Everyone makes mistakes.
But as a small business, mistakes can be costly. You need to hit the ground running and see your efforts pay off fast.
So when you decide to start optimizing your website for search, there are some common mistakes you want to avoid.
How can you make sure you skip over the rookie mistakes and start using SEO to your advantage?
Here are five common pitfalls to avoid.
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1. Writing for search engines instead of people
SEO, or search engine optimization, is all about setting up your website to rank well in online searches.
You start by finding relevant keywords that your potential customers are searching for online and then using these keywords on your website, so your website builds relevance and authority.
Once you have a list of keywords, you want to include these keywords in multiple places throughout your website including page URLs, page headings and subheadings, body content, image names, etc.
But when you first start optimizing your pages for keywords, it’s easy to go overboard and use keywords so much that you turn people off.
Always take the time to read your web pages or blog posts out loud. Do you sound like a broken record repeating the same phrase over and over again?
Ideally, you’ll want to use a keyword a few times — but only if it fits in naturally. Do a quick quality check to make sure your writing is helpful for customers first, and search engines second.
Tip: Learn more about how to find and use the right keywords here.
2. Focusing on traffic alone
Increasing your website traffic is one of the biggest benefits of SEO. After all, organic search accounts for 64 percent of all website traffic.
But that doesn’t mean traffic should be the only goal of your SEO efforts — SEO is also a powerful way to drive conversions.
Dig into your analytics to see which pages are the highest converting pages. Then, see if you can make any improvements to get more eyes on these high-converting pages.
3. Forgetting to optimize images
Hopefully, you’re already using images on your website to draw visitors in.
What you may be overlooking is the alt-text of the image. Search engines, like Google, use the alt-text to process images.
For example, in the image below of our email templates, Google won’t be able to look at an image and determine the subject. But it can read the “alternative text,” or alt-text.
Use your alt-text to provide a helpful description and even include a keyword if relevant.
4. Ignoring social SEO
Most of your search optimization efforts will probably be tweaks to your small business’s website.
But if you’re active on social media channels, these sites can help boost your rankings as well. Always fill out the “About” sections of your social media pages — and include links back to your business website.
If you’ve recently optimized a page on your website, share it across your social media channels to drive new traffic and add social share buttons to your blog posts to make it easier for others to share content on your behalf.
You can also set your business up on local listing sites like Google Business Profile and Yelp to better reach a local audience.
5. Expecting instant results
This might be the easiest mistake to make of all. Once you’ve put in the work to optimize your site and boost rankings for specific pages, you’re ready to grab that top spot in Google searches and see the traffic flood in, right?
In reality, search engine optimization is a long game and ranking prominently requires that you regularly publish quality content that demonstrates your industry expertise and helps readers.
For the Constant Contact Blog, it has taken us years to secure the highly desired top spot for especially competitive keywords.
But stick with it. Because once you’re able to show up for an online audience that’s actively seeking you out, you’ll reach an audience that’s already engaged and interested in your business.
You’ll be able to bring in new customers on an ongoing basis without actively seeking them out.
Ready to hit the ground running with SEO?
We’ll show you how to set up your website so new customers can find you — and you can drive more sales. Check out our article The Meaning of SEO in Marketing Your Business.
After a fundraising campaign there are steps to take that can help you better communicate with donors to show your support and get them to donate again.
Communicating how donations have helped and what their money will be supporting, both when asking for donations and after receiving gifts, will help your donors feel appreciated.
After your initial thank you, you can follow up with a donor and show them the impact their gifts have recently had towards your nonprofit organization’s cause. Showing donors where their money went and the impact it made also provides an additional opportunity to inspire them to give again. Here are five ways to show your donors how the fundraising campaign and their donations have helped changed the world for the better.
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1. Tell them with a quick note
Sometimes even a simple email is the best way to follow up with donors after a fundraising campaign. You can include specific details of the campaign, like total funds raised, to keep them feeling involved in your cause.
2. Share pictures of recent success
Everybody loves pictures, and they can showcase the great things your organization is accomplishing, while telling a story at the same time. After your fundraising campaign is over, take pictures of the major accomplishments and email them to donors. They may even share the email with friends or on social media and spread the word about your cause.
