Tuesday, March 31, 2020

The New Way to Chat With Your Visitors

Marketing has evolved into an omnichannel approach. This means you can no longer just go after one channel to succeed.

Back in the day, companies like Facebook grew into billion-dollar businesses through one channel.

Facebook used email to grow and they did it by having you invite all your contacts to join Facebook.

Yelp was also similar. They grew into a multi-million dollar business through one channel… SEO.

Dropbox grew through social media. If you tweeted about Dropbox, they would give you more space.

These marketing approaches worked well for all of these well-known
companies, but what’s wrong with them?

The law of shitty click-throughs

What worked for Facebook, Yelp, and Dropbox were all great strategies, but over time, all good marketing channels got saturated and stopped working like they used to.

As Andrew Chen puts it, first it works
and then it doesn’t
.

It really is that simple. Sure, those channels can still
drive traffic and always will, but as people get used to them, they won’t work
as well.

Just check out this image below.

Can you guess what that is?

That was the first banner ad. AT&T created that banner ad and placed it on HotWired.com in 1994. And here’s what’s really crazy… out of all the people who saw it, a whopping 44% clicked on it.

Just think about that… that banner ad had a 44% click-through rate.

We can all agree it’s not an amazing banner ad or design, it
just so happens that it was new and novel at the time, so it generated massive amounts
of clicks.

Just like how SEO was more effective earlier on, or paid ads were more affordable and produced a higher ROI, or referral marketing was much more effective. There are a lot of single-channel case studies that worked in the past.

Again, it doesn’t mean any of these channels don’t work, it
just means that they don’t work as well as they used to work.

So how do you survive in a competitive market?

You take an omnichannel approach. You don’t have a choice other than to use all of the marketing channels out there.

Yes, they will be competitive and saturated, but they still
work.

It’s a game of papercuts… papercuts are small and don’t do much damage, but if you have tons of these small papercuts, they will add up and can do some damage.

The same goes with your marketing. If you add up all of these channels that produce a small amount of ROI, it will add up to a big number at the end. But when you look at each channel individually, the results aren’t that sexy. But when you combine them, it looks great.

Start with chat

What do you check more, your text messages or your email
inbox?

I bet you are going to say text messages because you look at
your phone more often than logging into your email inbox.

But here is an interesting stat for you… did you know that
over 6
billion SMS messages are sent daily
?

Now can you guess how many emails are sent daily?

269
billion
!

That’s a big difference.

And do you know how many people visit Facebook each day?

1.62
billion
.

Now the point of me sharing those stats isn’t to try and
tell you that email is better than text. Or that Facebook isn’t as valuable as
text messaging.

It’s more so to show you that they are all massive channels
that people are using each and every day.

So why wouldn’t you try and leverage all of them?

And you can easily do so through free chat marketing tools like Manychat that allow you to communicate to your visitors using text messaging, email marketing, and Facebook Messenger.

Once you have created your Manychat account, go here to watch how to set it up. They have tons of very helpful videos that teach you how to do things like setting up Facebook Messenger bots and connecting your Facebook page so you can start sending out messages.

Now that you are all set up, I want you to use the following templates for your business as I know they convert…

Templates that convert

My team and I have tested out tons of different messaging
for all channels, such as email, messenger and text messaging.

Here are the ones that have worked the best for us…

Text messaging templates

My favorite text message to send someone is:

[first name]?

When someone sends you a text with just your first name and a “?” what do you do? Chances are you respond with… “who is this?”.

Once someone responds with who is this, our sales reps typically
respond with…

This is John from Neil Patel’s team. I just wanted to follow up to see if you have any questions or if we can help you with anything.

It’s simple and it works well and it has boosted our sales
by 4.69%.

Another one that works well is a “flash sales” text message…

Flash Sale: All product on [yoursite] are [x]% off for the next 24 hours. [insert URL]

This one works really well during holidays or anytime you
want to run a promotion. Depending on the size of the business you run and how
big your list is, you will usually see an additional 2 to 3% in revenue for
that month.

And my favorite text campaign is…

Check out this new blog post, [subject of the blog post] [URL]

An example would be… “Check out this new blog post on doubling
your SEO traffic [URL]”

When I send out text message alerts for new posts, it usually increases the traffic to that blog post by another 4%.

Email templates

You’re probably familiar with this email template as you get
it from me every week. 😉

Subject: How to Generate Leads When You Have Little to No Traffic

If you have a ton of traffic, it’s easy to generate leads.

But what if you have a new website or one with little to no traffic?

What if you don’t have any money to spend on paid ads?

What should you do?

Well, there is a solution. Here’s how you generate leads when you have no traffic.

Cheers,

Neil Patel

I send out an email every Tuesday and Saturday that looks
something like that.

