MuteSix – Mutesix https://mutesix.com Wed, 05 Feb 2025 21:55:15 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6 https://mutesix.com/app/uploads/2024/10/cropped-Mutesix_Symbol_Square-1-32x32.png MuteSix – Mutesix https://mutesix.com 32 32 Summer’s SMS Marketing Essentials https://mutesix.com/blog/summers-sms-marketing-essentials/ Wed, 05 Jun 2024 16:55:19 +0000 https://mutesix.com/?p=26329 Continued]]>

Temps are rising, pools are opening—all signs point to summer, and that means it’s time to bring the heat with your marketing efforts. 

While brick-and-mortar stores might be banking on increased foot traffic thanks to the sunshine, e-comm retailers know there’s real money to be made with SMS messaging. Despite the beauty of the new season, everyone is still glued to their devices, with the average American spending more than 4 hours and 30 minutes on their phone each day, but that’s good news for you. Whether they’re poolside or inside, you have a direct line to ‘em via text. 

So, how can you make the most of their screen time this summer? Jeanette Lofsky, Director of Lifecycle, breaks down the key messages you should send in the months ahead:

  1. The Summer of the Splurge There’s no shortage of reasons for a summer celebration, and every major holiday is an opportunity to drive sales. Use SMS to cash in on that, but ensure you make them an offer they can’t resist. Whether it’s the 4th of July or just a random Wednesday afternoon, this high-intent audience deserves to know about your best deals all summer long. As deep a discount as you can give, the earliest access — this is the place to pull those levers given the 1:1 nature of the channel. Layer in exclusivity and urgency too, and they’ll be hitting “Add to Cart” before you know it.
  1. Show Off Your Summer Swag Lazy days lounging by the pool, sipping on refreshing beverages, hiking through lush forests. Everyone has a different summer vibe, but they all have one thing in common: creating core memories. Make sure you’re promoting the products that help your subscribers soak up every moment of the season. With SMS, you can showcase their summer must-haves from outdoor gear and beachwear to travel-friendly essentials. 
  1. Get Personal to Get Results You’re in their pocket, but don’t use their name? Awkward. Instead of generic content and offers, craft your SMS content to each customer’s identified preferences and purchase history. Recommend products based on items they’ve viewed, suggest complementary items to ones they’ve purchased, or rely on data you’ve gathered from them to tailor the content you’re sending—and yes, call them by their name if you have it. A little personalized touch goes a long way in building that connection, boosting engagement and driving customer loyalty.
  1. Keep It Short and Sweet Your subscribers have places to be, people to see, and though we know they’ll be on their phones, you’ll want to be a brief summer interlude, not a big long bummer. No one wants to be bombarded with a novel-length message, like the texts your mom sends. Keep your SMS messages brief, focused on one primary offer or message. Get in, get out, and get ‘em to the site to shop. Everything else is just noise.

  

Not sure what messages to send this summer? Slide into our DMs and chat with our Lifecycle team today to craft a winning strategy for summer and beyond.

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Sun, Sales & SMS: Your Guide to Winning Memorial Day https://mutesix.com/blog/sun-sales-sms-your-guide-to-winning-memorial-day/ Thu, 02 May 2024 19:59:05 +0000 https://mutesix.com/?p=26258 Continued]]> Sun, Sales & SMS: Your Guide to Winning Memorial Day 🇺🇸

The unofficial start of summer is comin’ in hot. 🔥

As the unofficial kickoff to summer approaches, now is the pivotal moment to refine your Memorial Day marketing strategy, particularly focusing on optimizing email marketing strategies and SMS campaigns.

Haven’t aligned your Memorial Day marketing strategy for Email and SMS yet? Now’s the time because the holiday weekend brings major opportunities to drive sales.

80% of Memorial Day Weekend celebrants are expected to shop during the holiday weekend. Memorial Day ranked among the top 3 most popular holidays in the U.S. in 2023, sandwiched right between e-comm’s heaviest of hitters: Thanksgiving and Christmas. So, if you’re not giving Memorial Day Weekend the same time and attention you do BFCM, you and your brand could be missing out on a lot of revenue. 

Winning the weekend can be tricky, given the somber meaning behind Memorial Day itself and the fact that so many people are intentionally offline and on the go. 

To capitalize on this peak consumer interest, it’s crucial to tailor seasonal marketing campaigns that resonate effectively with mobile users, ensuring your brand captures maximum visibility and engagement during this bustling holiday period.

Here are some tips on how to navigate this major marketing holiday with a mobile-first approach using Email and SMS while remaining respectful of the day itself.

Choose the Right Messaging ✍

Given the somber nature of Memorial Day and the more personal nature of Email and SMS marketing, it’s crucial to strike the right tone in your messaging and ensure it aligns with your brand voice and your audience. 

If it feels on-brand to recognize the holiday itself, do so, but be sure to avoid overly celebratory language. Instead, focus on expressing gratitude and respect for the fallen heroes by using phrases like “We remember” or “Join us in honoring the brave souls who gave their lives for our freedom.” Avoid wishing your subscribers a “Happy Memorial Day” or thanking veterans for their service—that is not what this holiday is for, and using the wrong messaging can negatively impact the perception your subscribers have of your brand.

If your brand typically uses a more lighthearted tone or does not have a direct or natural tie-in to the military or their families, it’s recommended you lean into the “start of summer” theme. 

This thoughtful, authentic approach can help to better effectively engage your audience during the holiday while still optimizing your seasonal marketing campaigns.

However you choose to show up in your email and mobile marketing campaign strategy, ensure it’s authentic and crafted in a way that resonates with your subscribers while driving them to take action on the goal of your campaign—be it to endear them to your brand through thoughtful, respectful messaging or to drive sales as summer heats up.

Keep It Relevant ♨

Given the precedent set by all of the Memorial Day sales that came before yours, people have come to expect discounts during the long weekend. They’ll be tuned in and looking for a deal, but they’ll also be equally checked out—gearing up for outdoor activities, summer travel, and celebratory gatherings.

For your email marketing strategy and mobile marketing campaigns, ensure subscribers have ample time to shop and celebrate during the holiday weekend. Look to target them at the right time and with the right content for the most impactful results. 

Start promoting your offer before the weekend and have it run through the day after Memorial Day. This will give them the opportunity to shop Memorial Day sales whether they’re still at their desk or jet-setting to a tropical destination. A one-day sale can be great in some instances, but this isn’t the time for that.

Also, keep in mind that what’s on sale is just as important as when the deal is live. Products featured should be relevant for the season, such as a curated collection of summer getaway essentials. If your products aren’t as relevant to their summer adventures, consider leveraging a sitewide sale, which allows your brand to stay on theme as part of your Memorial Day sales strategy in the messaging used.

Embrace the *Slams Laptop Shut* Vibe 💻

With Memorial Day Weekend being a prime time for outdoor activities and travel, your subscribers are likely to be away from their desks and laptops. Meet them where they’re at—on their mobile devices—by leveraging SMS push marketing campaigns and mobile-responsive email designs. 

A well-timed text or mobile-friendly email can grab their attention while they’re on the go or checking their email on their phone while waiting to flip the burgers. With 97% of Americans now owning smartphones, ensuring your mobile marketing campaigns are seamlessly integrated into your seasonal SMS push campaign is essential for maximizing engagement and increasing the chances of Memorial Day sale conversions.

Make sure your emails are optimized for mobile viewing with a clean, easy-to-scan design and prominent, easy-to-tap calls to action. SMS messages should be direct with all essential information included, such as your offer, the discount code, and a link to a collection page. 

By utilizing both SMS and mobile-optimized email campaigns, you’ll maximize your reach and conversion potential throughout the Memorial Day sales period.

This timely, proactive approach to your email and SMS marketing strategy ensures you engage with subscribers wherever the holiday weekend finds them, driving increased sales and brand visibility.

👋  And if you need an agency partner who will support you through every holiday and occasion, let’s talk. The Lifecycle Marketing team at MuteSix specializes in crafting tailored email marketing plans and SMS strategies to help your brand reach conversion goals. 

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Lead Generation 101: Attract, Engage, Convert (and Boost Sales!) https://mutesix.com/blog/lead-generation-101-attract-engage-convert-and-boost-sales/ Fri, 05 Apr 2024 21:25:00 +0000 https://mutesix.com/?p=26093 Continued]]> Lead Generation 101: Attract, Engage, Convert (and Boost Sales!)

You’re not alone. 66% of marketers spend hours each week chasing leads that never convert. The culprit? Weak lead generation.

What is Lead Generation, Anyway?

Imagine a magnet pulling in potential customers – that’s lead generation. It’s about attracting people interested in what you offer, not just random clicks. But it doesn’t stop there. Effective lead gen nurtures these prospects, guiding them towards becoming loyal customers.

This blog will be your secret weapon. We’ll dive into automation tricks, strategic approaches, and best practices to turn your marketing efforts into a lead generation machine. Get ready to watch your conversions soar!

What Is a Lead? 

Not all leads are created equal. A high-quality new lead is someone from your target audience who shows genuine interest in what you offer. Imagine a sales funnel – a wide opening to capture potential customers, then a narrowing path towards conversion. High-quality leads move smoothly down that funnel.

Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) are the golden tickets. These leads are identified by your marketing team based on their behavior, interactions, and demographics. They’ve shown a stronger interest and are more likely to convert into paying customers.

So, how do you identify these golden leads? CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems help you manage the lead generation process.  By analyzing a lead’s attributes, purchasing power, and fit with your offerings, you can determine if they’re a good fit for your sales funnel.

Why Lead Generation is Your Sales Funnel’s Secret Weapo

Imagine a sales funnel – a broad net that captures potential customers and guides them towards becoming loyal buyers. Lead generation is what fills that funnel with high-quality leads – those most likely to convert. It’s the bridge between potential customers and your brand’s offerings.

Building Brand Awareness & Nurturing Relationships

Effective lead generation fuels sales, boosts brand awareness, and strengthens customer relationships (CRM).  By focusing on high-quality leads, your sales team spends less time chasing dead ends and more time closing deals. There are two main ways to generate leads: inbound and outbound.

