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This week on the Affiliate Marketing Podcast, Lee-Ann is joined by Melissa Feemster, co-founder of Team Bespoke for a conversation about planning for holiday and peak periods in affiliate marketing.
Talking points include:
- The importance of planning and anticipating consumer behavior
- Strategies for leveraging different marketing channels
- Diversifying marketing channels and being prepared to pivot based on competition
Melissa also shares insights on managing coupons and loyalty partners, as well as the future of retail performance marketing, including the role of AI and personalisation.
Listen in here for all the insights….
Peak periods
Lee-Ann asks Melissa to explain what the big periods are going to be that brands need to be aware of.
Melissa explains, “So, holiday, especially in the United States, traditionally always started with Black Friday and then moved through the Christmas holiday. But now it’s become longer. We really look at the holiday shopping season starting in October. Amazon Prime has moved their Prime Day into October in some years. That’s really kicked off a lot of holiday shopping.
“Singles Day has been very big in the United States, then of course, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and then moving into the key holiday shopping days throughout December. So that’s what we’re talking about when we talk about peak. The five days of Black Friday through Cyber Monday to potentially even Giving Tuesday, Thanksgiving, depending on how you look at it, tend to be the days when many clients make most of their money for the entire year.”
Get proactive
Lee-Ann says, “Let’s try in the rest of this podcast to help people get their plans in place so that when October hits, they’re ready to rumble and all of their partners are ready to rumble with them. Let’s start off with thinking about key economic factors because obviously it’s a peak period. We need to be getting in front of consumers in advance to leverage the offers and the sales that are going to be coming. You obviously need to be thinking about your sales processes.
“But what do we need to consider on the economic scale? Because year-on-year changes when you’re planning for peak, depending on whether we’re in a recessionary year or not. Talk to us about things that we need to be aware of for this year at the moment.”
Melissa replies, “The consumer is still really seeking value right now. So that value can come in the form of a coupon, it can come in the form of loyalty points. They can come in a lot of ways right from the product value itself.
“The election is happening in the United States in November. And so those things definitely tend to change how the consumer feels. When consumers feel uncertain, they don’t buy. So us as folks who are wanting consumers to buy as much as possible are hoping for as much security for the consumer as we can make. Just anticipating those times when they might not be as ready to buy and being ready to give them what they need in the times when they’re going to feel potentially more secure is important.”
Get the timing right
Lee-Ann asks, “Are there things that we should be planning for like three months before we get to the October-November time and what are some of the best ways to do that?”
“Absolutely there are!” Melissa advises, “Start planning for getting into gift guides in August or September. I know that seems super early, but each of the content sites, the media houses start writing those gift guides in August and September. So making sure that you have presence within those is really important. They’re going to start to come out with those in October, which is a great time for people to really go through consideration and learning about the brand. Then the actual purchases will come through, of course, in the actual holiday peak time. So that’s one thing to think about.
“The next thing is to know that Meta is going to get very expensive around that election and beforehand. So October and end of September are going to get super expensive for any retailer who tends to spend quite a bit on any of the Facebook properties. So know that you might not be able to afford it. You’re going to have to think about how to shift your budget differently.”
Listen to find out more about:
- Preparing for Economic Factors
- Managing Coupons and Loyalty Partners
- Nailing It During the Peak Period
- Avoiding Common Mistakes
Key segments of this podcast and where you can tune in to go direct:
[04:32] Understanding Holiday and Peak Periods
[16:15] Contingency at the Ready!
[31:05] The Future of Retail Performance Marketing
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AND….
If you’re struggling to launch, scale and grow your affiliate program – join us this year in London at the ELEVATE Summit 2024 – Where Lead Generation and Affiliate Marketing will collide.
Taking place for the first time as an in-person event on the 16-17 September in London, take your business to the next level – network with industry experts and grow your business at this informative event built specifically for SMEs , Affiliates, Lead Generators and and Performance Marketers.
EARLY BIRD TICKET PRICES END SOON!
Tickets to this two-day conference include are just £349 in our early bird offer:
- Full two-day conference and expert speaker line-up
- Lunch and Refreshments FREE on both days
- Networking and Exhibitor Area to discover new tools, services and resources
- Matchmaking meet-ups and unlimited Networking
Don’t miss your chance to be a part of this groundbreaking ELEVATE summit and take your performance and lead generation marketing efforts to new heights.
Secure your ticket and learn with industry veterans what’s new and trending in Affiliate and Lead Generation CLICK HERE
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Substack has gained a reputation as one of the go-to tools for content creators looking to build and monetize their audience. With its user-friendly interface and built-in monetization features, Substack has become synonymous with newsletter publishing.
However, as the digital ecosystem continues to expand, it’s crucial for creators to explore alternatives that offer greater customization, diverse monetization options, and enhanced audience engagement tools.
Today, we’re taking a look at the top Substack alternatives that empower content creators and marketers to grow and monetize their audience.
What is Substack?
Substack is a platform that allows writers and content creators to publish and monetize their content. Launched in 2017, it has quickly become a popular choice for writers, journalists, and creators who want to build a direct relationship with their audience.
Substack offers a straightforward interface for writing blog-like content newsletters, hosting videos and podcasts, as well as a subscription model that allows creators to charge for their content, and built-in analytics to track performance.
Benefits of Using Substack
Whether you’re starting a new content venture or looking to scale an existing one, there are a few key reasons why Substack stands out in the creative community:
- 100% free to use, no matter how many posts you publish or how big your following becomes.
- Built-in monetization, that allows you to keep 90% of the revenue from your subscribers
- Podcast hosting (which can also be monetized)
- Automated email notifications, which send out to your subscribers as soon as you publish a new post.
- Clear metrics, so you can see how many subscribers you have, how people engage with your content, etc.
Why Look for Substack Alternatives?
There is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all tech solution, and Substack is no exception to this rule.