It’s a simple text-based email where the subject line is the title of your blog post and the text of the email states a problem and solution, with the solution being a link to the blog post.

To give you a rough idea, that email format has been getting me 29% to 33% open rates and 4% to 7% click-through rates.

And if you are selling info products through webinars, there are 8 types of emails I use to generate sales (check out that post if you want to learn how to make good money selling info products):

  1. Invite sequence – these are a series
    of emails that invite people to watch your webinar. (here
    are my invite emails
    )
  2. Indoctrination – you need to build a
    connection with people. People are more likely to convert if they know more
    about you and trust you. (here
    are my indoctrination emails
    )
  3. No shows – just because someone
    signs up to watch your webinar, it doesn’t mean they will attend. For everyone
    who doesn’t attend, you’ll want to email them and get them to watch the replay.
    (here
    are my no show emails
    )
  4. Encore – not everyone will watch
    your whole webinar. If they don’t stick to the end they won’t see your offer.
    You’ll want a few emails that push the replay. (here are my
    encore emails
    )
  5. Objection handler – there are a
    handful of reasons someone may not buy. You’ll want to answer each of those
    objections through email. (here
    are my objection handler emails
    )
  6. Countdown sequence – you’ll want to
    close off your course. Letting people know that they only have a few days left
    to buy is a really effective way to generate sales. These emails will roughly
    make up 1/3 to half of your sales. (here
    are my countdown emails
    )
  7. Last chance email – on the last day
    you’ll want to send a few emails letting people know it is about to close. (here
    are my last chance emails
    )
  8. Free trial offer – the majority of
    people won’t buy from you. Offering the last chance free trial offer is a great
    way to roughly get 15% more sales. (here
    are my free trial emails
    )

If you are selling products, there are 3 main emails that I’ve found to work well. The first 2 are for cart abandonment.

Subject: Did you forget something?

We noticed that you left something behind. Don’t worry though, we saved the items in your cart so you can easily complete your purchase.

[insert picture of products]

CTA button: Return to cart

This simple abandonment email typically increases sales by 1.73%. I know it’s not a lot, but it’s all about the papercuts as I mentioned above. 😉

Subject: Still thinking about it?

If you can’t decide on whether [insert product name] is right for you, here are some of the benefits:

[insert benefit 1]

[insert benefit 2]

[insert benefit 3]

[insert benefit 4]

[insert benefit 5]

[insert benefit 6]

So, what are you waiting for? You have nothing to lose with our 30 day no questions asked money back guarantee.

CTA: Complete my purchase

On average this email has provided our customers an increase of
1.44% in sales.

Subject: Who doesn’t love 15% off?

Explore new [type of products you sell] that will help you with [insert benefit].

Sale ends at [insert date and time].

CTA: Claim my discount

Now with the discount/coupon code email, we’ve found the results to vary a lot. The bigger the discount, the more sales you will typically receive. The biggest gains are when companies offer over 30% or greater discount.

Facebook Messenger templates

Unlike email and text, you can’t just easily just message people
on Facebook Messenger and do whatever you want. There
are rules

  • You can message a subscriber within the last 24 hours of your last interaction.
  • Within that 24-hour time period, you can send promotional material.
  • After the 24 hour period, messages must contain one of these 4 tags: confirmed event update, post-purchase update, account update, or a human agent.
  • For users who opt-in to receive messages after 24 hours, you can, of course, message them.

As for templates that work, because Facebook is continually changing Messenger rules, follow these templates over at Manychat as they constantly change based on real-time data of what is working or what isn’t.

Conclusion

You have no choice but to take an omnichannel approach with
your marketing.

Sure, all good channels eventually get crowded and click-throughs will decrease over time, but if you go after all of the main channels the marginal gains will add up.

And the easiest way to start with going omnichannel is with chat. I know you are probably using email, but I bet you aren’t using text messaging or even Facebook Messenger bots. And I bet you aren’t using push notifications either.

So, how many marketing channels are you using?

The post The New Way to Chat With Your Visitors appeared first on Neil Patel.

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Bublup: The Cloud Reimagined

Since mankind first crawled out of its cave, looked at a block of stone, and wondered if it wouldn’t roll better if it were round, human beings have been looking at technology and trying to make it better.

Almost every tech you can think of, from digital music players, to cryptocurrency, to search engines, may well be revolutionary in their first incarnation, but only go on to change the world once they’ve been reimagined with the kinks worked out.

however you want to store your stuff online, you can do it with Bublup

Now, Bublup (pronounced Bubble-up) is reimagining the cloud, one of the mainstays of modern computing, by reinventing not just the technology that powers the cloud, but how we use it in our daily lives.

