Wednesday, 31 August 2016

SearchCap: Google real time carousel, In Apps search & AdWords sitelinks

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.

The post SearchCap: Google real time carousel, In Apps search & AdWords sitelinks appeared first on Search Engine Land.



Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.


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Account-Level Sitelinks Rolling Out to All AdWords Advertisers by @SouthernSEJ

Google has made it possible to add sitelinks to ads at the account level.

The post Account-Level Sitelinks Rolling Out to All AdWords Advertisers by @SouthernSEJ appeared first on Search Engine Journal.

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Watch: How autonomous cars could completely eliminate traffic jams


Humans, as it turns out, are pretty crappy drivers. Of course, we knew this already. What you might not have known is, we're also directly responsible for most of the traffic problems we face on roadways. While we blame congestion, traffic lights and other cars for our traffic woes, as this video shows: it's mostly us. Unlike machines, humans are reactionary drivers. When a red light turns green, we react to the car in front of us moving, not the light itself. If each of us - even several cars back at a stoplight - reacted at the same time,…

This story continues at The Next Web


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Use This Step-by-Step Guide to Feel Confident and Connected at a Conference

Make the most of your next conference


For someone who spends most of her days sitting alone behind a computer, entering a crowded room filled with hundreds of strangers can be a bit intimidating. I know because I've been there, done that.


In 2015, I went to Rainmaker Digital's Authority Rainmaker conference by myself. It was not only my first time attending a conference solo, it was also my first conference where I was representing my business, not an employer's.


My previous employer sent me to the 2014 Authority conference, and what I learned that year prompted me to leave that job and start my own business. (You can read that story here.)


So, I couldn't miss the next event - even if that meant going alone. And I'm so glad I did.


The conference provided me with motivation, smart guidance, expert advice, and a network of colleagues that have been integral to helping me grow my new business.


No matter what conference is ahead - but especially if you're attending Rainmaker Digital's Digital Commerce Summit this year on October 13-14, 2016 in Denver, Colorado - here are simple tips to optimize your experience before, during, and after the event.


Before you attend


When you approach any project with a plan, you will have better results.


Don't wait until you're on the plane or walking into the opening reception to strategize for the conference.


If you prepare now, you can even become a sponsor to expose your business to influencers and decision makers.


Identify your goals


Not everyone who attends a conference has the same goals. My goals in 2014 (when I was attending as a sponsor) were very different from my goals in 2015 (when I was representing my business).


Choose one or two goals that are the most important to you.


Are you looking to:



  • Learn something new? If so, what skills are you specifically looking to hone? Which sessions or person could help you learn that skill?

  • Find a solution to a business problem? If so, who or what at the conference can help you solve it?

  • Meet people? If so, what type of people? A network for referrals? A community for support? A person for a potential partnership?

  • Sell a product or generate leads? If so, who is likely to buy your product? How can you connect with that target audience at the event?

  • Find a vendor? If so, browse the event sponsors before you attend. Which one offers solutions to what you need?


Network and make plans to meet up with other attendees


Don't wait until you walk into the opening reception to meet people.


Use social media to reach out to other attendees who have posted with the event hashtag prior to the conference. Spark up a conversation and make plans to meet up on the first day.


Hone your elevator pitch


Your elevator pitch doesn't have to be a sales pitch. Unless you are there primarily to seek out new customers or clients, you don't need to sell what you do.


You just need a 15-second elevator pitch that simply says:



  • Your name

  • Your business or employer's name

  • What you do and why you do it


Arm yourself with conversation points


Know how to keep conversations going by arming yourself with some talking points.


Many attendees of past Rainmaker Digital events love that you get a single-track educational experience, personally curated and handcrafted by Brian Clark, and shared by every attendee.


If there is a lull in conversation, the single-track experience makes it easy for you to ask questions like:



  • What are you hoping to gain from the conference?

  • How are you enjoying the conference?

  • What's been your favorite takeaway from the conference?