If your nonprofit hosts at-risk youth in an after school program, and decide to teach the kids about gardening, your donors could provide tools, gloves, or even buy bulbs.
Then, next Spring, you can email supports photos of the daffodils and tulips in full bloom. Since it will have been months since the initial gift, donors will be reminded how good it felt to give, and may head to your website to donate again.
3. Share a thank you video
Including video in your email is one of the best ways to get a message to your supporters and you don’t need to be a professional to create one. All it takes is a smartphone.
Here are some examples of what you can record to show donors the impact of their contributions:
- Give a tour of your facility to show the recent improvements
- Interview someone directly helped by your organization and their gifts
- Share video highlights of your latest fundraising event success
4. Send something donors can hold in their hands
Being able to hold something in your hand leaves a more lasting impression than a digital gift. Giving donors something that reminds them of the difference their gift has made will make them think about your cause and want to help again each time they see it.
Here are some examples of tangible items you can send to your best donors:
- Printed photos of the results of their donations
- Photo magnets with a special thank you
- Handwritten thank you cards to make it personal
- Annual pamphlet, calendar, or report showing a year’s worth of good courtesy of their donations
5. Show them in person
Another way to let donors see their impact is to show them in person. Hosting an event allows donors a chance to see first hand how their donations have helped the cause.
Here are some examples of campaign events to get donors in the door:
- Throw a party to show off the updates of your facility
- Offer tours of the blooming garden from your fundraising event
- Host a showing of video highlights from a recent event
- Host an event to provide a platform for people directly impacted by donations to share their stories and thank the donors in person
Gratitude can inspire action and more donations
Remember, after thanking donors for their initial gifts, the work is not over. You need to take those funds and execute on what was promised. Following up with donors on the specific impact of their gifts will not only make them feel good, it will build trust for your organization and encourage future donations.
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You spend a lot of time creating valuable content for your audience, but the value doesn’t have to stop on your blog or website.
You can reuse this content in your email marketing to reach more of your audience and educate more of your supporters.
Here are five ways you can repurpose existing content in your emails without feeling like you’re repeating yourself.
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Reuse and refocus
1. Email newsletter
The main purpose of an email newsletter is to connect with your audience on what’s new and important at your organization. Upcoming events, recent events, publicity, successful campaigns, volunteer stories, articles, and more.
Pick the four most popular pieces of content or announcements that month to include in your email newsletter. Many of these pieces probably exist on your website or blog already, so it’s easy to write a quick blurb or intro and include a “Read more” link to the full content.
2. Quarterly blog roundup
If you post recent and relevant information regarding your organization on a blog, then you’re already ahead of the game! A great way to repurpose blog posts is to pick your top three to five posts a quarter, and combine them into an email to your subscriber base.
You can pick which posts to use based on popularity, relevance, or the publish date. The subscribers that may have missed those posts will be happy you curated them into a single email.
3. Video email
If your nonprofit is using video to capture how you’re working on your cause, start featuring those videos in your emails. Videos are great for your website and social sites, but using video in your emails can increase click-through-rates by up to 300 percent. You’ve already spent the time creating and publishing the videos, so start sharing them with your supporters.
Tip: Include the word “video” in your subject line to boost open rates.
4. Social highlights
If you’re active on social media, it’s easy to tell which posts are getting the most hits and shares, or sparking meaningful conversations. If you have posts that really made an impact, use email to share that content with a wider audience.
For example, after you posted a picture and bio of a cat, Catsanova, who is up for adoption, social media engagement skyrocketed. He may be sassy and overweight, but as one of your most popular posts you know the value is there. Highlighting the content in an email will make sure you’re reaching the right person, and can help the furry stud muffin get adopted.
5. Welcome email
One of the best ways to repurpose content is to leverage it into a welcome email. This email can set the tone for the relationship you plan to build with your new supporters and help engage them with your mission. When done correctly, a welcome email makes recipients more interested in supporting your cause.
Do you have a piece of content that you put a ton of effort and work into? This could be a video, annual report, photo gallery, etc. Include this content in a welcome email to make a great first impression.
Use what you have and make it work harder
It’s great to fill your website and blog with updated, relevant content, but if your audience isn’t looking for it, they may not be seeing it. There is no reason to create brand new content each time you want to send an email. Bring your content straight to your supporters with email marketing and shine a light on what you have worked so hard to develop.