  • Inbound Leads Come to You: Inbound strategies attract potential customers organically. This involves creating valuable content (blogs, webinars, social media posts) optimized for search engines (SEO) that resonates with your target audience. Think of it as a magnet drawing in qualified leads through content marketing and social media platforms like LinkedIn. Lead nurturing tools like CRM and marketing automation help you manage these inbound leads and measure campaign success.
  • Outbound Leads (You Take the Initiative): Outbound methods involve proactive outreach to capture attention beyond your existing audience. This could be email marketing, targeted ads (like Amazon Ads), or even personalized cold calls.  The goal is to initiate contact with potential leads, showcase your brand’s offerings, and nurture them through the sales pipeline with compelling landing pages and clear calls to action.

By mastering both inbound and outbound tactics, you can ensure a steady flow of high-quality leads filling your sales funnel, ultimately leading to a thriving business.

The Difference Between Qualified and Unqualified Leads

In the world of lead generation, understanding the difference between qualified and unqualified leads is crucial. It helps your sales team identify where potential customers are in the buying journey and prioritize their efforts.

Qualified Leads: Ready to Convert

These are the golden tickets – leads with a genuine interest in your offerings. They might have downloaded a white paper, signed up for a webinar, or visited a well-optimized landing page with a clear call to action.

How to Identify Qualified Leads:

  • Inbound Strategies: SEO, social media marketing, and valuable content attract qualified leads organically.
  • Outbound Methods: Targeted ads, retargeting campaigns, or even well-executed cold calls can reach qualified leads outside your existing audience.
  • Lead Scoring: By analyzing demographics, interactions, and behavior, you can prioritize qualified leads ready to progress through the sales pipeline.

Unqualified Leads: Nurture for Future Potential

These leads haven’t met the criteria for sales-ready contacts, but they shouldn’t be ignored. Perhaps they responded to a social media ad or downloaded an e-book. They’re still in the early stages of the buyer’s journey.

How to Nurture Unqualified Leads:

  • Automation: Automated email sequences and lead nurturing campaigns keep your brand top-of-mind.
  • Retargeting: Reconnect with website visitors who haven’t converted with targeted ads.
  • Social Media Engagement: Respond to comments and questions, building relationships with unqualified leads.

Unqualified leads represent a valuable pool for future conversions. By using the right strategy (think social media tweaks, not major overhauls), you can nurture them into qualified leads ready to join your sales pipeline.

Boost Your Lead Gen: 4 Strategies for High-Quality Leads

Elevating your lead generation efforts involves strategic tactics that tackle the potential of marketing channels. If you’re struggling to fill your sales pipeline, here are a few ways you can supercharge your strategy:

  1.  A/B Test Everything: Headlines, landing pages, CTAs – test variations to see what resonates most with your target demographic.
  1. Content Marketing Magic: Craft captivating content (blogs, webinars, white papers) that positions you as an expert and attracts high-quality leads.
  1. Harness Automation Apps: Streamline lead nurturing with marketing automation tools, freeing your team to focus on converting qualified leads (SQLs).
  1. Align with Sales: Collaborate with sales to ensure smooth lead scoring and handoff of SQLs for a healthy pipeline.

By implementing these strategies and analyzing key metrics, you’ll attract, engage, and convert more potential leads into loyal customers.

💡 Bonus Tip: Integrate inbound marketing (SEO, social media) with outbound efforts (targeted outreach) for a well-rounded approach.

A/B Testing: Your Secret Weapon to Grow Your Lead Generation

In the fast-paced world of digital marketing, every click counts. That’s where A/B testing, also known as split testing, comes in. It’s a powerful tool to optimize your marketing elements and skyrocket your lead generation.

How Does A/B Testing Work?

Imagine comparing two versions of a landing page or call-to-action (CTA) – one with a blue button, the other with a green. A/B testing lets you see which version drives more clicks and conversions. This data-driven approach replaces guesswork with concrete insights, allowing you to refine your marketing strategies for maximum impact.

Why A/B Testing is Crucial for Lead Generation:

  • Uncover Hidden Gems: Even minor tweaks to landing page design, headlines, or CTA wording can significantly impact conversion rates. A/B testing helps you identify these hidden gems and optimize your elements for more leads.
  • Target with Precision: By analyzing which audience segments respond best to specific variations, you can refine your targeting for laser-focused lead generation campaigns.
  • Stay Ahead of the Curve: A/B testing fosters a culture of continuous improvement. You’ll constantly iterate and refine your approach, giving you a competitive edge in the ever-evolving digital landscape.
  • Inform Broader Strategies: The insights from A/B testing go beyond individual campaigns. Over time, you’ll build a rich data pool that informs your broader marketing strategies, helping you better understand your audience’s preferences and behaviors.

A/B testing isn’t just about one-off wins. The insights you gather become the building blocks for better marketing strategies overall. You’ll learn what resonates with your audience, allowing you to continuously improve your lead generation efforts and gain a competitive edge.

How MuteSix Can Help

Ditch the slow and steady approach. MuteSix ignites explosive growth for disruptive brands. We combine cutting-edge data and omnichannel strategies with real-time marketing magic to solve your customer needs, dominate market trends, and skyrocket your brand goals.

Our forward-thinking experts craft data-driven media buys, growth marketing strategies, and compelling creative that converts – all to unleash your brand’s true potential. Reach out today to see if you qualify for a free omnichannel audit.

Sources:

Integrating Lead-Generation Marketing Campaigns | UPenn 

A Small Business Guide to Lead Generation | Business News Daily 

Online Lead Generation (2023 Guide) | Forbes Advisor 

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What Is a Retail Media Network? https://mutesix.com/blog/what-is-a-retail-media-network/ Fri, 29 Mar 2024 16:25:07 +0000 https://mutesix.com/?p=26088 What Is a Retail Media Network?

The online shopping boom is here to stay, and brands are scrambling to reach in-the-moment consumers. Enter retail media networks, the advertising goldmine nestled within your favorite stores.

This blog dives into the world of retail media networks, unpacking their importance, how they work, and why they’re a game-changer for modern marketing.

What Is a Retail Media Network?

Forget generic online ads. Retail media networks are like having a VIP pass to your favorite stores’ digital storefronts. These networks are advertising platforms created by retailers, offering brands a unique way to reach in-the-moment shoppers. What more, the retail media landscape is expanding, with projected increases in ad spending year over year.

As online shopping explodes, retailers are leveraging their websites and apps to connect brands with highly relevant audiences. This translates to increased brand visibility and a more targeted shopping experience for consumers.

By advertising on a retailer’s platform, brands gain access to valuable first-party data. This allows for a deeper understanding of customer behavior and lets brands tailor campaigns for maximum impact.

Reaching the Right Shoppers at the Perfect Moment

Retail media networks aren’t just about throwing ads at walls. They’re like having a team of in-store promoters strategically placed throughout a digital store. Here’s how they work:

  • Laser-Focused Targeting: Imagine your product displayed right next to similar items someone is browsing. That’s the power of product detail page placements. You capture shoppers at a crucial moment, when they’re already interested in a related category.
  • Category Page Powerhouse: Shoppers navigate through categories, and retail media networks ensure your brand stands out. By aligning your products with relevant categories, you increase the chances of catching their eye and driving those all-important clicks.
  • Prime Real Estate: Think of a store’s homepage as its Times Square. Retail media networks let you place your brand front and center, grabbing the attention of shoppers just starting their online shopping adventure.
  • Search Savvy: When a shopper types in a search term, retail media networks can put your product right in their results. These targeted ads capture them during their crucial product discovery phase, making a strong first impression.

Conquering Amazon: How MuteSix Makes Brands Shine

Forget one-size-fits-all solutions. Amazon, the online retail giant, welcomes a vast array of brands, from household names to niche players. Here’s where MuteSix steps in. As a valued member of Amazon’s Advertising Partner Network, MuteSix isn’t your average agency.

  • The MuteSix Advantage: Unlike others who set things up and disappear, MuteSix acts as an extension of your e-commerce team. We craft customized strategies, both organic and paid, to optimize your Amazon presence across all stages of the customer journey.
  • Going Beyond the Surface: MuteSix doesn’t just manage ads. We take a holistic approach, handling branding, inventory, and campaigns. Their expertise extends to creating cost-effective Amazon DSP (Demand-Side Platform) strategies.

Why E-Commerce Brands Need Retail Media Networks (Yes, Really)

Forget scattershot ads. Retail media networks let you reach in-the-moment shoppers with laser focus. With 74% of brands on board, it’s time to join the retail media revolution.

  • Boost ROAS: Target active buyers, not everyone online. Think sniper rifle, not shotgun.
  • Smarter Marketing: Precise data fuels smarter strategies, even with privacy concerns.
  • Happy Customers: Personalized experiences keep shoppers engaged, not annoyed.
  • Perfect Timing: Catch consumers when they’re ready to buy, not just browsing.
  • Clear Results: Track conversions easily, unlike some social media channels.

Go Big or Go Targeted: Choosing the Right Retail Media Network

To start, e-commerce brands pick their player:

  • General Networks (Amazon, Walmart): Massive reach, diverse products. Ideal for large budgets and broad awareness.
  • Niche Networks (Wayfair): Laser focus on specific shoppers, relevant ad placement. Perfect for defined product categories (furniture on Wayfair, not Amazon).

There are many factors to consider, such as:

  • Resources: Big budget & team? Go general. Niche networks can still be powerful with less.
  • Products: Diverse offerings? Go general. Niche product? Find your niche network.
  • Goals: Need in-store presence? Look at Walmart, Best Buy, Target. Multichannel online campaigns? Broader networks reign.
  • Data is King: Strong analytics are crucial for both!

Why Does Your Brand Need To Advertise on Retail Media Networks?

Stop chasing generic clicks. Retail media networks put your brand in front of shoppers already primed to buy. Here’s how they win:

  • Target Like a Sniper: Reach the perfect audience, not everyone online.
  • Boost Sales, Fast: Shoppers here are ready to convert, not just browse.
  • Big Audience, Big Results: Tap into a massive pool of engaged customers.

