halloween stats and facts
• Halloween décor tricks
• Halloween safety tips
• Most popular Halloween movies
• Most common phobias

Create an eye-catching infographic that’s packed with valuable or entertaining information, and you’re sure to get social shares on Facebook.

Facebook is a great platform for promoting your business at Halloween. The best part? You can take advantage of social post tools to schedule your entire Halloween series in advance — set it and forget it! That way, you’ll be free to focus on other Halloween marketing initiatives while your Facebook Halloween campaign runs on autopilot.

The post 15 wicked good Halloween Facebook post ideas appeared first on VerticalResponse.

1. Recap your best posts

Identify the best performing posts from your Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn and Instagram accounts. Then, turn them into a roundup email. Since these are the posts your audience likes and shares, it’s a good bet your email subscribers will likewise appreciate them. Your social audience is vetting your email content for you!

You can do a new roundup each week or month, depending on how often you post to social media; or, create an annual end-of-year email that recaps the best posts for the entire year.

2. List favorite social tips

You probably post tips your social audience can use to solve problems or achieve their goals. Turn your favorite tips into a list you can send via email.

For example, a beauty salon might routinely post styling and makeup tips on its Facebook page. The salon can take its ten favorite tips and create an email with the subject line “Top 10 Makeover Tips” for a quick and easy blast its audience will love.

3. Reuse social images

Images are central to many social accounts, and for good reason: People tend to like and share images more than text-only content. You can identify the best performing images on your social accounts and repurpose them into email content.

Back to our beauty salon. Let’s say the salon posts images of satisfied customers rocking their new styles. Take the ten best performers — or perhaps the most interesting images — then turn them into an email: “Which hairstyle should you get? Be inspired by these customer photos.”

4. Poll results

Facebook polls can offer unique insights your audience will find interesting. If you run Facebook polls, repurpose the results into email content.

For example, let’s say our beauty salon runs a Facebook poll asking customers to rate four different hairstyles. Once the poll is complete, it can repurpose the results into email content: “This is the sexiest hairstyle today, according to readers.”

5. Link to social videos

Even though videos won’t play in most email clients, you can take a screenshot with the play button overlay and embed it into your email body. Then, link to the video hosted on your own website, social page, YouTube or Vimeo.

This strategy is excellent for how-to videos that help your audience. The video screenshot will naturally attract readers’ eyes and yield more clicks than a typical text link, and it’s a great way to introduce your audience to your other platforms — plus motivate new likes and follows.

6. Hot takes on recent events

What events are dominating the news? Do you post commentary on your social media accounts? If so, that commentary can be repurposed as email content.

You’re not limited to your own social content, either. You might do a roundup of hot takes from popular social influencers, complete with your own commentary for a unique and entertaining email that resonates with your audience.

7. Use social discussion as a springboard

What is your audience talking about? Do they have different opinions about a hot topic? Read through discussions on your social posts and use them as a springboard to create unique emails that offer thought-provoking insights.

For example, let’s say our hair salon posts an image and it sparks a debate about the impact culture has on hairstyle choices. The salon could use that discussion to craft a post that explores the debate, presents different points of view and naturally segues to choosing the right hairstyle for each subscriber.

8. Feature user-generated images

When users share images with you or tag you in photos, repurpose those images as email content. User-generated content lends a level of authority to your business and fosters trust. It also suggests authenticity and solidarity with your audience.

For example, our salon could create an email that features photos of users showing off their new hairstyles or beauty makeovers — inspiring content that’s likely to generate new leads from email subscribers.

9. List user-generated quotes

User-generated content is a great way to engage your email audience. Subscribers will identify with your social audience, so they’ll be interested in hearing what other people like them have to say.

You could list quotes from post discussions, social debates or feel-good quotes your followers have shared. Find a way to portray user-generated content as inspiration for subscribers, which can motivate lead generation and sales.

10. List social testimonials

Social testimonials — or social proof — can go a long way toward fostering trust from your email subscribers. Testimonials make it easy to list the perks and benefits of your business, products and services without coming across as overly promotional.