While Substack is a powerful tool, B2B marketers might need additional flexibility and more advanced features. Whether it’s more robust automation capabilities, advanced design customization, or better integration with existing tools, exploring alternatives can provide solutions tailored to specific needs.
Here are a few current challenges that serious marketers face when using Substack to build, grow, and monetize an audience:
- No SEO value: Since your Substack content exists on a different URL than your website, you are effectively ensuring that web traffic is funneled away from your website URL.
- Email limitations: With Substack, you don’t have control over any of your emails. All your subscribers receive is a simple notification email. If you want to customize the content of the email—or send additional emails to promote your content—you’ll have to look elsewhere.
- List management: If you already use an ESP, adding Substack to the mix can make it tricky to properly manage your list of subscribers. If someone unsubscribes from Substack, for example, there’s no easy way to ensure that they’re also unsubscribed from your list on Hubspot, Mailchimp, or whichever platform you’re on.
- Costs increase with your success: Substack currently charges 10% per sale, which might be justified when you consider that you’re saving the cost of website hosting and an ESP subscription…until your monetization efforts start paying off. Creators who are bringing in $5K, or $50K, however, will see their Substack cost rising to $500 or $5K/month…without any additional features that other platforms can offer.
4 of the Best Substack Alternatives
1. FeedOtter
Best For: Professional marketers who want a better newsletter curation and automation tool, without having to host their content on an external site or manage multiple email lists.
Overview: FeedOtter is a web-based tool that helps marketers and content creators to automate and scale their email newsletter strategy.
With FeedOtter, you can create a Substack-like email that’s triggered by one or more RSS-feeds, so you know your subscribers are receiving notifications every time you publish your blog post. Since FeedOtter specifically addresses the email curation and automation side of amplifying your content, you are able to continue posting content on your own site for optimal visibility.
FeedOtter includes tools to scale your newsletters with FeedOtter, since it includes content curation tools that help teams to easily review and add relevant content to your email newsletters, whether the content comes from a blog, a website page, or even your TikTok account.
FeedOtter is designed to integrate seamlessly with top email marketing automation platforms, giving you the ultimate combination of content curating and automation—without losing access to the email metrics you need in your ESP.
Key Features:
- RSS-to-Email Automation: Automatically generates email newsletters from your blog’s RSS feed.
- Integration: Works well with HubSpot, Marketo, Pardot, Eloqua, MailChimp, and Salesforce Marketing Cloud.
- Customization: Offers customizable templates and layout options.
- Multiple Content Sources: Choose content for your emails from RSS feeds, curated pages, TikTok, Google Sheets, and more.
2. Medium
Best For: Writers looking to create long-form content while leveraging a built-in audience, without needing advanced customization.
Overview: Medium is a well-known platform for publishing and sharing content. It provides a built-in audience and community, which can be a significant advantage for writers looking to expand their reach.
The platform supports long-form content and encourages in-depth articles, allowing businesses to showcase thought leadership, share industry insights, and build credibility.
If you have high engagement on your posts (indicated through metrics like reads, claps, comments, and highlights), you might consider enrolling in the Partner Program, which provides monetization for high-performing content pieces.
Key Features:
- Built-in Audience: Access to Medium’s large and active user base.
- Monetization: Medium’s Partner Program allows writers to earn money based on engagement.
- Simple Publishing Tools: Easy-to-use editor and content management tools.
- Discoverability: High potential for content to be discovered through Medium’s recommendation algorithms.
3. Beehiiv
Best For: Creators seeking a balance between customization, monetization, and user-friendly design.
Overview: Beehiiv is a relatively new but rapidly growing newsletter platform that emphasizes customization and user experience.
At a first glance, you’ll notice a lot of similarities between Beehiiv and Substack: they both allow you to create and host your content on their platform, pinging subscribers with an email whenever a new post goes live.
On a more detailed level, Beehiiv offers more SEO optimization options as well as a “recommended” feature that helps other relevant readers to discover your content. They also allow you the flexibility to apply your own brand to landing pages (essentially sign up pages) so that you can promote and collect leads from day one.
Beehiiv does have a free plan that extends up to 2500 subscribers. Paid plans start at $39.20/month for more subscribers and/or additional features like premium subscriptions and email automations.
Key Features:
- Customizable Templates: Offers a wide range of designs that can be easily customized.
- Monetization Options: Allows both free and paid subscriptions.
- Advanced Analytics: Provides detailed insights into reader behavior and engagement.
- Growth Tools: Features designed to help grow your subscriber list, such as referral programs.
4. ConvertKit
Best For: Creators looking for a platform that combines email marketing with audience management and monetization features.
Overview: ConvertKit is a robust email marketing platform specifically designed for creators, offering comprehensive tools to help them grow and monetize their audience.
One of ConvertKit’s top features for anyone looking for a Substack alternative is its ability to create and manage monetized newsletters, allowing creators to charge for their content through paid subscriptions. This feature is seamlessly integrated into the platform, making it easy to set up, manage, and track recurring revenue from newsletter subscribers.
Users of ConvertKit cite increased deliverability (as opposed to Substack), as well as more robust analytics to help you understand exactly what’s working with your content—and where you can improve it.
Key Features:
- Subscriber Management: Advanced tools for managing and segmenting subscribers.
- Automation: Powerful automation features for targeted email campaigns.
- Customizable Forms: Easy-to-create forms for capturing leads.
- Monetization: Built-in tools for selling digital products and subscriptions.
Summary
There are so many great platforms out there for building, scaling, and monetizing an audience. For businesses—or creators looking to scale their work—the tools that support self-hosted content (like FeedOtter and ConvertKit) will likely stand out.
On the other hand, solo creators who prefer to focus on the content itself might be drawn to simpler platforms like Beehiiv or Medium.
In either case, take time to review your options—and best of luck as you grow and scale your audience.
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It’s no secret that social media has become a major part of the artist and song promotion playbook.
Short-video apps like TikTok and Instagram have become the center of many of those efforts, given that hundreds of millions of people now discover new music by scrolling through feeds.
