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Add minutes to your day with email automation

How many routine emails would you say your sales and marketing teams send every day? If it’s not many, is that because you don’t have the resources for mass outreach campaigns? Either way, email automation is the perfect solution to staying in touch with customers and prospects without wasting company resources.

The post Add minutes to your day with email automation appeared first on Complete Technology Resources, Inc..

Add minutes to your day with email automation

How many routine emails would you say your sales and marketing teams send every day? If it’s not many, is that because you don’t have the resources for mass outreach campaigns? Either way, email automation is the perfect solution to staying in touch with customers and prospects without wasting company resources.

What is email automation?

Usually included in customer relationship management (CRM) software, email automation centers around the idea of combining your business data into emails to customers and prospects. This allows you to draft templates with placeholders for names, addresses, and other variables that the platform will match with individuals from your email list.

Even better however, is personalizing how and when your emails go out to clients. Automatically inserting customer data into an email is great, but it still requires that you draft the content that surrounds it and hit Send. Email automation grants you the ability to create templated emails that are automatically merged with client data and sent when certain conditions are met.

Examples of email automation

To really get an idea of how valuable this solution is, it’s important to see what it looks like in action. Say you own an eCommerce site that sells complementary goods, like golf clubs and golf balls. You could create a campaign wherein anytime someone buys a set of clubs, pre-written emails automatically go out one month later on how high-quality golf balls improve your handicap.

You’re not limited to two-step workflows either. Take a look at this example:

  • Step 1: Send a personalized email with a special offer on golf balls for existing customers.
  • Step 2: Send a follow-up based on how customers interacted with the offer email:
    • If a customer cashed in the offer, send a thank you email.
      • Step 3: Follow it up with a similar offer three months later.
    • If a customer visited the promo page but didn’t convert, send a promo email for another type of product, like golf bags.
      • Step 3: Follow it up with either a thank you email or another promo for golf clothes.
    • If a customer didn’t even open the email, send a survey email asking about their interests.
      • Step 3: Follow it up with email campaigns based on what they selected.

Email automation means there’s no need to micromanage your customer relationships. As long as you define the path to purchase for high-volume products, you can program workflows to nurture customers and prospects automatically.

For as little as a couple hundred bucks a month, your customer outreach campaigns can compete on the same level as your corporate counterparts with little effort from your team. Add in an expert IT provider and you have the ability to blow the competition out of the water. To learn more, contact us today!

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

The post Add minutes to your day with email automation appeared first on Complete Technology Resources, Inc..

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The Facebook tools your business needs

Businesses in the digital age rely on a strong online presence to stand a chance against stiff competition. This explains why many SMBs are turning to social media marketing. And with platforms like Facebook with a global audience of 1.8 billion users, the time to leverage the right tools to your advantage is now.

The post The Facebook tools your business needs appeared first on Complete Technology Resources, Inc..

The Facebook tools your business needs

Businesses in the digital age rely on a strong online presence to stand a chance against stiff competition. This explains why many SMBs are turning to social media marketing. And with platforms like Facebook with a global audience of 1.8 billion users, the time to leverage the right tools to your advantage is now.

Audience Insights tool
This free tool is designed to help businesses learn more about their target audience. Audience Insights takes the guesswork out of identifying your customers by providing data such as geography, purchasing patterns, and even the Facebook pages they like. You can also use your existing customer database, Facebook page, or email list to learn more about your clients. Audience Insights help save a lot of time and money by determining whom you should advertise to.

Facebook Product Shops
This allows you to sell your products directly from your Facebook page. After following these instructions, you can set up your product shop in just a few clicks. You can choose whether you want buyers to purchase directly on Facebook or whether you want buyers to complete checkout on your website. Consider running ads using the data gathered from the Audience Insights tool to target ideal customers and increase sales.

New Facebook Ads
Facebook’s advertising platform offers endless combinations to create the perfect ad. It features numerous placement options that go beyond the traditional newsfeed. There are two new ad destinations that could help you reach new audiences:

  • Facebook Messenger ads - deliver a highly personalized experience by providing an opportunity for you to chat with prospective customers. You can answer questions or schedule appointments from the Messenger app.
  • In-stream video ads - despite being relatively new, this prime advertising space allows businesses to deliver 5-15 second mid-roll video ads within live and non-live videos on Facebook.

Facebook Live marketing
Due to its rising popularity, businesses are looking for ways to incorporate Facebook Live into their social media marketing strategies. Here are a couple of tips to optimize Facebook Live usage:

  • Livestream pre-scheduling - this tool creates and pre-schedules Facebook Live streams, thereby boosting anticipation for your videos and prompting viewers to mark their calendars if they want to tune in.
  • Merge it with your Product Shop - this feature can be used on your Facebook page only if you’ve set up your Product Shop. When you mention your products in a livestream, you’ll be able to tag your products in the video, allowing viewers to access your Product Shop directly from the video.

In order to surpass your competitors, you’ll need to not only establish a strong online presence but also know how to leverage Facebook to your business’s advantage. If you’re interested in adopting a social media marketing strategy, feel free to give us a call or send us an email!

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

The post The Facebook tools your business needs appeared first on Complete Technology Resources, Inc..

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Get ready for Chrome’s ad blocker

For the longest time, we’ve been visiting countless websites only to be greeted with annoying ads that never piqued our interest. Luckily, Chrome users won’t have to put up with them for much longer. Google will release an ad blocker early next year.

The post Get ready for Chrome’s ad blocker appeared first on Complete Technology Resources, Inc..

