MARKETING

How to A/B Test Email Campaigns: Ideas & Best Practices

Published

7 months ago

October 1, 2023

How to A/B Test Email Campaigns: Ideas & Best Practices

In today’s fast-paced world of digital marketing, A/B testing has become a mainstay for brands looking to optimize their email campaigns. While many are using this technique, not all are harnessing its full potential. In this blog, we’ll dive into how A/B testing, once a niche approach, has now become a cornerstone of email marketing. We’ll uncover the common pitfalls that limit its effectiveness and offer insights into maximizing the overall benefits of A/B testing.

It’s clear that A/B testing is the best way to continually refine email campaign strategies over time and improve performance through data-driven decision making, but how can we perfect this strategy as marketers? Let’s jump into the basics…

What’s A/B Testing in Email Marketing?

A/B testing is also called split testing or variable testing. When you conduct an A/B test, you compare two variables to see which one performs better. Email A/B testing uses this process to test variations of emails or email campaigns against each other to see which performs better for a specific metric, such as open, click-through or conversion rates.

Companies typically employ this technique by segmenting their email list into two groups, version A and version B, to test different variations of an email. Often, the split is even, or it can be done as a 10/10 split, with the remaining 80% of the list receiving the winning version. More advanced approaches include using holdout groups, where emails are tested on a subset (i.e: 10% or 20%) of the regular email list for that specific segment.

After a designated time frame, typically 1 or 2 hours, sufficient data is collected to determine which version performs better. The winning version is then sent to the remaining members of that segment, helping email marketers refine their campaigns for maximum effectiveness.

You can test simple or complex variations. Here are a few examples of A/B email testing:

Sending variations of subject lines to see if subscribers respond better to certain words, phrases or formats

Testing variations of CTAs — such as the verbiage or where the CTA is located

Launching email campaigns on different days or at different times to find the best time for open rates

Benefits of A/B Testing Emails

A/B testing for email campaigns doesn’t have to be difficult, especially when you use the right software and other tools. These tests are highly effective especially considering more than 50% of marketers use A/B testing to boost conversions. But conversion isn’t the only benefit to A/B testing…

A/B testing has other benefits, including:

Statistical proof for your email marketing decisions — you won’t have to rely on instinct or trust existing processes, which may not lead to the best possible outcomes

A competitive edge over others in the industry, especially if they aren’t also using A/B email testing to improve performance

A better understanding of your target audience and what messaging resonates with customers — data you can use to inform future email campaigns or other marketing strategies, including social media and web content

An increased ability to improve critical email marketing metrics like click-through and conversion rates as well as revenue driven by email

Of course, there are several things to consider when A/B testing. You can only test one variable or element at a time. Otherwise, you don’t know which element is responsible for any improved performance. It’s also important to keep in mind that new privacy regulations from Apple will likely spread to other providers making it difficult to track open rates consistently. This means you should focus on KPIs like clicks and conversions.

Try A/B Testing These 8 Email Elements

If you want to put email A/B testing to work for your organization, we’ve got eight variables you may want to test. Remember, choose one at a time when you set up your tests — otherwise, you muddy your data and won’t get any actionable insight.

1. Subject Lines

The subject line is one of the most important elements of any email because it’s a major factor in whether someone opens the email or not. This element typically shows up in bold right under the sender name or in another prominent location in the inbox.

Subject lines are a common variable of A/B testing because they’re so powerful and because they’re easy to test. You simply send the same email with different subject lines.

Here are some ideas to try when A/B testing email subject lines:

Change the length of the subject line. Up to around 30 characters show up on mobile devices and up to around 55 characters on desktop devices, so start by testing within those ranges. Find out whether your target audience prefers a shorter or longer subject line.

Rephrase your subject line. Test out different words and approaches, such as the difference between “Exclusive offer” and “Limited-time offer.”

Test personalization. Your audience is more likely to respond when their name is in the subject line.

You can also test the inclusion of emojis, symbols or punctuation as well as asking questions.

2. Preview Text

The preview text, also commonly referred to as pre-header text, is a snippet, summary or sneak peek into email contents. It’s also called the preheader line, and it shows up under the subject line on some devices. It’s not as powerful as the subject line itself, but you will only know if it matters to your audience if you test it.

During this phase consider testing:

Original preview text compared to just including the first line of the email. Sometimes the first line of your email copy is enough to pique someone’s interest – but a custom subject line could be more effective at instilling a sense of urgency or summarizing the contents of the email.

Various calls to action in the preheader. For example, test whether your audience responds better to a directive to open the email and find out more or a more subtle call to action.

Different summaries of what’s in the email. Preview text is short, so it can only include a little bit of information. If you can’t decide what the most important bit of your email is to tease, test it.

3. Sender Name

Sender name is what shows up in the “From:” field in an email. Emails sent by your brand might show up as “From: ABC Brand,” for example. Or you might create emails that come from specific people: “From: Sue at ABC Brand.”