  • Who has been your favorite speaker?

  • Have you been to the conference before?

  • How far did you travel to get here?


Create a free offer or giveaway


Consider creating a free offer or giveaway prior to the event. That way, you can offer it to new contacts you meet and highlight it on your website to attract the attention of visitors you met at the event.


While you're there


Once you arrive, the real fun starts.


Shake the fears of in-person events


If you are nervous, remember this: many people attend conferences by themselves.


Look for others who are flying solo and make a confident introduction knowing they are as happy to talk to you as you are to talk to them.


For more tips, check out Pamela Wilson's article: The Introvert's Guide to Surviving an In-Person Conference.


Don't be shy on social media


Last year, I used social media to put myself out there.


I was a little embarrassed when I posted this tweet right before the opening reception, but multiple people stopped to have a conversation with me because they saw it.




Erin Flynn created a list of Authority Rainmaker 2015 attendees and sent a message out to the event hashtag.


This simple action made Erin the unofficial Twitter group leader of the event.




Find a “conference anchor”


If you're attending the conference alone, you don't have to be on your own. Look for someone else who is attending alone and ask him or her to be your “conference anchor.”


A conference anchor is a person who is your home base for the event. If you find yourself wandering around alone, go find your anchor.




Eat at least half of your meals with strangers


While it's fun to make friends and spend time with those connections, don't forget that you should still make an attempt to meet other new people.


Try to eat at least half of your meals with a table of strangers.


Collect and give business cards


Bring business cards and don't forget to use them.


End conversations by asking someone if you can grab their card so you can check out their business. This approach creates an opportunity for you to hand over your card without it feeling forced.


Focus on creating authentic relationships


I used to attend conferences and feel a sense of victory depending on how many connections I made. But when I went into the conference last year, I had a different approach.


Instead of focusing on talking to a lot of people, I focused on really getting to know a few people. I sought out relationships, not connections. That approach gave me far more value than previous events.


After you leave


Don't close the book on the conference the day you leave. Let the benefits flow into upcoming months.


Use the conference as an opportunity to create content


Clark Buckner planned ahead and used the conference as an opportunity to fill his podcast schedule. He took advantage of having so many smart content marketers in one place and recorded dozens of interviews from the event.


Pre-Launch Protocol: How to Position Your Book to Be a Sales Success

zb-pre-launch-2


Once your book is written, you'll turn your efforts toward giving it the best possible chance to get attention, engage readers, and sell.


Launching a book happens in three stages: pre-launch, launch, and post-launch.


All three stages have an effect on the long-term sales success of your book. In this episode, Pamela and Jeff talk about best practices for each stage and how to position your book to maximize sales on launch and in the future.



One thing that helps? Getting a few well-known people to endorse your book before it launches.


In this episode Jeff Goins and Pamela Wilson discuss:



  • What “sticky statements” are, and why you need them in each chapter of your book

  • The three-part approach to book launches and how to optimize each stage

  • One surprising fact about book endorsements (that left Pamela speechless)

  • An innovative approach to beefing up opening week sales


Subscribe in iTunes to Listen



To leave a rating or comment, visit iTunes.


The post Pre-Launch Protocol: How to Position Your Book to Be a Sales Success appeared first on Copyblogger.


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Get Your Seattle Exploration on at MozCon 2016!

Posted by EricaMcGillivray

MozCon is fast approaching us! On September 12-14-just two weeks away-1,400 online marketers will descend on Seattle, ready to learn about SEO, content, Google Tag Manager, conversion rate optimization, and so much more. We've got fewer than 60 tickets left, so grab yours now.

Buy your MozCon 2016 ticket!

If you haven't done so, check out all the learning! This post is geared toward the things you can do when MozCon sessions aren't happening.

