by Amber Miller | Aug 8, 2016 | Blog, Customer Service, Infusionsoft
We encountered a rather large issue between Leadpages and Infusionsoft and felt we needed to share our findings since many of our customers use both of these programs together.
Referral tracking is not supported with Leadpages’ API integration into Infusionsoft.
This means Leadpages will only report clicks, not optins. The dashboard will only show you how many clicks you get on different pages but will NOT show the actual optins or attach them to Infusionsoft contacts for affiliate credit. This is because Infusionsoft handles referral data differently than a webform would, the API integration does not communicate properly. Keep in mind, this issue is contained to the Drag and Drop builder.
Luckily, there is a way to avoid the majority of these issues by implementing the Copy/Paste integration features into the drag and drop builder to allow the direct use of webforms. By doing this, referrals will be reported correctly within Infusionsoft.
If you are running across any integration issues or have any questions about this issue, please contact us!
by Amber Miller | Aug 3, 2016 | Blog, Social Media
Instagram is fast becoming a mecca for businesses to gain new subscribers and build awareness for their brand. As of April 2016, there are a recorded 400 million users on Instagram across the globe! That’s a huge group of potential customers; right at the tip of your fingers! So… how do you create a strong brand image amongst all those other businesses trying to compete for the same 400 million people? Below are four tips and tricks to get you started…
Create compelling content that is worthy of sharing (don’t forget the video!)
We all know the saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words”… It’s true and you always need to make sure your brand is conveying the right ones! Be CLEAR about your brand and create content that your customers want to see. Not sure what to post? Take a look at what your competitors are posting, check out niche blogs and other websites to see what popular topics consumers are talking about, and take advantage of the many tools already available to you on social media i.e. insights and analytics. Always double check your work to see what’s working and what’s not!
Don’t forget the video. Instagram offers up to 15 seconds of video recording… All the time you need to get your point across 🙂 Here are some quick tips and ideas on how to utilize videos on Instagram:
- Answer FAQs
- Showcase Your Company Culture and Style (Get employees involved!)
- Use videos to engage followers to submit videos for contests, events, and more! (Don’t forget the hashtags)
- Create a video portfolio of your work
- Showcase special offers and sales
Use your Instagram bio to convert followers into subscribers
Unfortunately, you only have one opportunity to have a clickable link on Instagram… and that’s in your bio. Use this opportunity to link to targeted pages or your company website. Since there’s no cap on how often you can update your bio, you can use this link for targeted marketing campaigns to sell products or grow your subscription list. Don’t be pushy; make sure to create a bio that’s interesting, unique from other bios, keyword optimized, and includes your company name and what you do.
Balance fun images with pictures from your business
Your followers really don’t want to sift through your images and see nothing but self-promoting, salesy product images. ZzzzZzZZzzzZz Share other items like quotes, facts about materials or ingredients you use, cute puppies (if your niche calls for it lol), whatever… don’t always share pictures of your company and products.
Follow your followers back (sometimes)
You’ve got some die hard fans? You should absolutely follow those people back… maybe. While it’s important to show your biggest customers just how much you care by reaching out to them on social media, their presence might not always be beneficial to you. Make sure to stick with users who post content that is appropriate and relevant to your business (for the most part). In addition, make sure to follow other people who share relevant information and interest you, partners and business associates, and others in your industry who use Instagram and learn from them (watch what they do, what works, what doesn’t?). Get yourself out there and engage with others – that’s the only way you’ll be heard!
Oh, and one more tip for the road…. HASHTAGS! HASHTAGS! HASHTAGS! You are allowed to use 30 hashtags on Instagram, take total advantage of it. (Click here to download a FREE infographic on how to post on Instagram)
While these four tips and tricks will definitely give you a strong starting point; there are countless other ways businesses can utilize Instagram to make the most out of the social network. Contact us if you would like to talk about a customized approach for your business and how we can help you make it happen.
by Amber Miller | Jun 24, 2016 | Blog, Customer Service, Marketing
We wanted to let you know about an import update!
We have found out today that Gmail and Microsoft are set to adopt strict email deliverability policies similar to Yahoo and AOL. Word on the street says the policy will be enforced by June 30, 2016.
This will impact any email service provider including Infusionsoft, MailChimp, and Constant Contact.
What does this mean to you?
Basically, users who use an email address from any of the below email domains as the “From” email address when sending any type of email from these email systems will no longer have their emails delivered.
Impacted email domains: @gmail, @hotmail, @yahoo, @aol, @outlook, @live, @msn.