Get ready for Chrome’s ad blocker

For the longest time, we’ve been visiting countless websites only to be greeted with annoying ads that never piqued our interest. Luckily, Chrome users won’t have to put up with them for much longer. Google will release an ad blocker early next year. To that end, here’s everything you need to know.

What is it?

Ad blocker from Chrome actually works like an ad filter, meaning it won’t block all ads from the website, only ones that are determined to be too intrusive, like video autoplay with sound as well as interstitials that take up the entire screen.

A group called the Coalition for Better Ads, which consists of Google, Facebook, News Corp, The Washington Post, and other members will decide whether or not the ads are to be blocked. According to Sridhar Ramaswamy, the executive in charge of Google’s ads, even ads owned or served by Google will be blocked if they don’t meet the new guidelines.

How will it work?

From a consumer’s end, you won’t have to do anything except for updating your Chrome browser. For publishers, Google will provide a tool that you can run to find out if your site’s ads are violating the guidelines. The blocker will apply to both desktop and mobile experiences.

What are the benefits of Chrome ad blocker?

Bad ads slow down the web, make it annoying to browse, and drive consumers to install ad blockers that remove all advertisements. If that continues, publishers will face major obstacles since nearly all websites rely on ads to stay alive.

With Chrome’s ad blocker, wholesale ad blocking can be controlled to please both consumers and publishers. Users get a better web browsing experience and publishers can continue to make profits through online ad sales.

But isn’t Google already using third-party ad-blocking extensions?

Yes, but this means they have to pay third-party ad blockers -- like Adblock Plus -- a certain amount of fee to whitelist ads for the privilege of working around their filters. With their own ad blocker, this can be eliminated once and for all.

Are there potential drawbacks?

It’s undeniable that Chrome’s ad blocker gives Google lots of power to determine ad standards for everyone. It comes to no surprise that there are skeptics who don’t trust one company to act in everyone’s interest.

And while Google assures that even its own ads will be removed if they violate the rules, the fact that Google itself is an ad company with nearly 89 percent of its revenues coming from online ads doesn’t boost its credibility to industry peers.

Publishers will have fewer options to monetize their sites once Chrome’s ad blocker is implemented. To help, Google will include an option for visitors to pay websites that they’re blocking ads on called Funding Choices. However, a similar feature called Google Contributor has been tested a couple years ago with no signs of catching on so we doubt that Funding Choices will differ.

Despite expected criticism, Chrome’s ad blocker will likely result in a better web browsing experience. And as always, if you have any questions about the web, or IT in general, just give us a call and we’ll be happy to help.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

The post Get ready for Chrome’s ad blocker appeared first on Complete Technology Resources, Inc..

Read More

Get ready for Chrome’s ad blocker

For the longest time, we’ve been visiting countless websites only to be greeted with annoying ads that never piqued our interest. Luckily, Chrome users won’t have to put up with them for much longer. Google will release an ad blocker early next year.

The post Get ready for Chrome’s ad blocker appeared first on Complete Technology Resources, Inc..

Get ready for Chrome’s ad blocker

For the longest time, we’ve been visiting countless websites only to be greeted with annoying ads that never piqued our interest. Luckily, Chrome users won’t have to put up with them for much longer. Google will release an ad blocker early next year. To that end, here’s everything you need to know.

What is it?

Ad blocker from Chrome actually works like an ad filter, meaning it won’t block all ads from the website, only ones that are determined to be too intrusive, like video autoplay with sound as well as interstitials that take up the entire screen.

A group called the Coalition for Better Ads, which consists of Google, Facebook, News Corp, The Washington Post, and other members will decide whether or not the ads are to be blocked. According to Sridhar Ramaswamy, the executive in charge of Google’s ads, even ads owned or served by Google will be blocked if they don’t meet the new guidelines.

How will it work?

From a consumer’s end, you won’t have to do anything except for updating your Chrome browser. For publishers, Google will provide a tool that you can run to find out if your site’s ads are violating the guidelines. The blocker will apply to both desktop and mobile experiences.

What are the benefits of Chrome ad blocker?

Bad ads slow down the web, make it annoying to browse, and drive consumers to install ad blockers that remove all advertisements. If that continues, publishers will face major obstacles since nearly all websites rely on ads to stay alive.

With Chrome’s ad blocker, wholesale ad blocking can be controlled to please both consumers and publishers. Users get a better web browsing experience and publishers can continue to make profits through online ad sales.

But isn’t Google already using third-party ad-blocking extensions?

Yes, but this means they have to pay third-party ad blockers -- like Adblock Plus -- a certain amount of fee to whitelist ads for the privilege of working around their filters. With their own ad blocker, this can be eliminated once and for all.

Are there potential drawbacks?

It’s undeniable that Chrome’s ad blocker gives Google lots of power to determine ad standards for everyone. It comes to no surprise that there are skeptics who don’t trust one company to act in everyone’s interest.

And while Google assures that even its own ads will be removed if they violate the rules, the fact that Google itself is an ad company with nearly 89 percent of its revenues coming from online ads doesn’t boost its credibility to industry peers.

Publishers will have fewer options to monetize their sites once Chrome’s ad blocker is implemented. To help, Google will include an option for visitors to pay websites that they’re blocking ads on called Funding Choices. However, a similar feature called Google Contributor has been tested a couple years ago with no signs of catching on so we doubt that Funding Choices will differ.

Despite expected criticism, Chrome’s ad blocker will likely result in a better web browsing experience. And as always, if you have any questions about the web, or IT in general, just give us a call and we’ll be happy to help.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

The post Get ready for Chrome’s ad blocker appeared first on Complete Technology Resources, Inc..

Read More