New to Constant Contact? You can try it out with a free 60-day trial.
Abandoned shopping carts are like stood up date nights.
The first impression was great, interest was initiated but then the final action – shopping/meeting – was abandoned at the last minute. That’s disappointing right?
Well, I can’t really help you here with making your dates work, but I can help you with strategically using email marketing to transform abandoned carts into successful purchases.
Approximately 69% of shoppers abandon their carts, amounting to $260 billion in lost revenue for ecommerce stores from cart abandonments alone (according to a study by the Baymard Institute). So if your ecommerce business doesn’t already have a strategy in place to nurture cart abandoners, it’s time to put one together.
People abandon carts for a variety of reasons – perhaps they are still considering a competitor’s option, they are waiting for a sale or coupon code, they aren’t thrilled with the shipping options, or maybe, they’re simply distracted. Regardless of the reason, the bottom line is that you’re missing out on sales that were a couple clicks away from happening. Now is a crucial time to strategize your marketing efforts to turn these potential customers into actual customers.
Get all the tools you need to quickly find new customers and grow your retail store’s sales.
Abandoned cart emails DO work.
As the owner of an e-commerce business,you need to do everything in your power to incentivize people to complete that order. Salesforce data established that a whopping 60% of shoppers have returned to complete orders after receiving an abandoned cart email. Sending
an excellent follow-up email campaign is the key for reducing cart abandonment and reversing what would have otherwise resulted in lost revenue.
Using email marketing campaigns to send out great abandoned cart reminder emails allows you to meet your customers where they go every day- their inbox. So, let’s look at it this way: people browsed through your products, and liked them enough to add them to their cart. You’ve already gone through half the marketing battle- the consumer knows about your product, and in fact, they like your product and almost purchased it.
This is your chance to send them an Abandoned Cart Email. This is an email that will serve as a gentle reminder about the things your potential customers showed interest in and almost bought. Even something as simple as, ‘You have some products added to your cart. Complete your order now’ may be enough to bring attention to the products that your customers had considered buying and finally make the purchase.
In fact, some of the best abandoned cart emails are just that- simple, to the point, and enticing.
How to write the best abandoned cart emails
When it comes to writing great abandoned cart emails, don’t ignore the need for an equally great design. Design your email template in a way that it resonates with your brand, catches the attention of the reader and enhances the written part, rather than takes away the attention from it.
Not every brand has the same voice, so your abandoned cart email campaign can’t be the same either. There are no fixed formulas here!
Consider how you usually approach your customers. Do you have a professional and formal approach or is it more conversational and friendly? It’s important that your customers recognize your brand as a familiar face in their inbox.
For example, if your weekly newsletter starts with a formal ‘Good Evening Sir’ but your abandoned shopping cart email starts with something like ‘Hey, Crazy Shopoholic!’ it might take your customers by surprise. Now this may work with some, but your loyal customers might feel a little disconnected.
Another important thing to consider when writing the best abandoned cart follow-up emails is the nature of the products and services you sell. For example, if you are an online store that sells pharmaceutical products you might want to be subtle with how your emails read.
That said, it’s your business and no one knows your customers better than you do. Sprinkle some fun, add a dash of cheekiness and don’t shy away from telling your customers how much you miss them. Yes, go all out!
Constant Contact for Shopify allows you to connect your store to your email account, insert and add products, and send customized messages. This makes it easier for you to weave the whole process together and make it a success.
Top 10 best abandoned cart email examples
Alright let’s jump into some abandoned cart email examples. What to say, how to say it and how it looks are all very important here.
1. Add value to your email
Sometimes, the only reason the cart gets abandoned is that the customer is looking for a better offer. One option is to sweeten the deal for customers by adding a discount or unique coupon code for the customer on completing the order. To boost their incentive,create a sense of urgency by making the deal available for a limited time.
2. Use trending memes and GIFs
Memes and GIFs are a rage, especially among millennials who turn to the internet for everything. Look for trending memes and GIFs, a picture or even something funny to get the reader’s attention, then insert a GIF into your email. You could use phrases like ‘Where did you go?’ or ‘Why did you leave me?’ to highlight the sense of being abandoned. If you have the creative abilities, you could even create your own memes or GIFs.