The Future of Retail Media Networks

Retail media networks are on fire, and the heat’s only rising. Here’s what’s brewing for the future:

Changing Consumer Trends

Consumers are changing how they shop, and retail media networks need to adapt to stay relevant. Here are the trends to watch:

  1. E-commerce Explosion: As online shopping continues to boom, retail media networks will need to expand their reach and influence.
  2. Mobile Mania: With smartphones glued to our hands, networks need to prioritize mobile optimization and in-app advertising.
  3. Social Shopping Surge: Social media platforms are becoming shopping hubs. Partnering with networks on these platforms will be key for brands.
  4. Going Green: Sustainability-conscious consumers are on the rise. Networks need to allow brands to showcase eco-friendly practices in their ads.
  5. The Age of Personalization: Tailored ads are the new norm. Networks must offer tools for brands to craft highly personalized campaigns.

First-Party Data: The New Gold Mine for Retail Media 

With third-party cookies crumbling, first-party data is becoming the advertiser’s holy grail. Here’s how retail media networks can leverage this gold mine:

  • Laser Targeting: Forget scattershot ads. First-party data unlocks hyper-precise audience targeting, reaching the right consumers at the perfect moment.
  • Unveiling Behavior Secrets: By analyzing this data, brands gain valuable insights into customer behavior, preferences, and buying habits.
  • Personalization Powerhouse: First-party data fuels personalized advertising, creating a more engaging and relevant experience for shoppers, ultimately driving conversions.
  • Measurement Magic: Accurate data is key to measuring success. Networks offering robust measurement and attribution tools will be the go-to for brands.

By capitalizing on this data revolution, retail media networks can solidify their position as a powerful tool for brands to connect with customers in a meaningful way.

Bye-Bye Cookies, Hello First-Party Data

The death of third-party cookies is a game-changer for advertisers, but retail media networks are celebrating. Here’s why:

  • Privacy First: With consumer privacy concerns on the rise, networks prioritizing robust data protection become even more trusted partners for brands.
  • First-Party Data Fortunes: As reliance on first-party data explodes, brands see networks as treasure troves of valuable customer insights.
  • Beyond Cookies: Networks that explore alternative tracking methods to ensure accurate measurement will be future-proof.
  • The Art of Adaptation: As tracking limitations evolve, networks that empower brands with strong contextual targeting will win.

Retail media networks that embrace these trends are poised to dominate the future of digital advertising. By offering innovative solutions in a privacy-conscious world, they’ll be the go-to partners for brands navigating this new advertising landscape.

Need Help? MuteSix Doesn’t Just Grow Brands, We Launch Them.

We’re growth architects for disruptive brands. Our secret sauce? Real-time marketing that tackles customer needs, market trends, and your brand goals—all in one place.

We don’t just follow trends, we dominate them. Our forward-thinking experts craft data-driven media buys that reach the perfect audience, while our growth marketing strategies are built to conquer your market. But growth isn’t enough without impact. That’s why we create compelling creative that not only converts but fosters brand loyalty.

Ready to unleash your brand’s true potential? Reach out today for a marketing consultation to see if you qualify for a free omnichannel audit. Let’s chat!

Sources:

What is retail media, and how does it offer a good alternative to the cookie? | Skyrise | Open Mic | The Drum 

What the Rise of Retail Media Has in Store for Marketers | AdWeek

Data privacy | AP News 

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How To: Build a Case for Your Ad Dollar Budget https://mutesix.com/blog/how-to-build-a-case-for-your-ad-dollar-budget/ Fri, 22 Mar 2024 23:15:12 +0000 https://mutesix.com/?p=25946 How To: Build a Case for Your Ad Dollar Budget

The new quarter is here, and with it comes the chance to refine your brand’s advertising strategy.  Smart decisions about your ad spend can be a game-changer for your success.

But where do you start? This post will guide you through building a data-driven case for your ad dollars, maximizing your investment, and setting the stage for a thriving year.

How Do You Prepare an Advertising Budget?

Planning and allocating resources effectively are key to a successful advertising budget. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you:

  1. Optimize Your Marketing Funnel

Focus on efficiency for the upcoming quarter. Enhance website conversion rates through audits, prioritizing user experience (UX), user interface (UI), traffic quality, and content. Maintain flexibility in plans to address unforeseen challenges, aligning strategies with brand goals and prioritizing data-driven decisions and customer-centric content.

  • Boost Conversions: Use data and attribution tools to pinpoint areas for improvement and reduce budget risks.
  • Personalize Targeting: Leverage customer data platforms (CDPs) and loyalty programs for targeted campaigns.
  • Plan for Post-Holiday: Manage inventory effectively to adjust plans quickly.
  • Stay Flexible: Be prepared to adapt to unforeseen challenges.

  1. Set Clear Goals and KPIs

Define Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) like conversion rates, click-through rates, and customer acquisition costs. Tie them to specific goals,  such as increasing revenue by a set percentage.

  • Track Progress: Regularly monitor KPIs throughout the quarter to ensure your strategy stays on track.
  • Utilize Data Tools: Implement analytics platforms and CRM systems for data collection and analysis.
  1. Stay Ahead of Trends

Researching upcoming advertising trends gives you a competitive edge. To excel, get foresight into emerging advertising trends

  • Consumer Behavior: Understand shifts in consumer behavior to optimize your approach.
  • Technology: Be aware of technological advancements that might impact advertising.
  • Market Projections: Stay informed about market trends to anticipate future needs.
  • Competitor Strategies: Analyze competitor strategies to refine your own approach.
  1. Manage Fluctuating Costs

Strategic adjustments are critical to navigate changing advertising costs. Commence with a comprehensive analysis of last year’s advertising expenses, enabling strategic adjustments for enhanced ROI.

  • Analyze Past Performance: Review historical data to identify areas for improvement.
  • Optimize Ad Spend: Focus on cost-effective measures like targeted ad creatives and retargeting campaigns.
  • Diversify Channels: Consider using a mix of advertising channels to reach a wider audience at a lower cost.
  1. Project Your ROAS (Return on Ad Spend)

Forecast the expected revenue generated from advertising efforts. Start by reviewing historical data on ad performance. For instance, similar strategies might be replicated if a specific campaign yielded a 5x ROAS in the past.

  • Review Historical Data: Analyze past campaign performance to inform future strategies.
  • Account for Seasonality: Consider how seasonal variations might affect your budget.

  1. Collaborate with Stakeholders

Involve key team members, executives, and partners in the planning process.

  • Gather Feedback: Seek input from stakeholders to gain valuable insights.
  • Foster Collaboration: A collaborative approach builds ownership and accountability.
  • Communicate Regularly: Keep stakeholders informed with regular progress updates.

Win Approval for Your Ad Budget: Show Value, Not Just Cost

Getting the green light for ad spend often hinges on demonstrating its value proposition. Here’s how understanding the difference between marketing and advertising budgets becomes your secret weapon:

  • Highlight Strategic Allocation: Clearly distinguish between your broader marketing budget (encompassing research, branding, etc.) and the specific allocation for advertising efforts. This showcases your strategic planning.
  • Focus on Return on Investment (ROI): Shift the conversation from cost to potential return. Build a compelling case by outlining projected revenue increases or lead generation driven by your targeted advertising strategy.
  • Demonstrate a Thoughtful Plan: Don’t just ask for funds; present a well-defined plan with clear goals, target audience analysis, and chosen advertising channels. This builds trust and shows a measured approach.

By focusing on value and presenting a data-driven plan, you can confidently secure approval for your ad spend and achieve your marketing objectives.

Marketing Budget vs. Advertising Budget

FeatureMarketing BudgetAdvertising Budget
DefinitionEncompasses all promotional expenses for a brand (advertising, PR, events, etc.).Allocated funds for achieving marketing objectives through advertising efforts
PurposeSupports various promotional activities to reach the target audience.Focuses on reaching and influencing the target audience through advertising.
ConsiderationsHolistic approach: utilizes diverse channels and activities to engage consumers.Primarily focuses on advertising expenditures and their impact on generating revenue.
Target ConsumerConsiders the entire customer base and their needs / preferences.Identifies specific demographics and characteristics to optimize ad spending.
Media SelectionUtilizes various channels (advertising, PR, events, digital marketing, etc.)Emphasizes selecting effective advertising media types (online, social media, traditional).
ApproachComprehensive focus on addressing consumer needs and providing solutions.Concentrates on messaging and strategies used in advertising to resonate with the audience.
Budget DeterminationBased on brand goals, sales projections, and strategic objectives.Uses methods like percentage of sales, industry averages, or specific goals and tasks.
FlexibilityAllows for adjustments based on evolving priorities and market conditions.Flexibility can vary depending on the chosen budgeting method.
Risk AssessmentConsiders the overall risk associated with various promotional activities and their impact on the brand.Evaluates potential return on investment (ROI) for advertising expenditures and their impact on revenue.
Growth and Expansion FocusAims for sustainable long-term growth by addressing customer needs and building brand loyalty.Focuses on driving growth through effective advertising that resonates with the target audience.

Why Partner with an Agency?

The start of a new quarter is a prime opportunity to propel your brand forward. Here’s how an agency can be your secret weapon:

The start of a new quarter is a prime opportunity to propel your brand forward. Here’s how an agency can be your secret weapon:

  • Expert Strategy, Instantly: Tap into their specialized knowledge to develop a winning quarterly plan tailored to your specific goals. No need to reinvent the wheel – they’ll leverage their experience to craft a powerful strategy from the get-go.
  • Fresh Creative that Cuts Through the Noise: Stand out from the crowd with innovative campaigns that grab attention and make your brand shine during this critical period. Their creative expertise will ensure your message resonates with your target audience.
  • Streamlined Execution for Maximum Impact: Free up your valuable time and resources. Agencies excel at efficiently executing marketing plans, allowing you to focus on core business functions. They’ll handle the nitty-gritty, ensuring smooth implementation and maximum impact.
  • Data-Driven Decisions Powered by Tech: Gain a deeper understanding of your audience and campaign performance. Agencies utilize cutting-edge tools and analytics to provide valuable insights that inform smarter marketing decisions.
  • Cost-Effective Expertise: Get the power of a dedicated marketing team without the overhead of building one in-house. Partnering with an agency provides access to a broader range of expertise at a potentially lower cost compared to building and maintaining an internal team, especially for short-term projects like quarterly planning.