TikTok, in particular, has revolutionized how users discover not just new songs and artists but old ones too. Decades-old tracks like Matthew Wilder’s “Break My Stride” have experienced a resurgence after trending on social media.
“One of the interesting things that has emerged out of this TikTok ecosystem is that catalog is never really dead,” Sean Kane, a cofounder at the music marketing firm Hundred Days Digital, told Business Insider. “A record is new as long as there’s momentum around it.”
While some songs rise on social media organically, many are pushed into the mainstream by music-marketing agencies that work with artists, managers, and record labels to help tracks take off. As short-video platforms have become more saturated with videos from non-music creators, brands, and other commercial content, these marketers have had to get creative to help new songs breakthrough.
Gone are the days when labels or artists hire a few top influencers to popularize a song. Marketers now work with producers to remix tracks, create custom augmented-reality filters, work with micro influencers in a specific music community, or find other creative ways to help fans discover artists and songs amid a sea of content.
“We’re not just going to hire five influencers to do a dance on platform and hope that sticks,” Ramzi Najdawi, cofounder at the music-marketing firm ATG, told BI.
These marketers are scrappy and quick to adapt to changes in the industry. When Universal Music Group pulled its songs from TikTok amid a contract dispute, marketers quickly pivoted to campaigns on Instagram reels. Some even found ways to capitalize on the moment by swapping in new songs on videos that previously featured UMG tracks.
To highlight how music marketing on social has evolved, BI compiled a list of 13 agencies and upstarts doing innovative work in the space and some of their key leaders. We turned to sources at record labels and other music-industry professionals, as well as nominations from our readers, to find companies doing creative campaigns in music marketing.
Here are those companies, listed in alphabetical order below:
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The clock is ticking for digital marketers as Google enforces penalties for non-compliance with its updated Consent Mode v2 system. Designed to enhance user privacy, this mandatory upgrade could significantly impact affiliate partnerships and campaign strategies. Let’s break down the key details and answer the questions every Affiliate Manager and Affiliate needs to know…
What is Consent Mode v2?
Think of it as a gatekeeper for user consent data. Websites serving ads or tracking user behaviour in the European Economic Area (EEA) must implement this system by March 6th, 2024, to ensure they respect visitor preferences and comply with regulations like the the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). It works by sending signals to Google Ads and Analytics about a user’s consent choices (e.g., accept, reject, or limited cookies).
What does this mean for Affiliate Managers?
- Limited Data: Without Consent Mode v2, Affiliate Managers lose access to valuable data for campaign optimisation and performance measurement. This can affect insights into audience segments, conversions, and overall attribution accuracy.
- Compliance Risk: Ignoring the deadline puts affiliate programs at risk of violating data privacy regulations, potentially leading to fines and reputational damage.
- Partner Selection: Choosing Affiliates who haven’t implemented Consent Mode v2 becomes riskier, impacting campaign effectiveness and compliance.
What does this mean for Affiliates?
- Targeting Challenges: Targeting specific audience segments based on consent preferences might become less precise, impacting campaign effectiveness.
- Attribution Issues: Measuring conversions accurately becomes trickier due to limited data access, making it harder to demonstrate campaign value.
- Technology Updates: Affiliates must ensure their technology platforms and tracking methods are compatible with Consent Mode v2 to avoid data disruptions.
The Deadline Looms: March 6th, 2024
This is a requirement. With less than a month left, Affiliate Managers and Affiliates should prioritise the following:
For Affiliate Managers:
- Communicate Clearly: Inform all affiliated partners about the Consent Mode v2 deadline and its implications.
- Verify Compliance: Check if your affiliates have implemented the system and ensure they understand its functionalities.
- Explore Alternative Solutions: Consider privacy-focused measurement tools and attribution models to navigate data limitations.
For Affiliates:
- Implement Consent Mode v2: Prioritise integrating the system with your website and advertising platforms.
- Communicate Transparency: Inform Affiliate Managers about your compliance status and data collection practices.
- Explore Privacy-Centric Strategies: Adapt your campaigns to respect user privacy preferences and consider contextual targeting options.
Staying Up-to-Date:
- Google Developers Blog
- Interactive Help Center
- Industry Publications: Follow relevant blogs and websites specialising in digital marketing and affiliate marketing.
The Takeaway:
Consent Mode v2 is not just a technical update; it’s a shift towards a privacy-focused digital landscape. Affiliate managers and affiliates who adapt proactively can navigate these changes effectively and maintain successful partnerships while prioritising user privacy. Remember, the deadline is March 6th, 2024.
Calling all Affiliates and Affiliate Managers!
Join AMPLIFY – our unmissable two-day Virtual Learning Summit on March 19 and 20. Delivered direct to your screen, our industry experts will share a series of informed debates covering new trends and thought leadership workshops, designed to help affiliate businesses AMPLIFY their performance!
GET ON DEMAND TICKETS FOR JUST £49. Click here.
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It’s 2024, should businesses send regular blog emails to their subscribers? I wanted to know how marketers truly viewed the topic of emailing blog posts in the modern marketing era so I spent the past month interviewing more than 20 marketing experts to find out how they perceive emailing blog posts in the year 2024.
So let’s dig in.
- Why Email and Blog Posts
- What is the ideal frequency to email blog posts
- What value does emailing blog post provide
- How to craft great blog emails
- Best practices for blog email subject lines
- How Much Engagement Do Blog Emails Receive?
- Increasing Website Traffic With Blog Emails
- Who Should Your Send Blog Post Emails To?
- How to use blog posts to nurture leads
Emailing Blog Posts in 2024
1. Why Email and Blog Posts?
We are passionate about emailing blog posts because potential leads and subscribers are opting in to receive your content. Having subscribers is far more powerful than SEO and social media. They are opting in to having your blog post delivered to them, so it’s a great way to generate new leads and nurture existing ones. Using email to distribute this relevant content is also great for retaining clients, as you’ll be producing thought leadership material in their field.