Cindy Krum on the MozCon 2015 stage

Places you'll want to go as recommended by Mozzers

While you're in Seattle, we want to make sure you have a fabulous time. Seattle in September is beautiful. It's still sunny outside, and it's the time of year people come to Seattle and then want to move here. So we've complied a list of great activities and restaurants:

Sights

Brian Childs

Gasworks Park

"Incredible views of the city, float planes landing overhead, Space Needle in the background, Ivar's Clam Chowder down the street, bikes all over the place."

- Brian Childs

Megan SingleyVolunteer Park

"This is my favorite place in all of Seattle! Stroll around the park and stop in the Seattle Asian Art Museum and the conservatory, then climb to the top of the water tower for an incredible view. You can also walk through the graveyard and see Bruce Lee and Brandon Lee's grave. After all that walking, hop over to the adorable and delicious Volunteer Park Cafe."

- Megan Singley

James DaughertyElliott Bay Trail

"Amazing views, has a mini gravel beach, and lots of park space. Great for running and cycling. I ride my bike along EBT nearly everyday to Moz, and I fall in love with city over and over again."

- James Daugherty

Maura HubbellAlki Beach

"Alki is a beautiful walk with a spectacular view of Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains. It's got some good restaurants, and even a little history as the site of the original settlement."

- Maura Hubbell

Rachel MooreDiscovery Park

"If you've never been to the Pacific Northwest (or even if you have!), Discovery Park on a clear day is a great place to see the Olympic Mountains, Puget Sound, Mt. Rainier, and to get some quality forest walking done all in one fell swoop. Plus, it's 20 minutes from downtown! (Pro tip: For the easiest view access, park in the lot on W Emerson just before 43rd Ave W.)"

- Rachel Moore

Felicia CrawfordGreen Lake

"People of every ilk converge to exercise, feed ducks, play with dogs, and covet the dogs of others."




- Felicia Crawford

Activities, tours, and museums

Emily Smollen

The Underground Tour

"What a great way to hear about and experience early-Seattle's history!"

- Emily Smollen




Alyson MurphyFerry to Bainbridge Island

"Seattle is surrounded by water and mountains. The ferry is the easiest way to experience that scenery. The view of the city is amazing too!"

- Alyson Murphy




Jo CameronThe Pinball Museum

"It is special to me because I've only been to Seattle once, as I work remotely in the UK. It was a joy the see how strong the love for pinball is in Seattle. The Pinball Museum houses the world's biggest pinball machine, and it is really something to behold; it's like hugging a dining room table."

- Jo Cameron

Restaurants and bars

Nicelle Herron

Linda's

"Laid back, good music, cheap food, and nice people."

- Nicelle Herron




Chiaryn MirandaCyclops

"If you are a vegetarian (or love vegetarian food), the Happy Hippy Burger is a must. It is not only the best veggie burger in Seattle, but it's the best I have ever had. Cyclops also has great drinks and food for the omnivores, too."

- Chiaryn Miranda

Jess StipePie Bar

"This hole in the wall has it all! Pie Bar serves up warm, freshly baked slices of heaven with a pint of bliss. Savory pies, sweet pies, pietinis, craft spirits, and beer...all nestled in an elegant, cozy venue where you won't have to shout over a crowd 3-hipsters-deep to order. And if you're done with your pie and ready for some pinball and arcade games, John John's Game Room is directly next door!"

- Jess Stipe

Tawny CaseOddfellows Cafe

"This hip little eatery has some awesomely tasty foods, a sweet little private back patio, a laidback atmosphere, and awesome drinks. Plus, it's right in the heart of Capitol Hill, one of my favorite 'hoods in the city."

- Tawny Case


Bonus! Lightning suggestions:

Brian Childs' recommendation corner

"I put this Google map together for friends visiting the city. Includes lots of breweries, bars, restaurants, and things to do: Get the info!"

Official MozCon evening events

For all our evening events, make sure to bring your conference badge AND your US ID or your passport.