By partnering with an agency, you can hit the ground running in the new quarter and achieve your marketing objectives with greater speed, efficiency, and impact.

How MuteSix Can Help

Many e-commerce brands are struggling with these same challenges. But there’s a way to break free and achieve explosive growth.

That’s where MuteSix comes in. We’re growth experts who help disruptor brands like yours dominate the market through real-time marketing.

We use real-time data to craft omnichannel media buying, growth marketing, and creative strategies that address your specific customer needs, market trends, and brand goals. What more, our team of forward-thinking experts leverages their expertise to scale your brand faster and more efficiently than any other agency.

Ready to unlock your brand’s full potential? Reach out today for a marketing consultation to see if you qualify for a free omnichannel audit. 

Sources:

Fiscal Quarters (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4) | Investopedia 

Don’t Skip These 16 Steps  for Your Q1 Planning Efforts | Forbes

How to Develop and Track a Marketing Budget | Business News 

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TikTok Ads: How to Create and Manage a Winning TikTok Advertising Strategy https://mutesix.com/blog/how-to-create-and-manage-a-winning-tiktok-advertising-strategy-questions-and-answers/ Wed, 14 Feb 2024 20:00:00 +0000 https://mutesix.com/?p=25834 Continued]]> Ever since its launch in 2016, TikTok took the world by storm and became one of the two most downloaded social media apps of 2023. In 2024, TikTok is no longer an emerging platform—it is now THE platform to be on outside of Meta, with 1.7 billion monthly active users. If brands aren’t on TikTok already, they’re considered to be falling behind.

So how do you create and manage a winning TikTok ad strategy on this social media kingpin, where anyone can skyrocket and go viral overnight? Crafting effective TikTok ads and maintaining an effective campaign require a strategic approach. There may not be one cookie-cutter formula, but we sat down with MuteSix’s media expert, Ilene Rothman, and other TikTok specialists, to help you understand the platform by answering your most asked questions. 

Why should brands consider advertising on TikTok?  

Here are 4 main reasons why: 

  • TikTok touts unique reach to Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, and more. If your brand is looking to maximize reach and lift conversions beyond just one platform, then it’s worth tapping into something new. Or, alternatively, if you feel like you’ve hit a plateau on these established platforms, it’s time to spruce things up and expand your reach onto TikTok ads.
  • TikTok primarily serves as a discovery platform where people learn about a brand for the first time OR go to learn more about a brand after hearing about them, making it an optimal platform to attract potential new customers through an expertly-crafted advertising strategy.
  • TikTok is already the dominant social network in average user minutes per day—and soon, in total minutes per day. TikTok surpassed YouTube for time spent by adult users in 2022, per eMarketer forecasts. This year TikTok’s adult users will spend an average of 54 minutes per day on the app this year, nearly double the time spent by Facebook or Instagram users. In short, put your ads on TikTok, where users are paying attention! 
  • Lastly, TikTok provides an opportunity to tap into a demographic that aligns with TikTok’s consumption style. Gen Z (18-26) are 68% likely to make a purchase directly on TikTok followed by Facebook (62%) and Snapchat (55%). TikTok only trails Instagram at 71%.

How do I best reach and connect with my target audience through TikTok Ads? Can you share any insights on how to optimize content for better visibility when advertising on TikTok? 

Take a content-first approach to your targeting by allowing your creative to speak to and resonate with your key personas. Address their core needs, provide solutions to their problems, speak to their lifestyles, and deliver social proof when creating your ad strategy. 

In addition, make sure you’re diversifying your content. Don’t test three similar videos—instead, test three different hooks to see what resonates with your key personas and continue to iterate from there.  

When advertising on TikTok, the best content will always be the one that’s the most engaging and relevant to the platform. TikTok considers a variety of factors when gauging distribution among its user base, but the most important are watch times and engagement. Engagement can be defined as clicks, likes, messages, shares, and conversions that you receive on/from your TikTok. This means that the most optimal content will entertain, engage, peak curiosity, educate, and have a CTA that’s aligned with your goal. 

What is the recommended number of creatives needed for TikTok advertising? 

When developing your ad strategy for TikTok, a great way to get started is by boosting videos that are already live on your organic TikTok profile. As part of your ad strategy, we recommend going live with 3-5 videos per ad group. 5 should be your goal, but anything within the range is ideal. If you plan to implement a large-scale effort with multiple ad groups and campaigns, then you will need additional creatives to support.

In addition, we recommend having a bank of videos that are ready to be rotated in once the ads fatigue, as this churn happens faster on TikTok. These videos do not need to be net new but should be native-looking and -feeling UGC. The amount of videos to keep in your back pocket also depends on your available budget.

A very general rule of serving is 1 ad per every 3x frequency. With their recent updates, TikTok can now tell you if your ad is fatiguing in “delivery optimization” at the ad level. In addition, advertisers can perform a key frame analysis using Video Insights to understand where users are clicking, dropping off, and more. Be sure to utilize this function when breaking down your ad performance.

How do I know if my TikTok campaigns are successful?  

We recommend using TikTok Ads Manager for its helpful tools in managing, optimizing, and analyzing the success of your TikTok ad campaigns. Empowering advertisers with precise audience targeting, users can easily undergo creative testing, embrace real-time performance tracking, and ensure that your TIkTok ad strategy is performance-driven, accurate, and effective. With these features, TikTok Ads Manager helps you maximize engagement and conversion rates.

Start by monitoring your primary KPIs. What core metrics are the most important? Are you hitting your minimum target ROAS, CPA, and/or CPL?

Then, take a look at KPIs that tell you about how engaging your content is. This will lead you to understand what’s working and what’s not—these secondary KPIs include your CTR (1%+), Thumbstop Rate (30%+), Average Watch Time, and CVR.

  • CTR (Click-Through Rate): The percentage of times people click to a specified destination after being shown your ad. 
  • Thumbstop Rate: Measures if the creative is stopping the scroll. 
  • Average Watch Time Per Video View: The average amount of time your video was played per single video view, including any time spent replaying the video.  
  • CVR (Conversion Rate): When using clicks or visitors as the denominator, CVR will tell you beyond the initial success of the ad who is taking further action such as a purchase 

Keep in mind that creating engaging content that stops people from scrolling to the next piece of content is just the first step of the process! Ultimately, the goal of your TikTok ads should be to usher users to make a purchase on your website. If you’re seeing a big drop off from your site visitors to purchasers, we recommend considering a CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization) audit. In short, leveraging TikTok Ads Manager within your ad strategy not only streamlines campaign management, but also enhances your ability to achieve measurable success through meaningful engagement.

Are there other helpful tips that brands should know about being on TikTok? 

Don’t be afraid to go beyond your branding. TikTok ads are the place for brands to develop and showcase a unique personality. The brands that “win” are the ones who aren’t afraid to take risks and interact with prospects in a different light. A fear of not wishing to diversify even slightly from current brand guidelines can limit you from reaching new, meaningful audience segments. For more information, check out our webinar on successfully diversifying your strategy specifically for TikTok

How does an agency help elevate a brand’s TikTok strategy? What makes MuteSix different for brands who need TikTok management? 

When it comes to advertising on TikTok and managing successful advertising campaigns, working with an experienced advertising agency can be invaluable. For success on a platform, there must be synergy between growth strategy, media buying, measurement, and content to meet your overall business goals. Agencies like MuteSix offer a team of experts within a digital marketing agency that specialize in creating, optimizing, and monitoring advertising campaigns on the TikTok platform.

For success with advertising on TikTok, an agency should not just understand the platform, media, measurement, and creative but should also understand the best ad strategy for your business goals. It’s not just about optimizing campaigns, but also increasing our AOV and LTV, all of which is catered to increasing your revenue and profits as you scale.

What makes MuteSix different for brands who need an updated TikTok advertising strategy? As the first-ever agency to partner with TikTok, MuteSix has been leading the pack since the start. We have the business relationship to learn about and leverage Beta offerings ahead of the competition. With our help, you can scale your brand, access new customer pools within TikTok Ads, and see massive improvements across all your marketing efforts.

Learn more about when the right time is to leverage an agency dedicated to managing your brand’s TikTok, or contact us today for a free marketing consultation!

Looking to maximize your presence on TikTok?

Let MuteSix help.

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How Much Does It Cost To Advertise on Instagram? https://mutesix.com/blog/how-much-does-it-cost-to-advertise-on-instagram/ Wed, 07 Feb 2024 19:45:57 +0000 https://mutesix.com/?p=14213 Continued]]> How Much Does It Cost To Advertise on Instagram?

Many newer and smaller brands falsely assume they can’t afford to advertise on prominent social media platforms and compete with more-established brands with colossal marketing budgets. However, that’s not necessarily the case! Advertising on Instagram feeds is often cost-effective with the right approach, strategy, and expertise.

What Is Instagram and Who Uses It?

A matter of just 15 years ago, the word “Instagram” meant nothing because it didn’t exist. Fast forward to today, and you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who hasn’t heard of the IG.

According to the brand, Instagram is a “free photo and video sharing app available on iPhone and Android.” It was created back in 2010 as a way for users to keep friends and followers up to date on what they’re doing, but it has expanded over the last 13 years to become so much more. 

Here are some of the common uses of the Instagram app:

  • Share videos and photos with friends
  • Promote a brand
  • Sell a product or service
  • Create informative/educational posts and videos
  • Promote contests/giveaways
  • Shoutouts/public endorsements

Because of the different uses of this app, there is a large and diverse user base. However, this popularity skyrockets for users between 18 and 34. Research shows that this age range accounts for over 60% of Instagrams’s user base. So, if you’re looking to appeal to Millennials and Gen-Zers, then Instagram is somewhere you want to advertise. 

Additionally, the app skews more males (52%) than females (48%). That’s not a massive difference between the genders, but it is worth noting. When it comes to interest groups, Instagram seems to cover it all, but the favorites of users include:

  • Fashion
  • Fitness
  • Travel
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Art

Though it seems like Instagram is already quite large, there is still lots of potential for expansion. 

Demographic Shift

One of how this app expands is through demographics. By creating different features and content catered towards older generations, we would likely see the user base shift away from primarily Millennials and Gen-Zers to attract new users.  