This could be followed by the abandoned items, an added discount code or even other similar product options. Better yet, spice up the subject lines to increase click through rate.
3. Ask a question
Asking a question is the start to a solution, and in our case, to make a purchase. Send a triggered email that directly asks customers if they have forgotten about the cart, are still deciding or are looking for something else. For example, you could ask the question: ‘Still thinking it over?’ The question could also be utilized in your subject line.
4. Say it like you mean it!
You are sad your customers walked away without completing the order – so tell them. You want them to come back – so tell them. You miss them – so tell them. You get the idea. Be direct and they will be encouraged to take an action.
5. Create a sense of urgency
Most online shoppers take immediate action when they feel a sense of urgency. Be it something as basic as ‘Hurry! Sale ending today’ or being more specific by telling them that the products in their abandoned cart are selling fast and may run out of stock soon.
6. Make them visualize
Imagine this, your customer has abandoned a lot of travel related stuff in the cart. Make them visualize how going ahead and buying these abandoned items will make for a great vacation. Allow your customers a visual peak into how the products will add to their experience using imagery.
7. Ask – don’t push
Customers appreciate being asked and gently reminded but no one likes aggressive and hard pushing. Don’t demand an action in your cart recovery emails, rather be polite and ask if they would like to go ahead and complete the purchase order.
8. Extend an invite
You could look at an abandoned cart email as an invitation. Invite your customers to trace their way back to your shop, specifically the abandoned cart. Asking them to come back also reminds them as to why they were there in the first place.
9. A gentle reminder email
Your abandoned cart email doesn’t always have to be super funny, dramatic or creative. Even a simple and gentle email reminder can do the trick and get your customers back to shopping and take the action of completing their orders. The design element of your email templates plays a vital role here. Use big and clear fonts, light tones and not more than 2-3 colors to give it a gentle appeal.
10. Show how much you care
Why did the customer abandon the products in the cart? Most likely they just got distracted or forgot about it, but what if there was a bigger issue? What if they got confused about a product or did not really understand its value completely? Ask your customers why they left products in the cart to not just remind them but also show them that you care. ‘Can we help you pick?’, ‘Would you like some assistance?’, ‘Is there something we can do?’; using these terms shows that you are available in case required.
These are my top 10 ideas for abandoned cart emails. Each of these focuses on a different aspect or solution for the customers. Some of the best abandoned cart emails are all about the simplest of words that act as powerful reminders.
Integrate your Shopify account with Constant Contact and start sending out personalized and customized email messages that convert your abandoned carts to fulfilled orders.
Key elements of great abandoned cart emails
The best abandoned cart emails are creatively unique but similar when it comes to the key elements that make them so successful. What are these key elements?
Copy
What you write in your abandoned cart email is what makes the most impact. Keep it crisp but catchy.
Design
No matter how impressive your offer is, if the first look- the design- is not appealing, chances are customers will walk away almost immediately. Use pleasant and relevant images, easy-to-read fonts, dark text over light background and no extra fuss.
Call-to-Action
You need to have a clear call-to-action button to tell your customers where to go and what you want them to do next. Link the call-to-action button to the right page and make it stand out. This is a surefire way to not only increase click-through rate, but also overall conversion rate.
Second chances do exist
It’s all about the effort and it’s all about making sure that the effort does not go unnoticed. Start making the effort and reach out to customers who have ‘abandoned’ you. Show them that you are willing to do all it takes to bring them back and delight them.
Remember I said abandoned carts are like stood up dates? Well, the good news is you can always make another move and woo them right back using a well-thought-out shopping cart abandonment strategy. Just make sure they are glad they did.
Your audience wants to feel the love from your nonprofit organization, and with the right anniversary email, you can let them know you care to inspire more donations.
If they receive an email on the same day of the year as their first donation, they’ll start to develop a habit of supporting your organization, as long as you continue to fulfill your promise of helping the cause.
Learn how to craft the right message that makes your audience feel appreciated, and want to help, again and again.
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Remind your audience of when they first donated
The most powerful technique you can use is email marketing with consistency. The same reasons they first supported your cause are likely the same reasons they would continue to want to help.