Monday Night MozCrawl

From 7:00pm - 10:00pm, you can head to all the stops at your own pace and in any order. Visit all the stops, fill out your punch card, and return it to the swag store on Tuesday morning to enter to win a golden Roger!

Making new friends at MozCon 2015

Tuesday MozCon Ignite

If you're looking for networking, this is event for you! Join us at from 7:00-10:00pm at McCaw Hall for a night of networking and five-minute, Ignite-style passion talks from your fellow attendees. This year, our talks will range from information and unique to heartwarming and life changing. You don't want to miss this MozCon night.


  • 7:00-8:00pm Networking

  • 8:00-8:05pm Introduction with Geraldine DeRuiter

  • 8:05-8:10pm Help! I Can't Stop Sweating - Hyperhidrosis with Adam Melson at Seer Interactive

  • 8:10-8:15pm A Plane Hacker's Guide to Cheap *Luxury* Travel with Ed Fry at Hull.io

  • 8:15-8:20pm Life Lessons Learned as a Special Needs Parent with Adrian Vender at Internet Marketing Inc

  • 8:20-8:25pm How to Start an Underground Restaurant in Your Home with Nadya Khoja at Venngage Inc.

  • 8:25-8:30pm Embracing Fear, Potential Failure, and Plain Ol' Discomfort with Daisy Quaker at AMSOIL INC.

  • 8:30-8:35pm How Pieces of Paper Can Change Lives with Anneke Kurt Godlewski at Charles E. Boyk Law Offices, LLC

  • 8:35-8:40pm Is Your Family Time for Sale? with Michael Cottam at Visual Itineraries

  • 8:40-9:20pm Networking with desserts and refreshments

  • 9:20-9:25pm Prison and a Girl that Loves Puppies with Caitlin Boroden at DragonSearch

  • 9:25-9:30pm Embracing Awkward: The Tale of a 5' 10" 6th Grader with Hannah Cooley at Seer Interactive

  • 9:35-9:40pm Finding Myself in Fiction: LGBTQUIA Stories with Lisa Hunt at Moz

  • 9:40-9:45pm Wooly Bits: Exploring the Binary of Yarn with Lindsay Dayton LaShell at Diamond + Branch Marketing Group

  • 9:45-9:50pm How a Cartoon Saved My Life with Steve Hammer at RankHammer

  • 9:50-9:55pm Flood Survival: Lessons from the Streets of ATL with Sarah Lively at Nebo Agency

  • 9:55-10:00pm Hornets, Soba, & Friends: A Race in Japan with Kevin Smythe at Moz

MozCon Ignite

Wednesday Night Bash!

From 7:00-12:00 midnight: Bowling, pool, Jenga, a slow-motion booth, a photo booth, karaoke, cupcakes, food, drinks, and more! You don't want to miss our annual bash.

Rent some bowling shoes and go for a turkey. Sing your heart out just like you recently joined Journey. Snap photos with your friends while wearing silly hats. Show off how much of a ringer you are at pool. Get into a chicken strip-eating contest. Hang out with your new MozCon friends one last time, and celebrate all the learning!

Ryan and Char at MozCon Bash 2015

Birds of a Feather lunch tables

If you want to spend your lunchtime getting great advice from your fellow attendees about online marketing or meet people in your specialty, check out our birds of a feather lunch tables:

Monday, September 12

Tuesday, September 13


  • Local Search hosted by George Freitag at Moz

  • Growth Hacking hosted by Brittanie MacLean at Realty Austin

  • Continuing Marketing Education hosted by Rachel Goodman Moore at Moz

  • Marketing Automation hosted by Ed Fry at Hull.io

  • How to Smartly Mix Search and Content to Aid Overall Business Strategy by Ronell Smith at Ronell Smith Consulting

