It’s all about content

Posted on February 5, 2020 by Giulia Zen

When working in marketing, particular emphasis and attention should be put into designing and planning how to communicate the business and the offering to the target audience. After having selected the appropriate channels to reach the intended segment, another challenge arises: selecting, drafting and implementing the messages.

Two common marketing tools that require attention are display banners and emails. They are both powerful elements to reach audiences in different stages of the marketing funnel, from awareness to decision. It is therefore important that businesses dedicate time and energy to crafting them properly, as they need to represent the company and be relevant to the audience to drive future engagement and sales.

How to be effective with Email Marketing?

Email marketing is widely used, as highlighted by The Content Marketing Institute: Nearly 93% of B2B marketers distributes contents via emails. Whether it is to remind people about a product, highlight a time-constraint offer, or a weekly newsletter to subscribers, emails can be effective to acquire and retain customers. But how do you make sure the email is successful, clicked, drives positive results for a business or even simply opened? Segmenting and targeting the right audience with the right message are key, but how the message is formulated makes a huge difference

The recipients’ first encounter with an email is the subject line. Hence, particular attention must be paid to it. Using actionable language is recommended, as well as using a short but compelling phrase, that catches the attention and increases the interest. According to HubSpot, emails with personalisation in the subject line are 22% more likely to be opened. In general, 88% of users, according to Snov.io agree that their response is more favourable if they perceive the email has been written specifically for them.

Some content is more relevant than others for the recipients. For example, when a video is mentioned in the subject line, open rates can increase to 19% more, and CTR can be boosted by 65% (Syndacast). Images are also appreciated. Emails that include images or some form of graphics generally register a higher CTR.

Email Marketing: Keep it simple and clear!

As other general suggestions, it is recommended to keep the email simple, clear, and to the point. It is good to talk about the business and the offering, but it is better to highlight and put the emphasis on the benefits that recipients could gain from the business or product. It is better to use actionable language, and to address the recipient with “you”, rather than presenting the business as “we”. The call to action must be clear, short and visible.

How to be effective with Website Banners?

Display advertising is another powerful tool for marketers. Its coverage makes it effective for building and reinforcing brand awareness, also due to the possibility of re targeting audiences who have interacted with the brand before. Being seen is important, because customers might not click directly on the ad, but might remember the name and then search for it. It is no secret that display ads are often blocked or regarded as annoying. As audiences, we have developed to some extent a form of banner blindness, which makes us ignore or not see the ads on the website while we browse. According to MarketingWeek, only 9% of digital ads are viewed more than 1 second, and on average we see more than 1,700 banner ads per month (Comscore).

How do we make sure our Banners stand out?

Targeting the appropriate audience is essential, as 40% of consumers admit that they are willing to click on a banner ad, if they perceive it is relevant for them (Moz). How the message is displayed is also essential. You have less than one second to be noticed! The banners need to be eye-catching, concise and clear. Some formats do not allow a huge amount of written text, and you must ensure that all words on the banners are visible and clearly readable, and that the message is short. It is unlikely that audiences will read a large amount of text on a banner. To be noticed easily, banners can be dynamic, in the form of a gif or HTML. Colours are good to catch the attention, but they need to be appropriately used. Some colours tend to evoke different emotions to the audience: for example, orange suggests energy, enthusiasm, while blue is for trustworthiness and sense of security.

Website Banners: Less is more

The banner needs to have a general basic structure including the logo and company name, the value proposition and the call to action. Images are recommended when appropriate. The message, other than being relevant to consumers, needs to match the landing page, to avoid people bouncing out of the website as soon as they reach it

How we do that?

We have an excellent team dedicated to design website banners and email marketing pieces, who will work from your brief to came up with the best creatives for your campaign.

Below you’ll find some examples of website banners we have produced for our clients

 

 

In all cases CTR’s and Conversion Rates’ were increased by 30% compared to previous campaigns.

To discuss how we can help you develop your content strategy and creating engaging banners and emails please get in touch here