One of the biggest problems with the cloud is that no matter who supplies it, it is structured and organized in a way that suits the cloud supplier; photos go in your photos folder, notes go in your documents folder or a notebook, links go in your bookmarks folder. Bublup is different, Bublup lets you organize your content however you want to. You can even mix and match media types in the same folder. So, unlike some cloud providers you can store links with photos, notes in with videos, PDFs in with MP3s; however you want to store your stuff online, you can do it with Bublup.

It’s this flexibility that makes Bublup one of the most intuitive ways to save and share plans, memories, ideas, and projects. Imagine you’re planning a trip to your dream destination next year, instead of keeping all your research across a dozen different folders, with Bublup you can store everything in one place — your flight details, reservations, your itinerary, maps, places you want to eat, things you want to see, guidebooks – everything you’ll need for the trip of a lifetime. The same goes for work projects, sharing family photos, meal planning, and more.

You can even use Bublup for work collaboration

Bublup makes your folders private by default, so you don’t have to worry about anyone taking your files without your permission. But one of the best features of Bublup, and one we know you’re going to want to check out, is its collaboration options. You can invite anyone to join your folder, and work on it together by commenting and reacting on items or folders. It’s an awesome way to build up content from a whole group of people.

You can even use Bublup for work collaboration. Just create a folder for your project and invite your team to join you. Store emails, briefing notes, assets, contracts, everything for your current project in a single, secure location.

One of the key benefits of Bublup is that everything is organized visually, with big thumbnails and titles, so you never have to hunt around for the file you’re looking for, it’s always right in front of you and easy to find.

Perhaps our favorite Bublup feature is “rolls”. Rolls are beautifully presented stories built from the contents of your folder in just a few clicks. Upload your vacation photos and videos to Bublup, and then in seconds create a story that captures the event perfectly. Best of all, rolls can be shared with anyone – they don’t even need a Bublup account – just build your roll and share it with a single link. It’s the perfect way of sharing vacation memories, or keeping in touch with family.

Something we know everyone will love is Bublup’s suggestion engine. This awesome tool seeks out fresh content for you, helping you discover ideas you didn’t even know were out there. It’s an incredibly useful option when you’re researching. Let’s say you’re planning that dream trip, wouldn’t it be great to get the best tips on places to eat, stay, and enjoy from locals and leading sites on the web? Bublup’s suggestion engine will search them all out for you, you can choose to add them to your folder, or ignore them, it’s completely up to you!

The best thing about Bublup is that it’s easy to use. You don’t need to be an expert to get the most out of this tool. It’s so easy to use even complete novices will be up to speed in minutes, and it’s the perfect solution for everything from staying in touch with family and friends, to collaborating with colleagues on professional projects.

Incredibly, Bublup’s standard plan is free, with 3 GB of storage for files and unlimited links, and all features except the most advanced roll features. If you discover that Bublup is the right tool for you then keep using the standard plan for free, or upgrade to a paid plan from just $2.99 per month. Head over to bublup.com now to start organizing your content the way it suits you.

 

[– This is a sponsored post on behalf of Bublup –]

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Monday, March 30, 2020

3 Essential Design Trends, April 2020

This month’s website designs are showing elements of what is happening in the world around us. While this is often true, some of the things we are seeing right now are an immediate reaction to current events.

Trending this month are designs for website notifications and pop-ups, retro typography, and blue and green color schemes. Here’s what’s trending in design this month.

Website Notifications

The COVID-19 world health pandemic has created a need for many designers to add notices to websites. From temporary closures to delayed shipping to changes in business operations, almost every transactional website has a need for a notification.

And while many of us are having to react fast, there’s no reason these notifications need to look bad.

The keys are to ensure simplicity, readability, and user-friendliness.

Each of these three website examples does it in a different way, but all meet the three goals above.

One big change to these pop-ups from others that we’ve looked at recently is the mood of the design. It is somber and informative, not bright and cheery like many of the more sales-oriented pop-ups that have been popular.

Dick’s Sporting Goods uses a simple popup with a store image in the background that’s faded out with bold white text on top. The message is direct and to the point. There’s a secondary popup notice at the bottom of the screen for users who want to know more.

The pop-up notification has an obvious X to close the window. When the primary, center screen pop-up is displayed the rest of the website has a dark overlay to help bring focus to the notification.

Chase retooled their website header, stripping out images, to include a COVID-19 update notice alongside the customer login box. Information is easy to read and the red icon distinguishes this as important information. The button is large and visible, making it easy to find more information about what the financial institution is doing and how to find help if you need it.

The shift from an image header to this informational one changes the whole mood of the website to one that is appropriate for the times.

Hell’s Kitchen uses a simple pop-up with a full-screen overlay that darkens the rest of the design. This pop-up notification contains a lot of information. But blocks of text and bolding in the right places keep it organized. The date as a headline also helps customers know that the information is up-to-date with fast-moving changes that are happening everywhere.