  • E-Commerce SEO hosted by Everett Sizemore at Inflow

  • SERP Features hosted by Jon White at Moz

  • Technical SEO hosted by Bill Sebald at Greenlane Search Marketing

Wednesday, September 14


  • Google Penalties hosted by Michael Cottam at Visual Itineraries

  • Advanced SEO hosted by Britney Muller at Moz

  • Marketing for USA Manufacturing Companies hosted by Crystal Hunt at Grassroots Fabric Pots

  • Work-Life Balance hosted by Keri Morgret at Inbound.org

  • Local Search hosted by George Freitag at Moz

  • Marketing Automation hosted by Ed Fry at Hull.io

  • Content Marketing hosted by Trevor Klein at Moz

Birds of a feather MozCon table from 2015

Join the Fitbit Group

Track your steps while networking and cheer on your fellow attendees!

Play Roger Patrol!

Ready for some friendly competition between your fellow attendees? We've built a special MozCon game just for you. You'll play as starship, part of Roger Patrol! Try and beat the top score on Roger Patrol video game by zapping asteroids, destroying evil spaceships, and protecting Roger Mozbot's universe. We'll provide a download link for attendees, and you'll also find three arcade-style boxes of the game throughout the MozCon venue.

Visit our Partner Hub, get your photo taken with Roger, and more arcade-style fun

As you head up to registration, entering MozCon, you won't want to miss all the activities around you and happening when the conference isn't in active session.

Say hello to our Partners

Every sulk through an exhibitor hall with your head down like you're in middle school again? Us too. Which is why at MozCon, we wanted to do something different. Our invite-only partners are not only respectful, but we've vetted their activities and their products to make sure they are useful to you. So say hello, and we promise you might instead get a postcard to send home, a t-shirt, or a special MozCon coin.

STAT's partner hub from MozCon 2015

Our great partners:

Stop each day at the Swag Store!

After the first day, Registration will be transformed into a swag store. You don't want to miss out on these goodies. On Tuesday, you'll be able to pick up your official MozCon 2016 t-shirt. On Wednesday, you'll get your own Lego Roger.

Lego Roger Mozbot

Meet Mozzers to give feedback or Ask an SEO

Make sure to stop by the Moz Hub. We'll be there to answer your questions about Moz Pro and Moz Local. Learn about our latest offerings and updates. Get insights into how best to use the tools.

And by popular demand, we've added Ask an SEO. Mozzers and Associates with expertise in SEO will be there to answer your burning search questions and kickstart you with new ideas for your search campaigns.

Play the Roger claw machine

We're bringing back the plushie claw machine! If you missed out getting one of our plushie Roger Mozbots, or you just need another as a small child or pet decided Roger was their best friend, now's your chance. In order to play, you must visit one of our Partners or the Moz Hub for a special shiny coin. Then take that coin to the claw machine!

Don't worry, we've put a TAGFEE spell on this machine, so you may find it a little easier than the ones in the malls of your childhood. ;)

Take a photo with Roger Mozbot

A MozCon tradition you won't want to miss. Get your annual photo (or maybe it's your first!) taken with the cuddliest robot in the galaxy, Roger Mozbot.

Erica and Jacob over the years with Roger Mozbot

Donate to charity, on us!

Open up your Monday swag kit and inside you'll find $5 Roger bucks. You get to donate this to one of three charities (charities selected by Mozzers):

Roger Mozbot will then count the bucks and write a check to each charity.

Push pin world map

Ever play pin the tail on the donkey? Well, this is like that, but pin the spot where you are from, minus the blindfold.

In Seattle on Thursday post-MozCon? We have MozPlex tours.

Every wonder where Roger Mozbot lives? Or heard of the stories of cereal bars and rooms named after starships and robots? Is is true that Mozzers have sit/stand desks? Don't miss out on our Office Tours on Thursday 9/15. Sign up for your time slot.

Glenn at the MozPlex

Even more fun in Seattle

Don't miss our posts from years past, which are full of restaurant, activity, and more recommendations: 2015, 2014, 2013, and 2012.

Activities happening around Seattle from Saturday, September 10 - Sunday, September 18

If you're looking to connect with fellow attendees, please join our MozCon Facebook Group.