E-commerce

Though Instagram has been slowly introducing more e-commerce features to turn the app into more of a shopping platform, there is still room to grow. Because Instagram is so visually-focused, it is ideal for showing products to potential buyers. As Instagram expands its e-commerce options, users will view it as more than just a social network and turn to it for more of their shopping needs. 

Videos

Much to the dismay of many users, Instagram has shifted from primarily a photo app to a video app. And it doesn’t seem like that’s stopping anytime soon. IG stories and Reels have proven to be a significant success in competing with other video-sharing apps such as Snapchat and TikTok, and there is still lots of room for expansion when it comes to other forms of video content on Instagram. 

Why Should You Advertise on Instagram?

Instagram marketing isn’t cheap, so why spend your tightly budgeted marketing dollars on this platform? 

Here are some of the benefits of Instagram worth considering:

  • 50% of users acquire an interest in a brand after seeing an Instagram ad for it
  • Reels have a 14% reach rate versus other types of media that sit between 9-10%
  • 70% of shoppers turn to Instagram for their next purchase
  • 90% of IG users follow a brand
  • 62.3% of users on Instagram follow and research brands
  • Instagram generated $43.2 billion in ad revenue in 2022
  • Instagram users love short narrative-type stories that involve a mix of photos, videos, and text
  • Instagram is the fifth most visited website across the globe

Instagram is the fourth most prominent social media platform globally, with over two billion users using the app at least once monthly — ranking only after Facebook, YouTube, and WhatsApp.

Instagram accounts offer higher engagement rates compared with other platforms. As of 2023, Instagram users spent about 29 minutes daily on the platform — meaning they were very engaged. This engagement also translates into advertising, wherein Instagram ad engagement is ten times higher than on Facebook. 

Finally, Instagram is the place to be if you want to reach a specific age or gender demographic — Generation Z and Millennials. Instagram is also an ideal ad platform for reaching women, as the demographics evenly represent both sexes – 52% male and 48% female. 

How Does Advertising on Instagram Work?

If you’re new to advertising on Instagram, the process often seems confusing and overwhelming. The good news is that MuteSix is here to guide you through it so that you have the ability to create fantastic advertising campaigns to promote your brand and products. 

Essentially, advertising on Instagram involves paying for your content to appear to specific groups of users. You pay for your ads through a bidding model wherein you compete with other brands for the exact ad placement. You choose your group of users through targeting mechanisms. From there, users interact with your ad, providing leads and, hopefully, conversions. 

What Are the Different Instagram Advertising Formats To Choose From?

Now that you have a better understanding of how Instagram advertising works, let’s discuss some of the different advertising formats to choose from to help you develop an effective and affordable campaign: 

  • Photo Ads: Square, landscape, or vertical single images placed in a variety of different locations
  • Video Ads: Square or landscape videos that placed in a variety of different locations for a more engaging and interactive approach
  • Carousel Slideshow Ads: A series of images or videos that users swipe through to see several different products or experience a brand’s story
  • Instagram Story Ads: Image or video ads that appear in the “Stories” feature of the application where users tap through temporary posts from followed accounts
  • Shopping Ads: Image or video ads that take users directly to a product on Instagram Shopping when interacting with
  • Reels Ads: Short video advertisements shown within the “Reels” feature of the application where users swipe through creative and engaging content to learn about a brand

How Much Do Instagram Ads Cost?

Instagram advertising costs vary based on several different factors. That said, the average cost-per-thousand impressions (CPM) for an advertising campaign on Instagram is about $9. At the same time, the average cost-per-click (CPC) for an advertising campaign on Instagram is $1.28. Here are some of the different factors that determine the ad budget and cost of Instagram ads: 

Factor 1: Bid Amount

Like Facebook, Instagram ads use a bidding auction method when determining ad costs. 

The bid amount is the first factor determining the cost of advertising on Instagram. This refers to the amount you’re willing to pay to obtain either clicks or impressions on the platform. You choose between automatic bidding and manual bidding during a bidding war, which will also affect the overall cost of your ad.

For instance, say that you have a budget of $1,000 to spend on Instagram advertising with a bid amount of $0.20 — on the lower end of the average spectrum. With this amount, perhaps you obtain 5,000 leads with your campaign. On the other hand, if you have higher bid amounts, you’d only obtain 500 leads with the same budget of $1,000. 

Factor 2: Ad Relevance Score

Your ad relevance score is the second factor determining the cost of advertising on Instagram. This refers to how relevant Instagram thinks your ad will be to its viewers. Instagram wants to please its users, meaning they want to place relevant content that users are interested in rather than irrelevant and annoying content. 

If your ad is relevant and engaging — leading users to engage with it — your ad relevance score will increase, and your ad will acquire more placements. On the other hand, if your ad is irrelevant or uninteresting — leading users to hide it — your ad relevance score will go down, and your ad won’t be placed as much. 

Factor 3: Estimated Action Rates

The estimated action rates are the third factor determining the cost of advertising on Instagram. This refers to how many users Instagram thinks will act on your ad. Instagram wants to promote engaging ads, so it prioritizes ads with high estimated action rates. When your ads are prioritized, you obtain lower bid amounts

Factor 4: Competition

The fourth factor that determines the cost of advertising on Instagram is competition. Since you’re bidding to obtain ad placements, you’re effectively competing with other brands for the same ad slots. If tons of different brands bid to reach the same subset of users, you will see higher advertising costs. By this logic, retailers will pay more for Instagram ads around Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas, or other significant shopping holidays. On the other hand, if you are trying to reach a unique or niche group of users, you will see less competition and, therefore, lower advertising costs. 

Additional Factors To Consider

In addition to the factors listed above, your Instagram advertising costs also run higher during holidays and events when competition is fiercer. Targeting females is also more expensive than males since this demographic is more in-demand and competitive. 

The day of the week also affects how much Instagram ads cost. Believe it or not, it’s more expensive to advertise on Instagram during the week than on the weekend since users engage more with the platform on weekdays. 

Is Advertising on Instagram More Expensive Than Advertising on Facebook?

Facebook owns Instagram, meaning the two platforms are connected in more ways than one. But how do advertising costs compare with two of the largest social media platforms in the world? Generally speaking, Facebook has slightly higher advertising costs than Instagram ad campaigns since it has more users. 

The average cost-per-click for Facebook ads is $0.97 compared to $0.20 to $2.00 on Instagram. The average cost-per-million impressions for an advertising campaign on Facebook is $7.19 compared to $6.70 on Instagram. 

The average cost-per-click for Facebook ads is $0.62 compared to $1.28 on Instagram. The average cost-per-million impressions for an advertising campaign on Facebook is $9.46 compared to $9 on Instagram. The more relevant your ad is to the audience, the less your CPM and the more it’s shown to users. 

Instagram Advertising Best Practices

  • Include a bulleted list of best practices, following in the footsteps of the Pinterest article; additionally, include tips, including the best times to post, scheduling content, honing your messaging, and continuously tracking performance through Instagram analytics.
  • Set goals. It’s not wise to just run ads on Instagram without a plan. First, you need to start with establishing a set of clear and measurable goals. These include building brand awareness, driving sales, engaging with the audience, etc. 
  • Engage with the audience. Speaking of engagement, remember that Instagram isn’t just a platform for advertising – it’s social media. You can’t just put out content and sit there waiting for users. You have to engage with your content and others’ content as well. Whether you do this yourself, hire a team, or hire an agency to help, it is crucial always to keep the communication lines between your brand and your following running both ways. 
  • Tag products. Because Instagram is becoming an important place for shopping, it’s essential that, as a brand, you tag your products. Studies show this helps to boost sales by 37%. 
  • Schedule content. Planning content is a great way to save time and money. By creating a content calendar and getting everything set up to post ahead of time, you batch your creative content and have time to catch any errors before posts go live. 
  • Test. Testing is critical to a successful ad campaign. You want to try different hooks, offers, and types of advertising content to see what works best (UGC, videos, photos, live videos, different video lengths, etc.). 

Instagram Photo Best Practices

  • Use quality images that are relevant to your ads.
  • Consider using photos of users holding your product (that boosts purchase desire by up to 78%)
  • Be consistent with your visuals (choose a look or vibe and stick with it)
  • Edit as much of your photo in-app as possible – Instagram wants you to use their features, so it will favor content that is created in-app

Instagram Reels Best Practices

  • 2.3 billion users interact with Reels monthly 
  • Aim for a resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels for your Reels
  • Stick with the 9:16 aspect ratio for vertical videos and avoid horizontal videos
  • Choose trending sounds by using the Reels Explore Page or Instagram’s Reels audio library
  • Use Instagram tools but don’t use too much text and fillers – they distract from the effectiveness of your ad
  • Create auto-captions for your videos so as not to lose out on the users who view Reels without the sound on
  • Aim for captions that are at least 30 words in length
  • Try to keep your videos under 20 seconds to keep the audience’s attention
  • If possible, sync your visuals with the audio to establish a smooth experience for viewers
  • To save time on creating Reels, take advantage of the app’s Templates feature that allows you to simply add your photos/videos

By pairing these best practices with the tips below, you set yourself up to get value from advertising on Instagram.  

How To Get the Most Bang for Your Buck When Advertising on Instagram

While advertising on Instagram isn’t “cheap,” follow these eight tips to maximize your advertising budget and get the most bang on this incredibly valuable platform. 

Tip 1: Choose the Right Ad Formats and Objectives

First, choose the proper ad formats and objectives for your Instagram advertising campaign. We’ve already covered ad formats, but Instagram also lets you choose an ad objective of brand awareness, reach, traffic, engagement, lead generation, conversions, app installs, and more. 

Focusing on brand awareness would be smart if you’re starting a new brand. On the other hand, if you’ve already worked to establish your brand and just launched a new line of products, you’ll want to focus on an objective like traffic, lead generation, or conversions. 

Tip 2: Target Your Advertisements Correctly

Ensure your campaign reaches the right users once you have the correct ad format and objective. A campaign with the proper format and objective won’t be effective if the right users don’t see it! This involves figuring out who your target audience is and how to reach them on the platform. 