Remind them why the cause is important, and what you’ll be doing with their donation money. Thank them again for their initial donation, and even include the initial donation amount. The more specific you can attribute your gratitude, the more powerful it will feel.
Entice them to donate again for the same amount (or more)
It’s easier to do something if you’ve already done it, so seeing last year’s donation amount will compel your audience to repeat it this year. Making donating as easy as clicking a call-to-action button will make sure the gifts continue to roll in. The button within your email should link directly to your donation page to reduce the number of steps from email to a successful donation.
You can also offer the reader a chance to increase their donation. As long as donating more is just as easy as donating the same amount, you’re likely to get a significant percentage of your audience to increase their support.
Create an anniversary email that sends automatically
With an email list of any size, remembering to send an anniversary email on the exact date of the first donation for each audience member would be nearly impossible. Instead, you can setup a Recurring Anniversary Email with the tools from Constant Contact.
You can create an anniversary automation campaign with the same ease as creating a one-time email, and use different designs to address different segments of your audience to keep your message personal. Make sure to update your email’s design from year to year so the message doesn’t become stale and ineffective.
Keep the donations coming all year
While your anniversary email is important for consistent donation support, you can still make it possible for your audience to donate throughout the year. Make sure there’s a section on your website where donors can pitch in any time they visit your nonprofit organization online.
You can also include a similar call-to-action in emails that you send throughout the year. This helps to keep your branding consistent to the messaging in your anniversary email, and also keeps your donations coming consistently in between the annual appeals.
Show your favorite donors you appreciate their support
Since the most important support system for any nonprofit is your donor audience, keeping them donating and engaged will help your organization grow. With the right anniversary email, you can let them know you care and inspire them to donate at the same time. Help your audience feel the love with a special thank you every year.
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Let’s start out by facing a tough reality: many small businesses — even the most successful ones — aren’t getting the most they could be from their email list.
It’s not that they’re not working hard or seeing good results. In fact, for many, email marketing is already their biggest driver of new and repeat business.
But there’s one thing that many small businesses aren’t doing that could help take things to the next level.
Luckily, adding that one thing to your email marketing strategy is a lot easier than you might think.
It starts with understanding a term you may have heard before — segmentation.
Segmentation is the process of organizing your contacts into different groups with the goal of targeting them with content or offers that are relevant to their needs or interests.
Rather than sending the same message to your entire list and hoping the right people see it, segmentation makes it easy to create emails that you know specific groups of contacts will be interested in — improving the chances of them opening, clicking, and acting on the content and offers you send out.
Why is segmentation important?
Did you know that 39% of marketers who segmented their email lists experienced higher open rates; 28% experienced lower unsubscribe rates; and 24% experienced better deliverability and greater revenue?
One of the biggest reasons people ignore emails or unsubscribe from email lists is because the content they receive isn’t relevant to them.
Think about your own experience — wouldn’t you be much more likely to pay attention to an email if it were designed with your needs and interests in mind?
While you may have people who read and act on every email you send out, if you’re not taking the appropriate steps to segment your audience, it’s likely that you already have potential customers or donors who are tuning you out.
Getting started for the first time with email segmentation
The good news is that Constant Contact makes it super easy to learn how to segment an email list.
Segments allow you to create customized groups of contacts using campaign engagement, contact information, and list memberships. Segments can be saved to use for later email campaigns and refreshed in real time to update the list of contacts that meet your selected criteria.
But before you can start organizing contacts into different groups, you’re going to need some information to work with.
If you’re like a lot of businesses, the amount of information you have available may be limited to name and email address.
But there are also details like: job title, company, address, birthday, interests, and purchase history, which could be used to your advantage.
How to gather the information you need to segment your email list
Use what you know
If you’re brand new to segmentation, you may want to start by creating a list of your most loyal customers or supporters. Even if you don’t have a ton of information about your contacts, you should be able to quickly scan your list and recognize a handful of names.
You can add a tag for VIPs, or create a separate list and send them exclusive offers to reward them for their loyalty.
Update your sign-up process
Much of the information you need to segment your list, can be available right from the moment people sign up.
While you may only want to require people to give their name and email address, you can also add optional fields like address or company name.