Buy your MozCon 2016 ticket!


Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don't have time to hunt down but want to read!

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Stop everything you are doing and implement Accelerated Mobile Pages

What we learned from implementing AMPs


This week's big development here at Smart Insights is the implementation of Accelerated Mobile Pages for our blog. If you are reading this on the standard HTML version (looks the same as normal) visit this post as an AMP to see what we have done.


Over the last year, we have published updates about how Google is implementing and utilising AMPs to improve everybody's mobile web experience.


A timeline of AMP


Let me recap the main developments of AMP:


December 2015


Google announced that it was seeing 16,000 new Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMPs) every single day. This was an impressive rate of adoption and showed the extent to which publisher wanted to attract audiences of mobile devices.


February 2016


Then in February we saw Google has started rolling out Accelerated mobile pages to certain mobile search results in the form of news snippets.


July 2016


During the DoubleClick Leadership Summit in July, they announced two new features to make ad experiences better on the mobile web:


- AMP for Ads allowing advertisers to build beautifully-designed ads.


- AMP Landing Pages: fast, custom pages, built by advertisers so that when someone clicks on their AMP ad, they continue to have an AMP experience. (Source)


August 2016


Trials that Google has been conducting have gone so well that they are expanding AMPs to the SERPs.  (Source)


What difference have we seen?


Taking a blog (HTML vs AMP) from this morning we ran a series of page load speed tests and the results were, to say the least outstanding.


The standard HTML page loaded in a range of 1.12s to 13.13s and the AMP page loaded significantly quicker with a speed range  of 0.75s-2.26s.


The results:


- Standard page averaged 6.43 seconds


- AMP page averaged 1.54 seconds


AMPs Vs standard page test page loading times


To put this in perspective I've visited 83 web pages (it's currently 10:39am). Assuming I visit web pages at that rate for 8 hours a day, if they all loaded 4.89 seconds faster over a year I would have an extra 131.6 hours to do anything I liked...probably wait for more web pages to load, to be honest, but you get the gist. AMP's could save you five days of your life every year!


Considering how many of your site visitors and social followers are consuming your content on the move connected via frustratingly slow mobile internet (less than half of UK subscriptions are 4G) anything you can do to speed up the load speed of a page can only be a good thing for the user.


How will this affect your Google rankings, it is hard to tell in the long term we will keep you posted on the effects we are seeing over the coming months. Although Google has not said that a page being an AMP will be a ranking factor, Google has said that page load time is a ranking factor. Given how much faster AMPs are, they are likely to give your content a slight ranking boost. In addition, AMPs will appear with the nice little AMP logo at the start of the page description in their SERPs. That should mean more traffic from mobile users, especially if your competitors haven't implemented AMPs. This is because mobile users will quickly learn that the AMP logo will mean a quick loading page, and so will be more likely to click. 


Quick Tip: When implementing AMPs on your site don't forget to add the same canonical tag to both the HTML and AMP pages. We don't want the changes to have a negative effect on you SEO ranking due to duplicate content.


Implementing AMPs


If you are considering implementing AMP now they are appearing in SERPs, you'll need to know how to go about setting them up for your site. Luckily this won't be difficult. We asked our resident web designer Aaron to explain how to set up accelerated mobile pages for your own site.Aaron


'To make your existing web pages into "Accelerated Mobile Pages" doesn't require too much work. You just need to include the required AMP script and convert some of your existing HTML markup in to AMP markup which is an extension of HTML and it works in all modern browsers


For example a standard HTML image tag might look like an AMP image tag looks like  



For a detailed guide to implementing AMPs, see the AMP Project website.


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How to Breathe New Life into Your Online Content Archive

yp-content-archive


In this episode of Youpreneur FM, Chris dives into the topic of making the most out of your online content archive by repurposing content to help you reach your followers in new ways.