The good news is that Instagram offers many advanced targeting mechanisms to reach users who want and need your products. You often target users based on location, demographics, interests, and behavior. There are also lookalike audiences, custom audiences, and retargeting on the platform. 

Tip 3: Test Your Advertisements Before Launching

Testing your content beforehand is still essential, no matter how excited you are to launch your Instagram advertising campaign. Choose a small test group based on your target audience and set a limited budget. Then perform A/B or split testing by developing several ad versions, showing them to these groups, and monitoring their performance. 

Select the strongest-performing iterations of your ad based on your tests and combine them for a guaranteed effective campaign. 

Tip 4: Switch From a Manual Bidding Strategy to an Automated One

While many brands wish to maintain complete and total control over their Instagram advertising campaign from start to finish, this is often not the wisest approach. Doing things manually is beneficial in some cases, but when it comes to Instagram, there’s so much technology to take advantage of. 

Specifically, consider an automated bidding strategy that allows you to set your maximum bid work and let the algorithm do all the rest. This approach will help you win the strongest ad placements for the lowest costs. 

Tip 5: Develop Better Landing Pages

Even with an outstanding campaign, ineffective landing pages often squash your advertising efforts. After spending all that money on your drive and doing all this work to acquire clicks, you don’t want potential leads to get turned off by your landing pages. So, in addition to investing in paid advertising, you also need to invest in website design. 

Ensure that your landing pages make sense for the ad in question. From there, make the page as straightforward as possible with minimal distractions. Include a solid call to action (CTA), helpful information, and an irresistible offer to convert users from potential leads to paying customers through Instagram. 

Tip 6: Continuously Monitor Your Campaign

To ensure that your campaign is performing as you intended, you can’t just set it and forget it. Instead, you need to continuously monitor your campaign throughout its life. Specifically, you need to monitor key performance indicators such as click-through rate (CTR), return on ad spend (ROAS), cost per impression (CPM), and cost per conversion (CPA). 

At the beginning of your campaign, set ambitious yet realistic goals for what you want to see in your KPIs. If any metric is falling short at any point during the campaign, take action to correct it and get your campaign back on track. 

Tip 7: Work With Influencers

While not technically advertising with Instagram, influencer advertising is viral on the platform. This advertising method involves partnering with influential accounts or personalities on the platform to promote your brand and products. You will need to select influencers that make sense for your brand and target audience, as each influencer tends to have their own niche. 

For instance, there are fitness influencers, lifestyle influencers, cooking influencers, fashion influencers, parent influencers, pet influencers, and so much more. When choosing your influencer partners, remember that follower numbers aren’t everything. Instead, ensure the partnership makes sense for your brand image and personality. We know the world of influencer marketing is overwhelming. That’s why an omnichannel digital marketing agency like MuteSix has a dedicated Influencer Marketing team to assist our clients in their Influencer Marketing strategy

Tip 8: Work With an Instagram Ad Agency

A lot of work goes into cost-effective advertising on Instagram. As an entrepreneur, you likely don’t have the time or energy to follow these tips and guidelines to create a successful Instagram campaign. The good news is that you don’t have to, thanks to Instagram ad agencies like MuteSix. 

MuteSix is an excellent performance marketing agency that helps brands scale with cross-channel, data-driven creative content. We help you with everything from range to targeting to analytics and everything in between, just as we have helped brands like Morphe, Ring, Honey, and more. So reach out to us today for a complimentary marketing consultation

Using an Instagram Advertising Agency for Increased Success

Are you looking to boost your Instagram advertising game in 2023? The best way to do this is by partnering with an Instagram ad agency. Instagram offers many great tools to help create ads, but those tools constantly evolve as new features get added, complicating the task of creating ads. 

Leave those complications to a leading performance marketing agency like MuteSix. MuteSix works with brands to create full-funnel advertising solutions that result in award-winning creative and media buying strategies backed by up-to-date data that drive serious results. 

MuteSix guides brands to maximize Instagram’s advertising potential by delivering high-quality creatives and scaling profitability with top-tier measurement solutions. 

Our expertise and proven track record speak for themselves. Take a look at Rinse, for example. We developed and A/B tested creative on segmented audiences to determine influential audience and messaging. By doing this and utilizing Instagram’s best practices, we boosted social engagement by 15% while driving down Rinse’s CPC by a whopping 20%. 

Rinse is just one success story amongst many of how we make Instagram advertising work for you. For more success stories, check out our client case studies and testimonials. 

The Final Rundown on Instagram Advertising

While advertising on Instagram isn’t cheap, you must consider your ROI. With this hugely popular and engaging platform, you acquire the leads and conversions you’ve been looking for with an Instagram advertising strategy developed by the marketing experts at MuteSix

Sources:

Biggest social media platforms 2023 | Statista 

How Social Media Is Influencing Purchasing Decisions | Global Banking and Finance 

Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri Reflects on Instagram’s Birthday | Instagram for Business 

The Ultimate Guide To Instagram Ads I Statusbrew 

Ads Management for Facebook, Instagram | Meta for Business 

The 29 Instagram Statistics You Need to Know in 2021 | AdPresso

11 Key Instagram Conversion Rate [2023 New Data] | BusinessDIT

Facebook Ads Cost (2023) | Business of Apps

How to Advertise on Instagram in 2023: A Complete Guide | Oberlo 

Advertising on Instagram | Instagram for Business 

The 2021 Guide to Instagram Ad Costs | HubSpot 

How to Manage Instagram Advertising Budgeting and Bidding Strategies Around Key Dates | Manychat 

Reach Your Audience on Instagram | Instagram Business Blog 

From awareness to acquisition: Creating a content funnel that converts | Sprout Social 

How to Create Instagram Landing Pages (Examples) | Landingi

21+ Instagram Stats You Need to Know for 2023 | Sprout Social 

Instagram Revenue and Usage Statistics (2023) | Business of Apps 

Target And Convert: How To Find Your Target Audience Online | Forbes 

Influencer Marketing 101: A Blueprint for Running a Successful Campaign | Entrepreneur 

Instagram statistics you need to know for 2023 | Sprout Social 

About Instagram | Instagram

Instagram Revenue and Usage Statistics | Business of Apps

Average Time Spent on Social Media (2023) | MixBloom

Instagram Advertising Costs by CMP | Revealbot

The Science of Product Selfies | Ariyh

33+ Instagram Reel Statistics In 2023 (Updated Data) | DemandSage

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Guide: Marketing Mix Modeling (MMM) https://mutesix.com/blog/guide-marketing-mix-modeling-mmm/ Fri, 26 Jan 2024 22:17:13 +0000 https://mutesix.com/?p=25766 Guide: Marketing Mix Modeling (MMM)

Marketing Mix Modeling (MMM), sometimes called Media Mix Modeling, is an analytical tool brands use to understand and boost the impact of marketing efforts. 

MMM involves analyzing the various components of a brand’s marketing mix, such as pricing, promotions, advertising, and distribution, to determine their individual and collective effects on sales and profitability. 

This technique collects and analyzes data from different sources, including sales data, market research, and consumer behavior, providing insights into the effectiveness and efficiency of each marketing element. 

This enables brands to make data-driven decisions, allocate resources effectively, and develop strategies that maximize return on investment, ultimately driving growth and competitive advantage in the marketplace.

This guide will explore MMM and learn how brands leverage it to evaluate the effectiveness of digital marketing, print advertising, social media, and more.  

It will also elaborate on the four phases of MMM, limitations to consider, and how to deploy it for brand success, including factors like brand equity, LinkedIn, saturation, and dependent variables and independent variables.

What Is Marketing Mix Modeling?

MMM is a statistical analysis technique that assesses the impact of marketing activities on brand performance. 

By analyzing advertising spend, promotions, pricing strategies, distribution channels, and other factors, MMM determines their influence on key performance indicators (KPIs) like incremental sales, revenue, market share, and customer acquisition. 

This data-driven approach enables brands to effectively improve marketing strategies, allocate budgets, and achieve desired outcomes. 

Why Is Marketing Mix Modeling Important?

MMM is crucial for brands as it comprehensively explains how different marketing elements contribute to success. 

By analyzing the impact of pricing, promotions, advertising, and distribution, MMM enables data-driven decision-making, optimizing strategies and resource allocation. It helps brands allocate budgets efficiently, prioritize investments, and maximize marketing ROI.

MMM goes beyond correlations, offering actionable insights for strategic planning and targeted campaigns. It allows objective performance evaluation, identifying areas of improvement, and adapting to market changes. 

With MMM, brands acquire a competitive edge by making informed decisions, optimizing marketing efforts, and achieving desired brand outcomes.

How Do Brands Leverage Marketing Mix Modeling?

Brands leverage MMM to understand their marketing effectiveness.

  • Resource Allocation: MMM improves marketing resource allocation by analyzing the impact of different inputs like advertising, promotions, and pricing. It helps brands allocate budgets strategically to effective marketing initiatives.
  • Performance Evaluation: MMM evaluates the performance of marketing campaigns, channels, and promotions based on key metrics like sales and market share. It identifies underperforming activities and enables adjustments for improved results.
  • Forecasting and Planning: MMM forecasts future sales and revenue by simulating the impact of changes in marketing strategies. It helps brands set achievable goals and make informed brand plans aligned with their objectives.

What Are the 4 Phases of Marketing Mix Modeling?

The four phases of MMM include data collection, modeling, data analysis and insights, and optimization. Below, let’s explore each of these phases in more detail:

1. Data Collection

The first phase of MMM involves collecting relevant internal and external data to build a comprehensive dataset. This may include historical sales data, marketing expenditure data, market research data, competitor data, and other relevant information. Marketing data, including third-party cookies, can enhance data collection for accurate analysis

2. Modeling

 The modeling phase in Marketing Mix Modeling (MMM) involves: 

  • Selecting relevant marketing variables
  • Specifying the model equations
  • Estimating parameters using data
  • Validating the model’s accuracy
  • Conducting sensitivity analysis
  • Interpreting the results to acquire insights for decision-making. 

This process uncovers the relationships between marketing inputs and brand outcomes, guiding resource allocation and marketing strategy optimization. Marketers can apply machine learning algorithms for more advanced modeling and analysis.