You can also provide options for the type of email content they want to receive and let new contacts opt-in to different lists right from the start.
Use a survey
An online survey is a quick and efficient way to collect information from your email contacts.
You can provide multiple choice questions to help gauge people’s interest around a particular product or service, and can also provide open-ended questions for people to fill out their own information.
Host an event
Events are a great opportunity to collect additional information for your contact list.
You can collect information when interacting with attendees face-to-face, and also use an online registration tool to collect important details before the event.
You can also create a separate list for people who attend your events, and send follow-up emails and invitations to future activities.
Use your reports
You can see which contacts are opening your emails each month, and export a list of people who have clicked on a particular link.
This is a great way to identify your most active readers, and can also be used to learn more about the content or products your audience is most interested in.
If you see a group of contacts clicking through to learn more about a particular product or to read a piece of content, you could then create a separate list and follow up with more information or an offer that’s relevant to them
With the right information, you’ll be ready to start segmenting your list!
Take some time to think about the different groups of contacts you have on your list.
Consider things like:
- Location: Do you have groups of contacts that live locally and others that visit from out of state?
- Customer Status: A lot of the people on your list will be customers, but you may also have a sizeable audience of potential or new customers, as well.
- Interests: Use your click-through data to create interest-based lists.
- Questions/Needs: Use survey data or questions you’ve received in-person to group contacts, and follow up with more information.
- Length of time on your list: Creating a separate list for new contacts is a great way to engage people right from the start.
There are plenty of ways you can use segmentation to get more from your list.
Remember that growing an effective email list isn’t just about adding names and email addresses to your database.
These are people who have opted-in to receive updates from your business. It’s your responsibility to offer an experience that meets their needs and inspires them to take action.
In my experience with nonprofits, the most meaningful takeaway is how important it is to thank people.
Whether it’s a note to a friend, or acknowledging the person who let me in front of them during my morning commute, I still use this lesson on a daily basis.
Timing is everything. After receiving a donation, it should be your goal to turn around a thank you letter as soon as possible. How long you have depends on what kind of thank you letter you are sending. Here are some of your options:
Join us for a free webinar, Create and Send Your Nonprofit’s Email Campaign in 15 Minutes or Less.
Handwritten thank you notes
The most impactful thank you is a handwritten note. This type of thank you is extremely personal, and should be used for important or large donations. The only downside to sending is that it takes time, so it would not be appropriate to thank a large number of donors this way. Additionally, this approach requires mailing the letter, taking days to be delivered, not to mention the potential of a sore wrist!
Typed thank you letters
If you are looking to thank your donors with a tangible note, but don’t have time to write out each one, you could use a typed template and pull in names, addresses and donation amount. To maintain a personalized feeling, make sure to update the template for each campaign.
For example, if you are sending out thank you letters to donors who gave to your Summer Camp campaign, write a brief introduction explaining how the donations helped send 150 kids to summer camp and describe what they did at the camp. You could even include a photo of the kids playing outside. Donors love to know exactly how their donation helped.
Signing the note in pen will add a personal touch, and is still much faster than writing out the entire letter. You can even print the addresses on the envelopes in bulk to speed up the process. Although faster to turn around than a handwritten letter, mailing your typed letter will still take a few days.
Thank you email campaign
The fastest and simplest way to thank donors is via email. Since many donations are now made online, the thank you email is becoming a staple for nonprofits – especially those short on time and staff.
Segmenting your donors into specific lists makes it easy to send a thank you email, follow-up on a donation, or reach out again when it’s time to start your next donation campaign. All of their information will be pulled in automatically, so there is little manual effort.
The turnaround time for an email thank you is immediate, and you can even create an autoresponder email that is triggered when a donation is made or a contact is added to the list. This allows you to pay special attention to first time donors with a specific email template that will make them feel appreciated and encourage them to donate again.
Gratitude is your new favorite tool!
No matter which type of thank you note you decide to send, it’s vital to acknowledge every gift made to your organization. Whether it be money, time, or other gifts, each donation is important. Not only will thanking your donors make them feel good about donating, it will also encourage them to give again and again. Don’t underestimate the power of “thank you.”
Join us for a free webinar, Create and Send Your Nonprofit’s Email Campaign in 15 Minutes or Less.