For example, you might identify your favorite testimonials then create an email titled “Why customers love our company.” Then, list the testimonials in your email body, along with links to relevant on-site content.

Bonus Tip

Content repurposing works both ways. Not only can you repurpose social content for email, you can also repurpose your best email content for social media. For example, you might ask subscribers a question and post the results on your social media page. Or, you can use your best emails (those with the most opens, clicks and replies) as inspiration for short-form social posts.

Use these strategies to double your marketing reach without doubling your effort. Put your messaging in front of more customers and free time to grow your business by repurposing social media content in emails today and every day.

The post 10 ways to repurpose your social media content in emails appeared first on VerticalResponse.

Crafting the perfect invite

Before we jump into some excellent social media email invite examples, here are a few tips for creating an effective invite. Make sure the email is:

• Informative: Let your readers know what they’re going to get or find if they do start following your business on social.
• Easy to read: Include clickable social icons and a straightforward call to action, such as “follow us on social media,” to make it as easy as possible for your readers to connect with you. Remember to add links to all of the accounts that you use.
• Short: Just like any invitation, you should share important information, make the copy fun and personable, and stick to the topic at hand — your social accounts. You want to keep readers focused.
• Attention-grabbing: Include bold colors, clever copy or striking images you’ve shared on your social accounts to get your readers to take notice.

How to increase followers with social media invite emails

Give your subscribers more access. Allow your email subscribers to ask you questions by making your inbox accessible. Add Social Media Followers to Your Email List by using the following tips:

1. Employ the Appropriate Email Marketing Platform

The best email platforms have many tools that will simplify your work. Examples include personalization, automation tools, and A/B testing (more on that later). For example, if a user connects on a link to purchase a ticket, that may cause a follow-up email to be sent to them with additional information about the event and what to anticipate. Additionally, you should have access to analytical tools to improve your message.

2. Make a short course

Social media conversations provide a window into issues that a micro-program can help you resolve. Share the results after that and include a link to the course.

3. Run a contest

Challenges are a fantastic method to engage your social media and grow your email subscriber list. The secret is to send the challenge activities to participants through email before asking them to publish their responses and queries on a social media site.

4. Organize a master class or webinar

A webinar or masterclass is an excellent way to get people off social platforms social media and onto your email list. Offer a live Q&A session and make the recording available to everyone who registers but is unable to attend in person.

5. Questions

You can create a quiz that people on social media are shouting to take and share. It entails being selective in your inclusions. You must strike a balance between keeping it brief and including all the information attendees will need to decide whether to attend and (if they do) prepare in advance email subject line don t forget.

All of these are options that you can select from. Simply put, I would only attempt to complete some of them at once! Naturally, these are only some of the choices available. They are merely jumping-off points to get you started brainstorming original ways to combine your email list and social media.

6. Ensure That Your Messages Stay away from Spam

Today’s spam filters are much smarter than they were in the past. Therefore, you must take steps to prevent your email from ending in the recipient’s spam folder. Fortunately, you should be able to perform a spam check using your software.

However, avoid using too many exclamation points, typos, and sales words (e.g., offer, act now, buy now, etc.). Sending your email to acquaintances and asking them if they had any issues receiving it is another way to test it.

Follow these steps to create an event with social media invites:

An effective subject line

An online event invitation’s subject line can either compel a person to open it or cause them to scroll past it without responding. The subject line is important because it contains the first words your recipient sees about your invitation. Your subject line needs to be relevant because our eyes can only read up to eight words simultaneously. Keep your subject line brief (up to 70 characters), but ensure it contains all the necessary information to get someone to open the email.

Describe your motive

What is the purpose of this email? You briefly mentioned the event in your introduction; now it’s time to elaborate on the subject line. Use this chance to convey the invitation’s core point, but keep it brief.