3. Data Analysis and Insights

This phase involves collecting and cleaning data from various sources. Statistical modeling techniques are applied to develop the marketing mix model, quantifying the relationships between marketing variables and brand outcomes. 

The model is analyzed to identify the influential variables and generate valuable insights. Scenario testing helps improve marketing strategies; the findings are communicated through reports and presentations. This phase transforms raw data into actionable insights, guiding decision-making, refining marketing efforts, and driving brand growth.

4. Optimization

The “optimize” phase in MMM utilizes insights from data analysis to refine marketing strategies and enhance brand outcomes. It involves aligning insights with marketing objectives, creating scenarios to test strategies, optimizing budget allocation, and fine-tuning resource allocation.

MMM identifies effective promotional tactics, messaging, and media channels for campaign refinement. Continuous monitoring and feedback ensure ongoing improvements, while performance evaluation measures the effectiveness of optimized strategies. 

By leveraging MMM insights, brands can make data-driven decisions, adapt to market dynamics, and achieve desired marketing and brand objectives through optimized strategies and resource allocation.

An Example of Marketing Mix Modeling

To illustrate the impact of data-driven decisions, let’s explore a few success stories. In one case MuteSix worked with Om Mushroom, leveraging Peel for data insights. They discovered higher subscriber LTV after 12 months. 

The brand used subscription-focused messaging, leading to a 20% increase in active subscriptions and estimated recurring revenue growth.

Another collaboration between Bev and MuteSix leveraged Peel to enhance advertising. By adjusting CAC and expanding into new channels, they increased customer acquisition MoM and revenue by 20.9% between March-April and 19.6% during April-May. 

What Are Some Limitations of Marketing Mix Modeling?

MMM has several limitations to consider. Some of the critical limitations include:

Data Availability and Quality

MMM heavily relies on accurate and comprehensive data, including sales data, advertising expenditures, and other marketing variables. Limited or incomplete data can affect the accuracy and reliability of the model’s results. Ensuring high-quality data collection and integration is crucial.

Time Lag

MMM typically involves historical data analysis, which means there is a time lag between when the data is collected and when the insights are generated. 

This time lag may not capture real-time market dynamics and can limit the model’s ability to provide up-to-date recommendations. Fortunately, real-time data integration and analysis can somewhat address this limitation.

Causality and External Factors

MMM assumes a cause-and-effect relationship between marketing inputs and brand outcomes. 

However, it may not consider external factors, such as economic conditions, competitor activities, or industry trends influencing sales and marketing performance. Supplementing MMM with data and considering external factors can help enhance its accuracy.

Channel and Media Fragmentation

MMM traditionally focuses on high-level aggregated data, making capturing the impact of specific marketing channels or media types challenging. 

With the increasing fragmentation of channels and media options, MMM may struggle to provide detailed insights into individual channel performance. Integration with granular data sources and attribution modeling can address this limitation.

Limited Granularity

MMM often provides insights at an aggregated level, such as overall sales or market segments. It may lack the granularity needed to make specific tactical decisions, such as optimizing campaigns at a granular level or evaluating the performance of individual marketing assets. 

However, supplementing MMM with other analytics approaches, like A/B testing or multi-touch attribution, can provide more detailed insights.

Dynamic and Nonlinear Relationships

MMM assumes linear relationships between marketing inputs and outcomes, which may oversimplify the complexities of real-world marketing dynamics. 

The model may not adequately capture nonlinear relationships and interactions between different marketing variables. Advanced modeling techniques like machine learning algorithms can help capture nonlinear relationships.

How Can You Deploy MMM for Your Brand?

Deploying MMM for your brand involves several vital steps. Here’s a brief overview of the process:

1. Define Objectives and Scope 

Identify your goals and objectives. Determine the scope of analysis, including the specific marketing variables and time period in the model. Clearly define the metrics and marketing measurements you want to understand and the decisions you want to inform.

2. Gather Data

Collect relevant data on marketing activities, such as marketing spend, promotions, pricing, and sales data. Ensure data quality and accuracy, and consider integrating data from multiple sources to capture a comprehensive view of your marketing efforts. Use appropriate data collection and integration tools to streamline the process.

3. Select the Modeling Approach

Choose the appropriate technique based on your brand’s needs and available resources. Common approaches include regression analysis, time series analysis, or machine learning algorithms. Consider engaging with experts with expertise in MMM to assist with the modeling process. They can help choose the right approach and apply advanced techniques.

4. Build the Model

Develop the MMM model using the selected approach. This involves analyzing the relationships between marketing inputs (e.g., advertising, promotions) and brand outcomes (e.g., sales, market share) based on historical data. Validate the model’s accuracy and adjust as needed. You must also conduct a sensitivity analysis to understand the model’s robustness.

5. Interpret the Results

Analyze and interpret the insights generated by the MMM model. Identify the key drivers of marketing effectiveness and their impact on brand outcomes. Acquire a deeper understanding of how different marketing variables contribute to your brand’s performance. Visualize the results using charts, graphs, or dashboards for easier comprehension.

6. Make Informed Decisions

Use the insights from MMM to inform your marketing strategy and decision-making. Identify areas for optimization, allocate marketing budgets effectively, and determine impactful marketing tactics and channels. Continuously monitor and evaluate the performance of your marketing initiatives based on MMM insights, and consider conducting A/B testing or experiments to validate the model’s recommendations.

7. Iterate and Refine

Marketing Mix Modeling is an ongoing process. Therefore, it is essential to continuously refine your approach by incorporating new data. Regularly evaluate the accuracy and relevance of the insights generated and update your marketing strategies accordingly. Brands must also stay current with market changes and adapt the model.

How MuteSix Can Help 

Marketing Mix Modeling (MMM) offers a robust framework for evaluating marketing effectiveness and optimizing resource allocation. 

By analyzing the impact of various inputs on brand outcomes, brands can make data-driven decisions and enhance their marketing strategies. 

MuteSix accelerates growth for disruptor brands through real-time marketing that solves for customer, market and brand needs. 

Leveraging data-backed, omnichannel media buying, growth marketing, and creative strategies, our team of forward-thinking experts scale brands to success faster and more efficiently than any agency can.

Ready to grow your brand? Reach out today for a marketing consultation to see if you qualify for a free omnichannel audit. 

Sources:

Return on Investment (ROI): How to Calculate It and What It Means | Investopedia

What Is A KPI? Definition & Examples | Forbes Advisor 

What is a Third-Party Cookie? | TechTarget 

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How To Make Money on Pinterest: What to Know https://mutesix.com/blog/how-to-make-money-on-pinterest-what-to-know/ Wed, 17 Jan 2024 23:25:05 +0000 https://mutesix.com/?p=25757 Continued]]> How To Make Money on Pinterest: What to Know

With a staggering monthly user count of 445 million, it’s no surprise that Pinterest reaches a diverse audience– its pins have a prolonged lifespan because they continue to surface in users’ feeds and searches long after their original posting. Because of this, Pinterest is a fantastic marketing lever for brands, serving as a great platform to build awareness, boost engagement, and increase web traffic.

Pinterest Advertising Formats

There are a variety of advertising formats to consider on Pinterest. Once you’ve identified your goals, you can select the right advertising format– Pinterest offers a variety, including:

  • Promoted Pins: Promoted pins appear in users’ home feeds, search results, and related pins sections. These pins seamlessly blend with organic content to provide a non-disruptive experience while increasing visibility. You can use this format to achieve a range of objectives like creating brand awareness, driving traffic to the site, or increasing sales.
  • Promoted Video Pins: Promoted video pins allow you to share short video clips with users. These videos autoplay as users scroll, capturing attention and conveying messages effectively. This format is great for showcasing products, tutorials, brand stories, and more.
  • Shopping Ads: Shopping ads display product information directly within the pin itself. Users can view the product’s name, price, and availability without leaving the Pinterest site. This format is especially valuable if you are running an e-commerce brand because it streamlines the shopping experience and encourages users to make purchases directly.
  • Carousel Ads: Carousel ads allow you to showcase multiple images within a single pin. Users can swipe through the carousel to explore different images and discover a range of products, features, or creative ideas, all in one pin.
  • Story Pins: Story Pins offer you an opportunity to share immersive content that combines images, videos, and text. This format is a dynamic way to engage users and share detailed content, such as step-by-step tutorials, recipes, and more.
  • One-Tap Pins: One-tap pins are designed to simplify the user journey. When users tap on this pin, they are directed to a specific landing page without any additional steps. You can use this format to reduce shopping hassles and enhance the user experience.

Pinterest Advertising Best Practices

If you want to get the most out of your Pinterest investment, then you need to learn a bit about Pinterest strategy to improve the effectiveness of your paid advertising campaign: 

Make Sure Your Content Fits the Platform

While it might be tempting to reuse your content from other platforms, this might not be the best approach when it comes to Pinterest. This is because Pinterest is a highly visual and aesthetic app, so your content needs to stand out from more than 200,000 pins on the platform.

Brand Your Images and Content

Your Pinterest content should also fit within your overall brand aesthetic. You can do this by incorporating your brand colors, fonts, and logos on your pins.

Test Your Content Before Launch

Avoid wasting time and money on ineffective ad campaigns by testing your content before launching your campaign. The best way to do this is with A/B testing, which allows you to test individual components of your ad and then combine the best-performing components for the most effective campaign.

Monitor Your Campaign Performance

Even with the right amount of research and testing, your campaign might not live up to expectations. The good news is that this doesn’t have to be the end of the world. By monitoring your campaign performance, you can identify potential issue areas before it’s too late and take action to rectify the situation and get your campaign back on track.  

Post a Clear Call-to-Action (CTA)

A strong statement on your pin can do wonders in driving up sales and conversion numbers. So, incorporate clear and actionable CTAs in your pins that encourage users to take specific actions. But make sure your CTAs match the action you want, such as explore more, shop now, learn more, or save for later.

Make a Keyword Strategy

Pinterest uses a search engine, so you must incorporate relevant keywords in your pin descriptions, titles, and boards to ensure it suggests your pins. You can research Pinterest-related keywords of your niche to improve the discoverability of your pins and make sure your visual content reaches all users interested in similar topics.