Note that the notification also includes links to other parts of the business that can be patronized, such as buying gift cards or making a reservation in the future. Adding a relevant link or button to a notification is a good way to help users do something with the website when they can’t necessarily do what they originally came for.

When creating this style of notification for your website, pay attention to relevant settings. With sales-based notifications or pop-ups, they may time out, stop displaying due to a cookie, or only appear for certain customers or on certain pages.

With a notification such as the ones we are seeing for COVID-19, it is likely that you’ll want to think about these settings carefully. You will likely want a popup to appear on every visit for every customer. You may need a couple of notification types; one for a physical closure and another to note delayed shipping times, for example.

Retro Typography

Old styles almost always come back around.

Designers seem to be experimenting with retro typography styles in a big way lately, making this a website design trend this month.

Retro styles are being used in a variety of ways and there isn’t one dominant typography style. The most common theme seems to be retro typefaces that are a little flowier with a lot of character and personality.

Retro typography styles are nice because they can create a very intentional mood for a project. One of the concepts that has trended in 2020 is the notion of throwing back to the 1920s. That retro style is something you can see hints of in the typography choice for Playful.

Without saying anything more, a typeface can transport someone to a different era or mood. That’s exactly what this design trend does for these projects.

Playful uses Antiga Regular for the main headlines.

Nika Fisher uses Ziggy for the nifty counter in the bottom right corner.

Madies uses Blw for the main headlines. (Note that the logo also uses a different retro style as well.

Blue and Green Color Schemes

Blue and green color schemes make you think of nature: Green grass and trees and blue sky. These palettes can be calming, soothing, and very harmonious. (All things that might be a fresh feel in a tumultuous world, right now.)

While the use of blues and greens is not new, it is a combination that we haven’t seen a lot of in website design projects for some time.

These color schemes are evolving in a few different ways and are an easy fit with many brand colors and styles (thanks to a mostly neutral feel).

If you are interested in using this trend, play with different shades of blue and green. Start with a blue or green that is part of your brand color palette (if you have one), and incorporate colors around it.

Another option is to work from a blue or green that you might have used as part of another color trend, such as the super bright colors from GadgetGone. The blues and greens here have a definite Material Design vibe to them.

Vonnda mixes the gradient trend with green and blue to create a striking visual on its homepage. The color combo makes a cool gradient in the oversized geo shape on the right side of the screen (which has a nice balance with all the whitespace) and helps the eye move through the text thanks to “commerce” highlighted using the same green-blue gradient.

Goya uses a deep navy background with a striking emerald green to create a simple homepage aesthetic. Green is used as a highlight color in the downpage illustration and is the brand color that serves as a thread between scrolls in the one-page design. This example shows how to start with a brand color (emerald) and build a trendy palette around it.

Conclusion

While this month’s design trends might be a little more somber than in recent months, it is a reflection of world events. Even in uncertain times, design work continues and new trends will emerge.

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Sunday, March 29, 2020

Popular Design News of the Week: March 23, 2020 – March 29, 2020

Every week users submit a lot of interesting stuff on our sister site Webdesigner News, highlighting great content from around the web that can be of interest to web designers. 

The best way to keep track of all the great stories and news being posted is simply to check out the Webdesigner News site, however, in case you missed some here’s a quick and useful compilation of the most popular designer news that we curated from the past week.

Note that this is only a very small selection of the links that were posted, so don’t miss out and subscribe to our newsletter and follow the site daily for all the news.

Instagram Mockup 2020

 

UI Inspiration: 20 Examples of Dashboard Designs

 

Animockup – Free Animated Mockup Maker

 

Prettier 2.0 – Opinionated JavaScript Formatter

 

The UX Writing Starter-Kit

 

I Don’t Care What Google or Apple or Whoever Did

 

Free Signature Fonts

 

Top UI/UX Design Trends for Mobile Apps in 2020

 

Problem Solving 101: Thinking in Systems

 

5 Best SaaS Bootstrap Template for 2020

 

The Web We Lost: Luke Dorny Redesign

 

Testing New Product Ideas with Landing Pages

 

How to Plan a Website Redesign When You Want to Scale

 

Through a Design System, Darkly

 

20 Must Have Photoshop Plugins for Web Designers

 

Colouring with Code

 

Designer: How to Prepare and Work as a Remote Employee

 

Polaroid is Back (again, Sort of) with a Rebrand and New Camera

 

15 Best Futuristic Fonts for Designers

 

Emergency Website Kit

 

Our Essential List of Free Software for Remote Work

 

6 Neuromarketing Tricks for your Visual Content

 

Documenting the Humane Design Movement

 

Designer’s Work Music Fix

 

Why Design Systems Fail, and How to Make Them Work

 

Want more? No problem! Keep track of top design news from around the web with Webdesigner News.

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