We've all been there before. You work hard on creating a solid blog post, you feel a rush of pride as you hit “publish” and share it with your audience.


Then it disappears into your archive.


There is always such a steady stream of new content for our audiences take in on a daily basis that sometimes even the best of blog posts, podcast episodes, or videos pass people by and don't get the attention they deserve.



This episode is all about identifying that evergreen content that we already have and making the most out of it.


I also go into repurposing content to help reach your following in a different way, as well as a chance to reach new audiences with a fresh take on your evergreen content - hitting two birds with one stone!


This is a great episode, so grab some coffee, a pen, and your notepad and get ready to dive into this episode of Youpreneur FM.


In this 17-minute episode I discuss:



  • Why you need to take inventory of what you currently have

  • Which powerful social media tool I use to help promote older content

  • The importance of keeping aware of what you are linking to

  • What steps you can take when freshening up older posts

  • How you can use your “Most Popular” section to promote sales


Subscribe in iTunes to Listen



To leave a rating or comment, visit iTunes.


The post How to Breathe New Life into Your Online Content Archive appeared first on Copyblogger.


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Combining Email and Facebook for a Dynamite Ecommerce Marketing Campaign

Posted by andrewchoco

Most people view email marketing and social advertising as two separate entities, and I'll be honest, I used to think that as well. However, I've discovered that combining multiple different avenues for a coherent marketing campaign yields some pretty impressive results.

We've tried this tactic before at Directive Consulting, combining SEO and PPC; but in this blog post, I'm going to break down a few ways to combine email and social advertising for multi-channel success.

More specifically, you'll learn:

  • How to create custom and lookalike audiences on Facebook from an email list
  • Best practices for launching email and social campaigns simultaneously
  • How we used this tactic to increase overall sessions and revenue
  • Some additional strategies to take your ecommerce campaigns to the next level

Using email lists to create Custom Audiences on Facebook

Most (if not all) ecommerce stores require an email address when completing a purchase, and many times you can see what item the person bought. Keeping an organized and segmented email list is the first step to social advertising success. If you're an online clothing store that specializes in creative t-shirts for men and women, create individual lists segmenting categories (e.g., sports, funny, and cute) and gender. If you're using a CRM such as Hubspot, Mailchimp, or Salesforce, you can export these contact lists as .CSV files and then upload those to Facebook under the “Audiences” section using Ads Manager.

Fs2UD3W.png

When logging onto your Ads Manager or Business Manager account, go to your ad account and select the drop-down hamburger menu in the top left-hand corner.

If "Audiences" doesn't appear in the “Frequently Used” section, hit "All tools" and you'll find it under the “Assets” section.

xaDakF7.png

2nMOsaV.png

After clicking on “create custom audience,” you'll need to select the “customer file” section and then “choose a file or copy” and you'll be prompted to upload your .CSV file into Facebook.

Facebook will then match up the emails with actual Facebook users (you can expect anywhere from a 20% - 70% match rate), but with ecommerce those numbers tend to be on the higher side.

Using email lists to create Facebook Audiences

Another great feature of Facebook ads is the ability to create lookalike audiences from previously uploaded email lists. Facebook will match up the corresponding profiles of your email lists with a broader group of people who have similar profiles based on interests, demographics, and behaviors. As long as your email list consists of more than 100 people, Facebook will be able to create a lookalike audience. Obviously, though, the more people you have in the original email list, the more similar the lookalike audience will be (because Facebook will have more data to pull from.)

tsTPLOb.png

When you create your lookalike audience, you select a country and choose anywhere from 1% - 10% of a country's population.

3EbgXwD.png

But you don't have to stop there. Once you have a lookalike audience (we usually use the 10% option so we capture the most people), you can layer additional targeting on top of the lookalike. For the clothing store example, you could take the audience of 20 million and add additional behavior targeting of men's fashion buyers and online buyers. Now that's a specific audience!