Use Rich Pins

Rich Pins are a way to include additional context and information in a pin. Based on your brand type, you can select from Product Pins, Recipe Pins, Article Pins, and more to provide valuable details within the pin itself. As a result, your pins have higher chances of reaching the feed on interested audiences.

Perhaps the best way to make money on Pinterest is to work with a specialized Pinterest marketing agency. An agency like MuteSix can help guide you through advertising on this platform as well as during creative content development, ad placement, audience targeting, and so much more. 

MuteSix takes an ROI-first approach, leveraging powerful measurement solutions to unlock profitable growth with industry-leading media buying and thumb-stopping creative to scale brands profitably across all major paid media platforms.

Looking to reach, convert, and retain more customers on Pinterest? Reach out to our team of Paid Social experts today. 

Sources:

Do You Want More Pinterest Followers? Create These Top 10 Pinterest Boards That Users Love to Follow | Business2Community

To Convert More Customers, Focus on Brand Awareness | Forbes

Your Audience Is Here | Pinterest

Distribution of Pinterest Audiences Worldwide as of January 2023, By Age Group and Gender | Statista

Pinterest Users, Stats, Data & Trends | DATAREPORTAL

Inspired Decisions – The Media Agency’s Guide to Pinterest | Pinterest

Percentage of U.S. Adults Who Use Pinterest as of February 2021, By Annual Household Income | Statista

Percentage of U.S. Adults Who Use Pinterest as of February 2021, By Educational Background | Statista

Limits for Pins, Boards, And Follows | Pinterest Help Center

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10 Black Friday Marketing Strategies 2023 https://mutesix.com/blog/10-black-friday-marketing-strategies-2023/ Thu, 09 Nov 2023 00:19:27 +0000 https://mutesix.com/?p=25734 As the calendar inches closer to the holiday season, one date stands out on the retail landscape: Black Friday. Over the years, Black Friday has evolved remarkably, transforming from a single shopping day to a full-fledged week-long marketing extravaganza. In 2022, online Black Friday sales reached $9.12 billion, further solidifying the importance of this day for retailers and e-commerce brands.

In this guide, we explore the origins of Black Friday and innovative marketing techniques to help ensure your e-commerce brand maximizes sales during this online shopping event in 2023.

What Is Black Friday?

Black Friday starts the day after Thanksgiving and extends into Cyber Monday, marking the beginning of the holiday shopping season. However, the term “Black Friday” was introduced in the 1950s when shoppers and tourists flooded Philadelphia for the Army-Navy football game. This unprecedented number of people created chaos in the city as well as increased the reported numbers of shoplifting. 

To rehabilitate the negative reputation around Philadelphia, merchants and retailers reinvented the day in the 1980s to give it a positive connotation. They offered discounted merchandise and marketed the day as the beginning of the holiday shopping season.

Over the years, Black Friday has transcended geographical boundaries, becoming a global shopping phenomenon. Now, brands use traditional doorbuster deals and other marketing tactics to meet consumers’ changing preferences and behavior. 

As shoppers actively seek deals and discounts, leading a Black Friday marketing campaign can help attract customers, drive conversion, and increase profits.

Top 10 Marketing Strategies for Black Friday 2023

Use these marketing strategies to elevate your Black Friday 2023 advertising game and reach a large audience.

  1. Leverage Social Media

Social media marketing has established itself as the foundation of Black Friday marketing campaigns. It provides a platform where your brand can directly engage with your target audience. You can have real-time conversations, answer queries, and create a sense of anticipation leading up to Black Friday.

Additionally, you can strategically reveal teasers and sneak peeks of your Black Friday deals to build excitement among your followers. Creating suspenseful countdown posts or daily reveal stories can also keep your audience engaged.

Collaborating with content creators who align with your brand is another game-changing marketing tactic. Social media personalities bring authenticity and additional reach to your Black Friday promotions. 

You can ask online celebrities to generate social media posts or hashtags about why they love your brand and products, or you can partner with creators to launch gift card giveaways to build buzz around your weekend promos. This will attract customers on the big day and increase your holiday sales and revenue.

An effective platform for a Black Friday marketing campaign is TikTok. You can make short-form video content and create or participate in TikTok challenges to interact with the audience and make your Black Friday offers go viral.

  1. Elevate Email Marketing

Email marketing is an effective tool to reach and engage a broad audience. To successfully use this tool, segment your Black Friday email list based on customer preferences, behaviors, and past brand interactions. This allows you to craft tailored messages that resonate with each customer instead of sending one-size-fits-all emails.

The subject line is another important aspect of an email marketing campaign as it sets the first impression on the receiver. Craft short, attention-grabbing subject lines informing recipients about your Black Friday deals. The subject line must pique their curiosity and encourage them to open the email.

You should also mention “Black Friday” in the subject line of your promotional emails so the reader understands the content and is more likely to open the email. Avoid boring and long subject lines to increase the email open rate. 

One effective way to boost the open rate is to offer a reward, such as early discount code access for VIPs and loyal customers. It will make customers feel valued and appreciated, increasing the likelihood of conversion rates.

  1. Optimize Your E-commerce Site To Prepare for Increased Traffic

As traffic surges on Black Friday, your e-commerce store must stay live and load quickly to deliver a seamless shopping experience. Before Black Friday weekend, test your website to ensure it is user-friendly and easy to navigate. Go through the user journey to identify and eliminate friction points that deter shoppers.

Online retailers also need to make their sites mobile-friendly so that buyers can easily order through their phones. To ensure shoppers know about your Black Friday promotions, use eye-catching banners, sliders, or pop-ups on your site’s homepage.

Throughout the Black Friday sales week, implement upselling and cross-selling techniques to maximize order value. Recommend complementary products, offer bundle deals, or showcase related items during checkout. You can also send abandoned cart emails with additional discounts to entice customers to complete their orders.

  1. Use SMS and Automation

SMS marketing and automation are your secret weapons for Black Friday success, as they help create a sense of urgency. You can send SMS messages to count down the days until the deals are live and keep the buyers updated. Notifying customers about flash or limited-time deals with a ticking clock encourages them to purchase swiftly.

Meanwhile, automation is an effective strategy to address cart abandonment issues. It can forward reminders to customers that they have items in their cart so they can complete their purchases.

  1. Offer Pop-Up Promotions and Exclusive Discounts

Pop-up promotions and exclusive discounts add excitement to your Black Friday strategy. Pop-ups can offer time-sensitive discounts or early-bird specials, grabbing visitors’ attention and compelling them to explore your Black Friday deals further.

You can also incorporate countdown timers within pop-ups to create urgency and prompt visitors to take immediate action. Countdowns can create the fear of missing out (FOMO) on good deals, driving shoppers to complete their orders.

  1. Run Cyber Monday and Extended Black Friday Sales

Cyber Monday is the second-biggest shopping day and falls on the Monday following the Thanksgiving weekend and Black Friday. Offering deals that extend to Cyber Monday can keep your consumers excited and ready to spend more.

You can even offer fresh incentives to entice customers to return and make additional purchases. This provides a longer window for shoppers to acquire items from their holiday shopping lists. 

  1. Start Referral Programs and Loyalty Incentives

Because 82% of U.S. shoppers seek recommendations from family and friends before making a purchase, you should encourage customers to refer your products to their social circle. You can introduce a referral program that gives rewards or discounts for successful referrals. This effectively creates new brand opportunities and expands your customer base.

You can also leverage loyalty incentives to reward long-term customers with exclusive Black Friday deals, early access, or loyalty program points that can be later redeemed for discounts.

  1. Harness the Power of Gift Guides and Shoppable Posts

Free gift guides can help your buyers reduce planning time and select the appropriate presents for their loved ones.

You can also leverage shoppable posts on social media platforms to simplify the purchase process. These posts can enable customers to make purchases directly through the provided link without searching for your site or products on Google.

  1. Follow SEO and Website Best Practices

You must optimize your site for SEO to prepare it for the Black Friday Sale. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) ensures your store appears on results pages for Black Friday-related searches. This boosts your visibility and improves your site traffic.

You can also utilize paid search and display ads like pay-per-click (PPC) to boost your digital visibility to a broader audience and drive traffic to your Black Friday deals. Once your site starts generating traffic, you can use other marketing tactics to convert potential customers into loyal ones.

How Can MuteSix Help?

MuteSix can help you successfully execute your Black Friday promotions and marketing campaigns. Have a look at our case study to learn our scope of services and solutions:

MeUndies Case Study

MeUndies collaborated with MuteSix to execute their Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotional campaigns on Facebook and Instagram. MeUndies wanted to use moving ads that show numerous products in a row. These ads needed to be aimed at individuals who looked at MeUndies’ products and visited their website but didn’t make a purchase.

MuteSix inserted a special tool from Facebook (Meta) on MeUndies’ website that surveyed and cataloged the items visitors previewed and added to their digital carts. As a result, MeUndies acquired many site visitors who were already interested in their products.

We divided this group into smaller segments based on demographics and launched targeted ads for their Meta feeds. We tried two different versions of the descriptions in the ads to check which one generated more results. 

Based on this testing, MeUndies’ was able to advertise posts that caused:

  • 25% decrease in cost per purchase
  • 5x return on ad spend (ROAS)
  • 30% decrease in cost per add-to-action

The Bottom Line

Black Friday is a golden opportunity for e-commerce brands to boost sales and revenue. Using these Black Friday marketing ideas helps your brand generate high sales during this shopping extravaganza. 

As you gear up for Black Friday 2023, reach out to MuteSix. MuteSix accelerates growth for disruptor brands through real-time marketing that solves for customer, market and brand needs. 

Leveraging data-backed, omnichannel media buying, growth marketing, and creative strategies, our team of forward-thinking experts scale brands to success faster and more efficiently than any agency can.

Ready to grow your brand? Contact us today for a marketing consultation to see if you qualify for a free omnichannel audit. 

Sources:

Black Friday sales rake in a record $9.12 billion from online shoppers | NPR

What’s the Real History of Black Friday? | History

The delicate balance of social influences on consumption: A comprehensive model of consumer-centric fear of missing out | ScienceDirect 

New Research Shows Consumers More Interested in Brands’ Values than Ever | Consumer Goods 

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