Spending money on creating awesome content but not distributing is a waste of your hard work because email is the best way to reach, touch, and nurture leads and clients. Emailing blog posts gets the most bang for the buck and ensures that your blog reaches a wide audience. Be sure to include calls to action to bring traffic back to your primary website to convert leads into sales.
2. What is the Ideal Frequency for Emailing Blog Posts?
As marketers, we are always trying to walk a fine line of emailing blog posts while not bombarding our contacts with too many emails. One thing to remember is that your subscriber list will want your content as long as you’re producing quality content, so they’re certainly going to want your emails.
As a rule of thumb, we believe that brands should send no more than 2 blog posts out per week. If your brand produces more than that, it’s a good idea to roll them up in a newsletter. It should contain the list and teasers to all of your blog posts published that week, so your subscribers can pick and choose exactly what they want to read.
Based on the brands we talked to, we find about 75% are emailing blog posts every time they publish one regardless of post frequency, and about 25% send a monthly round-up newsletter of all of their blog posts for the month.
75% email every blog post when it’s published
25% send monthly round-up newsletters
Katrina Niemisto from Marketo allows subscribers to choose how often they receive blog posts in their inbox since they publish 15-20 blog posts per month. She said
“By curating different cadences, we have the opportunity to provide readers with the experience they’re looking for. We have some loyal readers who digest every single blog post and some folks who are reading our blog for the first time when they sign up for our blog digest emails.”
Matt Diggity, who runs his own marketing agency says,
“I email every single post. As long as you’re publishing quality content, your email list won’t be annoyed by the intrusion. They’ll be grateful.” On the days he emails out his blog posts, he sees about 3 times more traffic to his site than on other days.
The key takeaway here is to give readers the option to either get every post in their inbox or a weekly/monthly roundup of posts. This will help you provide the most value to your readers and cut down on those unsubscribe rates. And be sure to have a regular cadence so that your readers can look forward to your posts. Your marketing automation tool will help ensure that every post or digest is sent consistently and reliably.
3. What Value Does Emailing Blog Posts Provide?
One of the most crucial things to keep in mind is that you need to give these subscribers and leads something of value with every email.
Producing valuable content that targets pain points and addresses relevant topics for your ideal consumer will position your brand as a thought leader. When you’re viewed as a thought leader or a valuable resource, the people on your email list will look forward to your blog post emails.
Gregory Bullock from TheraSpecs relies on emailing blog posts for a number of reasons, saying,
“I would highly recommend it to others who have or seek to develop a catalog of great content. We have increased quality traffic to the TheraSpecs website, developed meaningful interactions with our subscribers, turned our top customers into our biggest fans and content promoters, and even driven additional bottom-line revenue.”
Marketing strategist Alexa Kurtz from Webtek capitalizes on her blog emails by featuring other offers.
“While the blog is the shining star of the email blasts, we also call in some ‘supporting roles’. For example, when we send an email promoting the blog, the article is front and center of the e-blast. However, we will often include a special offer, featured project, or highlighted product to give readers even more of a reason to click-through to the website.”
Jay Baer from Convince and Convert gets a few thousand visitors to his blog per week, and he values emailing blog posts because
“it’s a big part of our ongoing relationship building.”
Doug Morneau shared his advice on why his strategy for emailing blog posts is so successful.
“Figure out where your audience is, what their pain points are, and then develop a content strategy that will allow you to be a welcome visitor into their inbox every week. Don’t just send buy my stuff emails, that adds no value to your subscribers.”
So the takeaway? Marketers are emailing blog posts for the following reasons:
- Increase subscribers
- Increase blog traffic and overall website traffic
- Maintain relationships
- Create meaningful interactions
- Additional revenue
4. How to Craft Great Blog Emails
The email that accompanies each blog post is just as important as the blog post itself! The email should tease your readers and make them want to read your post. It should tell your readers what the post is about without giving too much away—it’s all about striking that right balance that leaves readers excited on clicking through to read your post.
Drew DuBoff, Growth Strategist, emails out all of his blog posts and is full of insight. He says,
“My emails establish trust with the readers as I try and prime them for my coaching program. I think this tactic is highly effective when done properly and disastrous when done improperly. If you approach your emails with respect and a genuine desire to get to know your readers more, then you will succeed. If you take the used car salesman approach, you’ll get a lot of unsubscribes.”
Jenni Lachner, the Content Marketing Manager for Portent, has some things to keep in mind when it comes to crafting successful emails that introduce blog posts:
- Think like your audience. Make sure the message in your email resonates with who you are speaking to.
- Get to the point. Think about how many emails you get in a day. A clear subject line and straightforward message will increase the likelihood that your email gets opened, and not immediately deleted because it looks like spam.
- Be consistent. With your format, with your message, and with your timing. Stick to a regular communication schedule and use the same layout/branding for your emails. Feature a steady tone of voice and message so you can establish trust and reliability with your audience.
- Don’t forget contact list maintenance. Check those bounces and unsubscribes regularly. Frequently cleaning up your distribution list ensures that your communications are reaching the right people at the right time, and you’re maximizing your ROI. And, taking the time to reach out to those folks who unsubscribed from your list can serve as a great lead nurturing touchpoint!
Nathan Piccini from Data Science Dojo has great advice about sticking to the point and creating engaging content when emailing blog posts.
“Have an obvious title and a catchy image. People don’t want to try and decipher something in their email inbox. Make sure the title is going to make them understand what the post is about at a glance and the image reinforces it and grabs the reader’s attention. An image can speak 1000 words.”
Brandon Amoroso from electrIQ Marketing speaks to the value of experimenting with different types of emails such as plain text emails versus templates.
“Make them super personal. An email with no pictures and a simple ‘Hey, new post from electrIQ today about XYZ…let me know if you have any questions!’ has been way more effective.”