You will need to be sure any emails you send are coming from a domain email account such as yourname@yourdomainname.com (note – this is really best practices anyway!).
Our team has been made aware and we are making sure we are on the lookout for you if we are supporting you with email marketing.
If you have any questions please reach out!
by Amber Miller | May 9, 2016 | Blog, Wordpress Maintenance
Google has stayed to true to form and changed its rank algorithm yet again. With technology constantly changing, they need to do this in order to get a true sense of what people are doing in the way of searching. Unfortunately, that means you need to once again examine your website and make sure it is Google-friendly, or you will find yourself sitting there and wondering why your Google ranking is steadily dropping. The main item you need to take a close look at this point is whether or not your website is mobile-friendly.
A Mobile World
With the increased use of phones and other mobile devices being used to surf the web, sixty-one percent of all users are now mobile users. If your site is not ready for them, you could see your traffic decreasing by as much as one-third. That can add up to a lot of users – and much lower Google rankings.
What You Need to Know
- In order for Google to rate your site higher, it must determine that it is mobile-friendly. To make it possible for this determination to be made, the Googlebot must be able to scan your CSS and JS files, and it does so on a page-by-page basis. This means every one of your pages must pass the scan in order to be ranked.
- Google will put greater emphasis on the loading time of graphics, so you need to make sure they are optimized to the fullest.
- Avoid using small text and flash or it could seriously lower your ranking.
Achieving Mobile-friendly Status
Responsive design is the easiest way to insure your website is mobile-friendly. This newcomer on the scene is created to allow your website to seamlessly adjust to whatever device it is being viewed on. By designing for smaller devices first, responsive design makes it easy to incorporate sizing for all devices – and help Google find you.
If you need help making your website mobile friendly, reachout! Having a support team that stays on top of technology is very important!
by Tina Walker | Apr 19, 2016 | Blog, Marketing
The Divas have been listening to me for months talk about how much I love the Divi theme. I mention it on team calls, I mention it on team Skype and I almost feel like the team might roll their eyes when I suggest it being a good fit for multiple projects. Somedays I feel as if I chant the name “Divi” over and over. Let me share with you why I love it so much, and what it can do for you.
What is Divi?
Divi is a multi-purpose theme created by Elegant Themes. For me, as a developer, it’s the ULTIMATE WordPress theme with endless possibilities for layouts and styling. Combine that with the Divi Page Builder, which is an extremely easy and versatile drag and drop builder, and it becomes a monster do-anything, be-anything WordPress theme option.
Divi Announces Built-In Split Testing – perfect for Opt-In Pages, Landing Pages, and Sales Pages
So many clients use programs such as Leadpages or ClickFunnels and many times those programs are used for the purpose of ease of use, built-in split testing and conversion rates. But, you also have a heavy price for these programs. With Divi’s most recent update, they now offer Divi Leads Split Testing and a conversion optimization system!
With Divi Leads Split Testing we can build amazingly beautiful custom landing pages using a simple WordPress Install with Divi. This is the effective landing page tool that I have been waiting for, because for me, this puts Divi in the category of Leadpages or ClickFunnels at a fraction of the price! The look and feel you see can be created in Divi, plus you have the benefit that it’s fully customizable.
The Divi Leads Split Testing also allows you to not only A/B test pages, but modules within pages, individual sections, or rows. The results are also very in-depth. This includes bounce rates, click-through rates, engagement rates and sales rates.
Complete Websites with Easy User Interface
Divi also can be more than marketing pages. It can be an entire website with ease in functionality that anyone can easily use. For those who want to be able to add or change their own content easily, this is the theme for you. The drag and drop interface is the easiest interface I have seen in my 20 years of experience.
Sometimes with easy interfaces, you lose the power of options. Not with Divi. It integrates with membership plugins, commerce plugins, and community components with ease. It’s used to build full blown powerful website designs. In February, Elegant Themes launched the ability to import Squarespace sites with minimum fuss, as well as a new feature – the dynamic help system which, if needed, Divi will troubleshoot itself and help find the problem and fix it, saving a lot of time and frustration.
The support that Divi has from the WordPress Community is huge and I only see the future being brighter as Elegant Themes continues to offer amazing add-ons, modules, and more tools such as the split testing piece that was just introduced.
by Amber Miller | Jan 2, 2016 | Blog, Blogging, Social Media
The American Dialect Society Declared “hashtag” (#, or hash) as the 2012 word of the year. Now that’s a social media force! This modest little symbol gives the user the ability to connect their conversations on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumbler, Pinterest and Google+. Hashtags allow social media users to “tag” key words or topics and make them into a searchable link. Hashtags present an extraordinary opportunity for business owners to identify relevant social media conversations and allows their content to be delivered to their desired audience.