Individual greeting

Users don’t want cliched sales messaging anymore. They want individualized care instead. Thankfully, top-notch email marketing platforms let you tailor your communications to each individual. If they provide you with a favoured nickname, you may use it instead of their first name. You may also categorize your email lists to send the perfect greeting to the right recipient. For instance, although some visitors prefer a more formal presentation, others could be warmer.

Brief personal introduction

Give a brief personal introduction regarding the event specifics after formalities at the beginning of the email. Make sure that this section of the email is casual yet pertinent to the information provided in the body of the email.

Attractive Images

If you’ve looked at corporate event email invitations, you’ve seen that many of them recommend incorporating banners. You may include a banner at the beginning or end of your online invitation with an eye-catching image and a snappy message. Additionally, you may use other eye-catching images that catch people’s attention, including funny GIFs or memes. Considerable fonts and email headers are further factors.

A noticeable “Take Action” button.

After giving recipients all the details they need about your event, it’s important to add a clear call to action to encourage them to take the next step. Even if registration or tickets are free and the procedure is essentially random, there is a significantly greater probability that people will attend if you get them to commit to it via a registration or ticketing process than just telling them about your event and hoping they show up.

Set a course for your plan and follow it

It might take effort to grow your social media following with email marketing. It takes careful preparation and commitment. Please spend some time developing a strategy that will work best for your company, and after you put it into action, stick with it. The key to winning the game is being reliable and persistent. You can create an effective social media strategy by enticing subscribers to follow you on social media, providing rewards, using CTAs, and connecting your social media accounts to your emails.

Although you’ll want to include the elements listed above in your email, there is still a lot of room to customize your invite. For inspiration, take a look at how these companies reached out to their subscribers in order to build their social following.

EyeBuyDirect

EyeBuyDirect opens their email with “Come socialize with us” — a headline that clearly and cleverly states what the message is about. They also incentivize “the follow.” People who use their hashtags on social have a chance to win a free pair of glasses. What’s more, the email design works with the copy to encourage readers to check out their social accounts. All of their social icons are front and center. It also looks like the business is sharing user-submitted photos in the message, to showcase the types of images new followers can expect to see.

The Class of 23

This simple email from The Class of 23 is sent to new email subscribers, and it functions as both a welcome email and a social media invite. They have a link to their Instagram profile in the body of the email, as well as a link in the footer of the message. The email also briefly touches on the benefits of following them (followers receive daily updates on merchandise.)

Forever 21

You don’t have to create a formal invite to get your subscribers to engage with you on social. Rather than simply asking readers to follow them, Forever 21 sent out a promotional email that integrates their social media accounts into the offer. In the message, readers are asked to post a selfie of themselves in a Forever 21 outfit, and tag the company. When they show the post at the register, they receive 21 percent off their purchase. Not only does this email encourage readers to visit the company’s social profiles, but it also extends their reach and builds brand awareness. When customers share their Forever 21 selfies on their personal accounts, there’s a good chance that their followers will visit Forever 21’s account, and some of those people might even follow them.

The most important thing to keep in mind when creating a social media invite is to answer the following questions: “How can I provide value to my readers and followers?” and “What’s in it for them?” Then, keep followers coming back for more with engaging posts and conversations.

Conclusion: 

By using these suggestions, you may increase the success of your company’s next event and use an effective email marketing strategy. Just be sure to get your email invitations out in plenty of time for recipients to sign up, and feel free to send your email invitation again to anybody who wasn’t responsive the first time.

With this new knowledge of how to write an effective corporate event invitation email, your strategic online invitations will result in higher engagement and attendance rates. Remember to use these suggestions wisely, and that simplicity is the key.

Social media email templates are a powerful tool for businesses to reach out to their audience and promote their brand. In order to effectively utilize these templates, it is important to create a well-crafted subject line that will grab the reader’s attention and make them want to take action. The content of the email should also provide social proof and be designed in a way that showcases the business’s presence on various social media platforms. Whether you are promoting a blog post or inviting followers to connect with you on social media, a social media email template can be a great way to drive engagement and build relationships with your audience.

The post Social Media Email Template | Gain more followers with social media invite emails appeared first on VerticalResponse.