5. Best Practices for Blog Email Subject Lines
The subject line is crucial and must stand out amidst the hundreds of emails that your contacts get every day. You want to be playful with your subject line without being cheesy. It’s your only chance for your blog post to make a first impression and make your readers want to open your email. Many marketers place significant emphasis on crafting the right subject line, and here is some of their advice:
Jonathan Branney, Senior Content Marketing Manager at Banc, speaks to how important the subject line is when emailing blog posts.
“The hard work starts here when it comes to capturing the reader’s attention. We find that posing questions, being personal or making the subject actionable all boost the likelihood of click-through.”
Johnny Bolden with Off Road has experimented with subject lines and has some great insights.
“We have used A/B testing with subject lines using Emojis! We found that adding Emojis to
subject lines that are sent to a mostly mobile open segment can drive 37% higher open rates!
That’s huge! This is driven by the fact that someone opening a mobile email has less characters
that they see in the subject line and an emoji will stand out heavily.”
Jacqueline Tihanyi from Fisher Unitech also has applicable advice when it comes to subject lines for blog post emails.
“We use a subject line grader to make sure our subject line is spam-free to allow for high deliverability rate.”
The takeaway? Great subject lines for blog emails:
- Contain emojis
- Are well-tested
- Contains tangible date/topic information
6. How Much Engagement Do Blog Emails Receive?
Emailing blog posts is a compelling way to keep all of your contacts engaged with the brand. It’s a smart tactic to keep your brand top-of-mind without sending out “salesy” emails. Your blog posts should position your brand as a thought leader in your industry every time a new post hits their inbox.
Nate Fuller from Launch gets higher than average engagement when he uses this strategy, saying
“…emailing blog posts typically revives relationships with contacts in our database and helps bring new deals to the table. It reminds past prospects and customers that we are still knowledgeable in our field and that we are still around to meet their needs.”
Eric Dahl from Revmarka shares that
“…it normally takes 3-5 pieces of solid content before a customer is willing to engage in a sales conversation. If I’m sending out regular blog posts, I’m speeding up the law of averages while creating opportunity and top-of-mind awareness.”
Marine Klein of Commusoft has great advice when it comes to keeping the whole company involved with their blog.
“We work very close with sales and produce content according to what they know will be of interest to leads. It’s an effective tactic if you can find the right balance between keeping them engaged without veering into the type of pushy hard-sell that people dislike.”
7. Does Emailing Blog Posts Increase Website Traffic?
Emailing blog posts is a guaranteed way to increase traffic to your blog. Ideally, those leads you attract also click around your site for more information about your brand, so emailing blog posts should increase traffic to your entire site, not just your blog.
Dorde Milivevic of Stable WP gets around 1,500 views of his brand’s blog every time he emails out a new post. He uses his blog to nurture leads, keep subscribers informed, and engage with current clients. Dorde says that emailing these posts consistently helps him hit goals in every stage of the sales funnel.
Using Google Analytics and UTM codes to track the website traffic your content emails generate is a great way to measure the traffic your content emails are creating.
8.Who Should You Be Emailing Blog Posts To?
Many brands email their blog posts out to all of their leads, not just subscribers. However, when a lead subscribes to your blog, it can help gauge their interest in your brand.
If you do a weekly or month digest of your blog posts, readers may choose to receive each and every blog post as it is published. This is great news for your brand, as it signifies they like your content enough to opt in to receiving all your posts.
You should be cautious when emailing both subscribers and leads. Make sure they don’t receive your blog post emails twice for being a lead and being a subscriber. Your marketing automation platform should have a way to make sure this doesn’t occur if they exist in multiple lists.
Robert Katai of Banner Snack uses a landing page that contains 3 simple reasons why people should subscribe to his blog posts. He also emails his blog posts before he shares on social, creating some exclusivity to being part of his email list, and gets a 45% open rate.
Logan Allec from Money Done Right has valuable insight that every marketer who is emailing blog posts should keep in mind.
“I think the most important thing to remember is that you can’t ask for the sale in every email. You have to start with building trust with each new subscriber and then gradually build up to asking for the sale. Also, remember that each and every one of those subscribers is a real person sitting behind a computer or on a phone! And they subscribed to your email list for a reason. Don’t take that for granted.”
9. Nurturing Leads
Arguably, lead nurturing is the biggest benefit of emailing blog posts. Distributing this content establishes thought leadership, and gives your brand an excuse to email these leads and stay familiar with them.
Alexander Onaindia of Distinction Agency says,
“Our blog posts are intended to nurture leads by showcasing our team’s knowledge of various areas of marketing.”
Tamas Torok from Coding Sans uses blog posts as an effective way to nurture leads and says,
“After someone signs up for our newsletter we send our new subscriber a series of emails containing our best blog posts and gated guides. We segment subscribers based on their biggest challenges (they answer this question when subscribing) so our emails are well-targeted and relevant.”
Tabitha Oneill from BNC Systems explains how valuable emailing blog posts can be when it comes to getting their brand in front of the right leads at the right time.
“Blog and email are two very low-cost tools we use to bring in new deals. Sometimes they help with staying in contact with leads that have gone cold. Sometimes they reach people who previously refused to answer our phone calls. By demonstrating our knowledge, expertise, and value, we turn really cold leads into warm leads.”
Improving Open and Click-Through Rates
It’s important to track your open and click-through rates, so that you can monitor which subject lines, topics and copy have the most impact on your readers. Be sure to record all of these details so that you can keep doing what works and discard what doesn’t. After you’ve implemented tracking and refine what works, you should start to see constant improvement with open and click-through rates when emailing blog posts.
Dolores Hirschmann from Masters in Clarity recommends “…having short emails that link to the blog, short teaser videos, and teaser copy” to engage and intrigue readers, and ultimately entice them to click-through to the blog posts.
Lauren Morley, the CMO of Techvera, uses data to power her strategy when it comes to these email campaigns.