Launching simultaneous campaigns for maximum reach

Now how can you tie together email marketing and social advertising for optimal reach?

Anytime an ecommerce shop launches a promotion or sale, they send out an email blast.

I usually check my email in the morning, see the promotion, and then promptly forget about it five minutes later. It's common knowledge that every opportunity needs multiple touches before they end up converting to a sale, but sending three emails a day promoting a sale is a good way to lose a lot of subscribers.

The solution? Launch a social promotion targeted at your specific email list. Then ramp up the budget to ensure that every person sees your ad at least once during the campaign. A good way to do this is by looking at the estimated reach when creating an ad campaign and making sure your budget is high enough that the estimated reach per day matches up with the amount of people on your email list.

n6MXvmG.png

We used this tactic with a client of ours who sells collectable banknotes from countries all around the world.

Their most popular is the Zimbabwean $100 trillion dollar banknote, so they ran a promotion for 10% off. We didn't segment the audiences like I mentioned earlier, because they were only promoting one country's banknote, but we did create two different ad images as well as a carousel ad so we could target everyone in the list with multiple products for the same price.

V1trZyg.png

While you may think this is an obnoxious ad and the red circle and arrow is overkill, this ad actually performed the best out of all of them, generating over 180 clicks in three days with a CTR of 8.7%. Little touches like this really draw in your audience's attention and can lead to much higher engagement.

dMJ9rPk.png

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Carousel ads are great for ecommerce shops because they can show off multiple products without increasing the price of your campaigns. We recently switched over to carousel ads for a client of ours who builds custom fences and had 3,000% more sessions on the site from the carousel ads.

We launched these ads for a three-day period while the sale was running and combed it with an email blast that went out at the beginning of the sale. These are the results we saw when comparing the week of the promotion to the previous week:

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We saw our sessions go up, as well as the pages per session and average session duration. We didn't have a single transaction from Facebook the previous week, but had four during the sale, generating enough revenue to easily cover the cost of that campaign.

Another interesting thing we saw was that the email didn't directly lead to any sales. I'm not saying it had no effect on the sales that week, but only launching an email campaign wouldn't have had the same impact as combining these two platforms and working together to create additional touches throughout the sale period.

Additional strategies

1. Use lookalike audiences

For the above example, we only targeted our custom audience of email subscribers (the sale was a special promo just for those customers). But taking it even further, creating a broader audience from the lookalike audience would have been a great audience to target, as well.

What better way to introduce your brand and product to a potential customer than immediately offering a sale? You can also further target these audiences to get extremely specific. For our banknote client, our targeted lookalike audience looks something like this:

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2. Create a new segmented list for sale buyers

If you're launching a promotion for a sale using this tactic, segment each new email address you receive into its own list titled “sale buyers.” There's a chance these people have been wanting to buy your product all along and finally waited until a sale came along to do it, but more likely, these people are impulse shoppers who made a purchase because of the exclusivity of the deal you're promoting. This now gives you a list of customers that you know make purchases during sales, and you can test out other promotional deals later on. If you don't offer free shipping regularly, have a two-day period when you do, and target these specific people.

3. Use Twitter as another platform to target your audience

Twitter is another social platform that gives you the ability to upload a .CSV of email addresses, and matches up twitter profiles with those corresponding emails.

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In the Twitter Ads platform, go to "Tools" and then "Audience manager."

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Head over to “Create new audience” and upload your own .CSV, just like you did for Facebook. (A word of warning: You do need 500 or more matches for Twitter to allow you to use the audience for promotions.)

For ecommerce, most people will use their personal email for Twitter as well as buying a product, so this shouldn't be an issue with a big enough email list.

Now it's your turn

Now you're prepared to launch a robust and successful email and social advertising campaign.

Remember, it's important to ensure your budget aligns with the amount of people you're trying to reach, and to use eye-popping images to catch your audience's attention. Let me know in the comments if these tactics worked for you, or if you have any additional strategies for email and social success!


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