What Is A Hashtag And How Do You Use Them?
Hashtags originated on Internet chat networks before they became popular on microblogging sites such as Twitter.
A hashtag contains a word or phrase followed by the “#” symbol. When a social media user uses hashtags to find particular words or topics, they will be able to view all the posts that contain that same word or topic. Creating your own hashtag can be a very powerful marketing tool. Your goal is to create a hashtag that will start trending among your followers and send a reminder of your business. So, how can you utilize hashtags to benefit your brand?
1. Strive for business –specific conversations. Take advantage of Twitters’s news, advice and business variety resources. Look to #smallbiz for small business advice, as this type of hashtag can provide a large number of results and the information it contains could inspire your next marketing tactic.
2. Consistency and Simplicity are best practice. When creating your own hashtags, it is important to consider keeping your tags simple and direct. Do not create long or complex hashtags. They are not search-friendly. You also need to keep in mind that weighing you tweets down with excessive hashtags will only make you look desperate to your followers. Keep it simple by using 1-2 hashtags per tweet.
3. Create your own hashtag. Hashtags are the perfect way to create buzz around your marketing campaign. Events are a great way to create conversation around a hashtag. So, get creative and develop your own business-specific hashtags.
4. Use hashtags to cross social media channels. Connect your different social media outlets and reach more people by using the same hashtag in each of these platforms. Imagine the number of people you can reach by using ALL of these platforms.
Things To Consider
- Don’t use more than two hashtags per post.
- Anyone can search and view your hashtag links if you use a public account.
- Never send spam with hashtags.
- Use relevant hashtags.
- Monitor hashtags to see how much activity it receive before you use them in your post.
- Don’t use spaces, commas, periods, apostrophes, question marks, exclamation points or any other special characters.
- Create a unique hashtag for your business.
- Follow trends and make use of them.
- Generate a buzz by offering a promotion or contest to get people talking about your brand. Users are more likely to retweet hashtags if you offer prizes to do so.
Which Social Media Platforms Support Hashtags?
1. Twitter: Twitter has been called the “birthplace of modern hashtag usage”. Hashtags via Twitter are generally used to represent specific topics of conversation. You can find an item called “Trends” on the Twitter sidebar that generates a list o f suggested hashtags based on your tweets.
2. Facebook: Facebook has supported hashtags for a couple years. Popularity on this site is not as prominent as on Twitter. Clicking on a Facebook hashtag will take you to a list of posts that contain the same hashtag. The results you see come from people you know, as well as those users you do not.
3. Instagram: Instagram hashtags are used to complement photographs. This also helps you to discover new accounts and may lead to you picking up additional followers. Instagram has also created specific hashtags to encourage certain photo posts. #ThrowbackThursday is used to encourage users to post old or “retro” photos.
4. Tumblr: Hashtags on Tumblr are not links when they are used within the body of the post but, instead posts have a “Tag” section that you enter your tags. Tags will function like those in Twitter and be organized by topic. The “#” will be inserted automatically.
5. Google+: Google gives you an option to search within Facebook and Twitter for specific tags. Clicking on a hashtag in Google+ will generate a list of search results that include the original hashtag and other posts that have related tags and keywords.
6. Pinterest: Pinterest hashtags are placed in a pin’s description allowing users to click on the link and be taken to a list of pins that may contain that hashtag. Keep in mind that not all hashtags are indexed. Pinterest can be a great social media marketing tool if you know how to optimize your pins. Use key words in your pin’s description. The pin should also come from a URL that has the keyword in it. Keywords should also be included in the picture’s file name.
The Hashtag, a once lonely keyboard character, is swiftly becoming the most powerful punctuation mark in human history. Harness the mighty marketing power of a Hashtag and watch your social media base flourish. You will be hashtagging like a pro in no time!
References
5 Brilliant Ways to Use #Hashtags in Social Media Marketing. by Uri Bar-Joseph. Retrieved October 1, 2015 from: http://searchenginewatch.com/sew/how-to/2327748/5-brilliant-ways-to-use-hashtags-in-social-media-marketing
How to Use Hashtags on Every Social Media Network. Michael Patterson. Retrieved October 1, 2015 from: http://sproutsocial.com/insights/how-to-use-hashtags/
The Beginners Guide to the Hashtag. by Rebecca Hiscott. Retrieved October 1, 2015 from: http://mashable.com/2013/10/08/what-is-hashtag/#HB7807Cbwu
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