“Looking at our analytics to figure out what the most popular content from each email is and designing more content around that has been the most helpful. It drives my strategies for future posts so that I’m writing on what our readers care about.”
Key Takeaways
We threw a lot of strategies and advice at you, so let’s pare it down to a checklist of things to consider when it comes to emailing blog posts:
- Find the perfect cadence for emailing blog posts whether it’s every time you publish or a monthly digest of your blog posts
- Be sure to bring valuable information to your audience and convey it in your emails
- Craft personalized and powerful emails to engage your audience
- Write subject lines that stand out
- Segment your leads
- Emailing blog posts helps to nurture your leads
- Monitor and measure open and click-through rates
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WordPress is the world’s most popular CMS. It’s used by millions of brands and businesses to create digital platforms and offers a huge suite of different tools that can be used to customise and optimise your website.
WordPress also allows for the installation of third-party plugins, which can offer more features and capabilities. In this guide, we’ve listed the four best WordPress plugins for affiliate marketers. Read on to check them out.
Monday
Affiliate marketers require expert project management and organisational skills. WordPress isn’t just a tool for writing and publishing blogs and other website content. With the right plugin, it can become a fantastic project management tool as well.
First up on our list of the best WordPress plugins for affiliate marketers is the Monday.com project management solution. This can be fully integrated with WordPress, with the tool allowing users to build custom workflows, automate tasks, and schedule posts and actions to reduce admin time, meet deadlines and streamline processes.
HubSpot
Communication is a key part of affiliate marketing. If you want to successfully market products and services, you’re going to need to be able to connect with customers on a meaningful level.
With the HubSpot WordPress plugin, you can implement contact management strategies, launch email campaigns, perform analysis and create effective onboarding sequences all within the WordPress system itself. Use this plugin to better communicate with customers and drive more sales.
Hello Bar
The majority of users who visit your platform will take no action. As an affiliate marketer, converting as many of these visitors into customers as possible is your number one priority.
Next on our list of the best WordPress plugins for affiliate marketers is the Hello Bar plugin. With this tool, you can design custom pop-up windows and notifications that can help motivate visitors to take action. These pop-ups can be created without the need for expert development skills. This saves you time and money, and can be used to encourage users to purchase products and sign up for newsletters.
Semrush
SEO is an integral part of affiliate marketing. Ensuring your content performs well in search results will help you drive more traffic towards your platform and generate more conversions.
With the Semrush Writing Assistant plugin, you can review your content and ensure it meets current SEO standards. For example, if you have failed to include your target keyword in the introduction of a blog post, this will be flagged by the Semrush tool.
This plugin is essential for any affiliate marketer using WordPress and will ensure you rank high in Google search results. Not only will this help generate more sales, but it will also make your business a more attractive option for potential affiliate partners. Partnerships are key in the affiliate marketing industry, since they can be used to pool knowledge and resources and take your business to the next level.
Conclusion
WordPress is an indispensable tool for all digital businesses. Use this guide to learn about the best WordPress plugins for affiliate marketers and maximise the opportunities that this CMS can offer.
DISCLAIMER:
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The products and services we promote are ones we have used personally or believe will add value to our audience. Our reviews and recommendations are based on honest opinions and our own user experiences.
Please be aware that by clicking on an affiliate link and making a purchase, you may be redirected to the respective merchant’s website. They may have their own terms and privacy policies. We encourage you to review those policies before making a purchase.
If you have any questions or queries about our affiliate relationships or how we use affiliate links on this website, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. Thank you for your support!
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You may be saying to yourself that you’re not an expert in any field, let alone one that has a potential salary of over a million dollars each year. But before you re-enroll in an expensive school in an attempt to earn a degree in engineering or computer science, you may want to consider one of these newer, but in high demand, positions.
While you will need to learn all of the ins and outs of these jobs, the base of knowledge that you’ve built up just through daily use of social media will take you further than you might expect. This is especially true for affiliate marketers.
What is Affiliate Marketing?
You don’t need a specific degree (or any degree at all), references, or any special skills in order to break into affiliate marketing. All you need to do is run Facebook ads for someone else’s products.
If it sounds deceptively simple, keep in mind that you’ll need to learn who to market to, how to run an effective Facebook ad campaign, and how to maximize clicks and purchases in order to earn commissions, which is how you turn affiliate marketing into a job. So yes, it’s a little more complicated than it sounds upfront, but it’s still a straightforward work-from-anywhere job with almost no limit on how much you can earn.
How Do I Get Started?
Anyone can sign up as an affiliate marketer with a company like ClickBank.com, but thousands of people do so and give up when they can’t figure out how to get anyone to click on their ads. This is exactly why Robby Blanchard created his Commission Hero online course, training system, and private coaching group.
In the world of affiliate marketing, Robby is considered an expert. He is the #1 ClickBank affiliate on Earth, and he earns millions of dollars each year from his laptop and his phone, promoting other people’s products. He has no overhead, no storefront, and has figured out exactly how to market products online in order to earn commissions as high as 70-100% of the price of the product.
The Commission Hero System
Signing up for Commission Hero gives you access to every module, tool, trick, and piece of advice that Robby has picked up over the years. With his income secure and his affiliate marketing down to a science that only uses up about 2 hours each day, Robby wants to help others achieve what he has: a dream job.
Once you’ve purchased the entire Commission Hero System, you immediately gain access to:
- The Complete Commission Hero™ System
- Complete Access To The Commission Hero™ Private Coaching Group
- Million Dollar Ad Images
- Robby’s Complete Facebook Super Profits Training System
- Complete Done-For-You Landing Pages
Knowing that Facebook constantly makes things harder for marketers on their platform, Robby is currently adding to his course, at no additional charge:
- Live Weekly Q&A’s & Coaching
- Million Dollar Rolodex Of Contacts
- SnapChat Training
- $10k Month Email Marketing Module
- Access To Robby’s Facebook Insider
The Commission Hero System provides everything necessary for you to build your own thriving affiliate marketing business – but you will need to learn how to run ads, and then put in the time and effort to do so. Commission Hero contains all of the information, but as with any skill set, it’s up to you to apply it.
Commission Hero Reviews
Would-be affiliate marketers often fail when they have no direction, but the Commission Hero community is full of success stories. Following Robby’s carefully designed formula and provided ad images and landing pages, the responses to Commission Hero are overwhelmingly positive, with many users now earning more than they ever dreamed of.
Chris from Palm Springs raves about his experience with Commission Hero: “This is a complete program that provides the essential groundwork for creating your own online business. They’ve done a great job providing the tools to get the job done. They also have a great Coaching program which I used. In 6 months I have been able to scale my goals and I am happy I have exceeded my goals. Thanks guys! Love this program!”
As Rebecca Stover, another Commission Hero student, has said: “My experience with Commission Hero has been fantastic! Robby Blanchard really cares about his people and really wants you to succeed! By far the best program I’ve been a part of in years.
Commission Hero not only just gives you the lead way you need with the step-by-step system, but the added attention in groups and the camaraderie within those groups have also helped people grow even more.
Highly recommend Commission Hero to anyone wanting to take a leap of faith. (And, it’s true, prior experience is not needed…)”
Commission Hero is not a guarantee that you will earn money; quite frankly, nothing is. But if you are serious about learning how to become an affiliate marketer, and you need to get started and find out what really works, it is the best program available of its kind. If you’re ready to take control of your future, it’s time to sign up for Commission Hero!
Disclaimer: This article is a paid publication and does not have journalistic/editorial involvement of Hindustan Times. Hindustan Times does not endorse/subscribe to the content(s) of the article/advertisement and/or view(s) expressed herein. Hindustan Times shall not in any manner, be responsible and/or liable in any manner whatsoever for all that is stated in the article and/or also with regard to the view(s), opinion(s), announcement(s), declaration(s), affirmation(s) etc., stated/featured in the same.
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Updated: 08 Aug 2023, 06:26 PM IST
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Source: Unsplash/Windows.
June/July is an exciting period for us in the digital space. Bombarded with sales in the lead-up to EOFY, there’s a fine line we have to teeter on to generate the best return, all whilst ensuring consumers aren’t too overwhelmed and exhausted by the campaigns. Day by day, until the calendar hits June 30, the overwhelming pressure of whether “is this offer good enough?” is a feeling only digital marketers know until it’s not.
Once EOFY is over and we require a breather, digital marketers are faced with the inevitable — a sales hangover. Consumers have emptied their pockets on all the sales and simply cannot face another piece of hard-sell advertising without curling over. Because of this abrupt shift in consumer behaviour, our conversions start to dry up, and our return worsens, putting pressure on us to do a complete 180 of our marketing strategy.
Soooo. Where does that leave us? And what are some ways we can get through the hangover together?
Elke Westerveld, founder of Social & Staple. Source: Supplied
Well, we don’t have to reinvent the wheel. While it may hurt the results for a little while, it’s all about adapting your strategy to demand, even if it means starting with a fresh perspective.
First things first, position yourself back to the beginning of the buyer’s journey. Now is the perfect time to test out some new content, build up brand awareness, and tell your story — not only is this beneficial to gain consumers’ trust just in time for the next peak sales season, but it saves you some budget too. Besides, we all know those brands that are always pushing to purchase, and you don’t want to become one of them.
If you’re not already, test a lead generation campaign to build up your email database. Have a new collection coming soon? Tease it with VIP first access messaging. Have a welcome offer? Preach it. Not only are you getting eyes on your brand, but you’re building up that warm audience ready for peak sales season. Even better yet, it is significantly cheaper to convert someone who has a relationship with your brand. So, while you’re not seeing an immediate ROI from your lead generation campaign, rest assured that the revenue will roll in when they’re ready.
Ok, now, how about offering a non-monetary incentive to encourage your customers to shop? Free shipping? Free returns? Bonus loyalty points or rewards? They are all easily digestible ways to encourage customers back into spending on full-priced items, all while scoring some type of incentive. We call this stage “welcome back to the real world”.
We’ve given you the tools, and now it’s up to you. We know it’s a hard pill to swallow and understand it is often demotivating when the results drop so suddenly, but trust us when we say it’s all part of the ride. Look at the bright side — there are different things to try (you may even find your new winning formula!) and more time you can spend on other pieces of your marketing puzzle.
Elke Westerveld is the founder of Social & Staple.
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There is a rumour floating around the interwebs that Twitch, the popular (arguably not popular enough) live-streaming platform is in trouble. Theories are circulating that Twitch is making too many bad moves to stay afloat, and much like Twitter, isn’t making enough money.
So, how does Twitch make money? It’s summed up as four revenue streams:
- Subscribers paying $5 a month for an ad-free experience
- In-app purchases, including a digital currency called Bits
- Partnerships with brands and sponsors
- Advertising
Despite claiming an increase from $2.68 billion in revenue in 2021 to $2.8 billion in 2022, there are no figures on how much of that is profit, and there are a lot of other indicators that point to Twitch struggling.
So, what are these indicators? And how will this affect social media marketers? We explore.
Losing subscribers – due to advertising?
A factor, more than the money, that is really scaring the company is its sum total of subscribers. Twitch peaked in subscribers in April 2021 at 3.1 million, and as of December 2022, that number has dipped steadily to 2.2 million.
That’s roughly a third of its userbase gone, and if you ask users, they’ll tell you they much prefer Twitch when compared to competitors like YouTube, which has a chat that’s hard to follow and a harder process to donate. But something’s making them run from the site.
One theory is the ad system, which makes Twitch feel like cable television: live, therefore no control over when you can watch, and full of unskippable ads. Users used to be able to schedule in ads to their timeline and spread them out, but since the Ads Incentive Program launch in late 2022, Twitch users have seen a lot of ads clumped together, interrupting streams, with no means of pausing, for up to 8-10 minutes of ads an hour, consecutively. Much like TV, users are simply not paying attention, getting a drink or running to the loo, getting irritated, but unlike TV, the show goes on without them, with no means of rewinding. This has caused an equal 7.1% dip in average viewers and average hours watched on the site since 2021 and down again in 2023 by 5.4%.
There is such a thing as overexposure and modern viewers can still tolerate an ad or two. Compare how many users there are on YouTube with how many are paying for YouTube Premium, an ad-free option, to see for yourself. Ten minutes of consecutive ads are going to take the users back to a time they are paying not to return to.
Very limited marketing opportunities
Twitch has very limited marketing opportunities when compared to other social media platforms, and this is because it has less behavioural data to work with. When you are on Instagram or Facebook for example, the things you are searching for within the platform will naturally show up and will inform a profile of who you are to quite a scary extent. They can figure out your age, location, lifestyle and more.
On the other hand, Twitch only knows that you are a person who likes this subscriber because all you’ve done is open the platform and chosen something to watch. To counteract this, their brand deals are with very generalised items looking to appeal to the average gamer: Doritos, Monster, Nike, car brands, etc. But with a diverse audience and diverse creators on the platform, this means female creators baking a cake will do so with a men’s shaving tool being advertised the entire time. It’s not targeted in the least which isn’t good for the user or the marketers.
Are there any other options?
There are in fact two competitors of note to Twitch: YouTube and Kick. YouTube is the old money threat that has simply added live streaming to its platform. It makes sense, since it already has video on demand and Shorts, making it a one-stop shop for the all-rounder creator. It also has seen business practices focussed on caring for the creator. Its Creator Fund isn’t ideal, but it is also the best of the bunch and far better for smaller creators when compared to Twitch.
That said, Kick recently hit the headlines for acquiring an exclusive deal with the controversial, but no doubt popular, Adin Ross for over $30,000. Kick is designed to look and feel like Twitch in almost every way, but its important distinction is that they have much more lenient guidelines which means (thus far) no one has been banned for something ridiculous like wearing gym clothes and being told it was considered lingerie. This is something Twitch is known for doing regularly if they offer a reason at all.
Twitch might need to do some heavy refurbishments to their business practices at this rate, because between falling subscriber rates and little targeted advertising, their number one priority, marketers, really don’t have a reason to stick around either.
If you are interested in more affiliate and social media marketing insights, take a look at our blog for all the latest news and advice. Or for a more personalised approach, book a free call with a member of our team.
Or, for the very best advice from industry peers, register to join us for our ELEVATE Summit in July. Elevate aims to bring you the latest affiliate, performance, and partner marketing insights from across the globe and it’s all available to stream from our website.
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Disclosure: Our goal is to feature products and services that we think you’ll find interesting and useful. If you purchase them, Entrepreneur may get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our commerce partners.
As the economy slows, B2B marketers are being challenged with longer sales cycles, lower deal amounts and churning customers. If that isn’t enough, many companies are slashing marketing spend.
With that being said, CMOs can see significant short-term improvements that will help them power through the forecasted downturn by focusing on these areas of their business:
Related: 5 Mistakes To Avoid in Your Digital Marketing
1. Optimizing campaigns for offline conversion events
Your most important priority should be to integrate your advertising platforms with your CRM or demand-gen platform. This will allow you to optimize your ad campaigns for bottom-funnel conversion events. This is especially important when using Google since you can use Google’s algorithm to optimize your campaigns for bottom-of-funnel events. If you have a sales team that takes inbound calls, make sure to get third-party call analytics software that can track calls by channel and down to the most granular source. Having phone tracking will let you identify which marketing channel is contributing to sales and help you make budget allocation decisions.
2. Marketing channels with short-term CAC payback periods
Privacy changes have made marketing attribution tools less reliable in the last two years and makes finding winning campaigns more complex. To overcome this, you can ask users on form sign-ups or post-purchase surveys how they found your business. While also not 100% reliable, these self-reported attribution workflows can help you see which channel is driving the most sales. Based on what customers are telling you and what your other attribution tools show, you can then allocate budget by channel based on their relative performance and pause what’s not working.
3. Your best customer cohorts
When sales performance starts to drop, investigate your data to see which customer cohorts are underperforming or churning, and exclude them from your ad targeting. This could be unprofitable business verticals, job titles, geographic regions, age or other demographic cohorts. If you have a revenue intelligence platform to listen to and/or transcribe call recordings, analyze the calls that resulted in demos and sales.
For example, if calls show a spike in Fintech startups that are purchasing your product, test new ad creative with what they say they like about your product and test landing pages with matching messaging. On the media buying front, see if you can improve targeting for this cohort and get more ads to serve it.
It’s also important to keep track of buyer personas. You can figure out which persona to focus on by running a report on all your customers and their respective job title, and then focus your marketing on the personas with the highest lead count. Make sure to arm your prospects with the metrics they look for — that is, you’ll need to show that the service or solution is an investment, not a cost.
Related: Digital Marketing 101 for Entrepreneurs
4. Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)
Focus on the segments that are driving the most revenue for your business — such as landing pages, product pages and pricing pages. Use a qualitative analytics tool that can view what users are clicking on as they interact with your site. If you are running paid advertising campaigns, it’s important to not run the tests on all your campaigns. Carve out at least 80% of your budget for the campaigns that are carrying your quota and the rest for testing out new ideas.
Next on your list is improving page loading speed. For every additional second it takes the page to load, conversion rates drop by up to 20%. A good benchmark is a loading time below three seconds. Another time-sensitive indicator to optimize for is lead response times. Ideally, you should attempt to phone, text or email a prospective lead within five minutes. Just doing this will help increase conversion rates by double digits.
Of course, it takes resources to do these things. But making these changes during a downturn, if done right, will help you improve performance and build a data-driven and winning business.
Related: How to Adjust Your Marketing to Survive a Recession
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