What sender name will help build a personal connection with your audience best? You can’t know that until you conduct some A/B email testing.

Consider testing options such as:

Including a person’s name instead of the company name to add a human element to email marketing.

Testing full names versus first names only to determine how your audience wants to connect with your employees.

Sending from a different email address may resonate with the audience better because it’s more connected to a product or sounds more professional.

4. Send Time

Google the best time to send emails and you’re likely to run across multiple articles stating that Tuesday afternoons are the ticket. In reality, Tuesday afternoons work best for some businesses. That doesn’t mean it will work best for you.

The only way you can know what day and time is best for your audience is to split test by sending emails at different times and narrowing it down for yourself.

You also have to account for trigger emails, which can’t all be sent on Tuesday afternoons. For example, you may find that cart abandonment emails work best when sent 2 hours after the person puts an item in the cart and welcome emails work best 10 minutes after sign up. Note that these aren’t recommendations; they’re examples. Run the tests for yourself to find out what works for your audience.

When you’re running A/B testing on email send times, remember to segment by time zone if possible. That way, you can figure out what’s best for each subsection of your audience.

Ideas for A/B testing email send times include:

Testing the day of the week you send emails. Consider setting up a tournament of sorts. Have days of the week compete against each other and use email metrics to determine the champion — and find out if it is, indeed, Tuesday.

Testing times of day. Does morning or evening work better for your audience? Do you get more performance during lunch times or in the afternoon slump around 3:00? These are the questions you can answer when you A/B test email send times.

Testing how long after a trigger you should send emails. Do you get more performance when cart abandonment emails are sent 1 hour later, or do people return and make purchases more often when emails show up a day later?

5. Call to Action

The CTA tells the email reader what to do next, so it’s pretty important. A/B testing helps you improve CTAs to improve click-through rates.

Consider testing:

The actual words used in the CTA

How often do you include CTAs in emails — does one above-the-fold work, or should you repeat it later in the email?

Does a button work better than text for your audience? If so, can you improve performance further by changing the color of the button?

Whether size, font choices or capitalization make a difference

The location of the CTA in the email

6. Email Copy

Most marketers agree that short and sweet is best when it comes to email copy. In fact, it can be a good idea to ensure you concentrate on a single idea in an email marketing message. Your copy also needs to be engaging and grab the attention of the recipient.

Of course, “attention-grabbing” is a subjective description, and what captures the eye of one audience won’t engage another. A/B testing helps you determine what copy works best for your audience.

Test factors such as the length of your copy, the words and style of writing you use, whether you include personalization and the tone. For example, does your audience respond better to formal or informal writing?

7. Email Design & Layout

It only takes a couple of seconds before someone decides whether to continue reading your email or not. Email readers definitely judge the book by the cover, so to speak, so your design and layout matter.

Test out design and layout variations such as whether you include plain text or HTML or send emails with simple designs or messages with many bells and whistles.

An email marketing design that resonates with your audience improves click-through and conversion rates. It can also increase brand awareness and create positive downstream effects on marketing efforts outside of email.

8. Images

If you have a little experience with social media marketing, you know that images are powerful. Facebook and Instagram posts with images get much more engagement on average than text-only posts. The same can be true for email.

A/B testing can help you understand where the line on images is for your audience.

Some ideas for A/B testing images in email include:

Whether or not to include a header image

How many images you include

What type of images you include — for example, a person versus a product

What style of image you include — for example, black and white versus colored or realistic versus painted

How to Run Better A/B Tests for Email Campaigns

Now that you have plenty of ideas for A/B email testing, let’s look at a few tips for running the best split tests you can.

Determine Which Variable to Test

Start by thinking about the business goal you want to meet. For example, if you want to increase conversion rates, then you might want to work on optimizing your CTAs, as they directly relate to conversions. Subject lines impact open rates and images and email copy can improve engagement and positive brand affinity.

Once you start working on a specific variable, repeat the test across different emails. This lets you collect more data and normalize it. Otherwise, other factors could inadvertently impact your test.

You should also test with the right type of email. If you’re trying to figure out when the best time for cart abandonment emails is, testing with your monthly subscriber newsletter is pretty useless.

Select a Random Sample of Users

Select users randomly for tests and avoid using the same people for every test. Most businesses can test with around 20% of their list. However, if you only have a few hundred subscribers, 20% of that number won’t lead to statistically significant conclusions. In these cases, test with about 80% of your list.

Run the Test

It may seem simple, but the final step is actually running the test. As previously mentioned, between 30 and 50% of organizations don’t get to this step.

Be patient as you wait for results. If you’re looking at a metric like open rates, you may have a pretty good idea of performance in just a few hours — and you definitely know which variation was a winner within a day.

But other metrics, such as click-through and conversion rate, take longer to measure. That’s because someone may open your email and decide to come back to it later or think about your offer. For these types of metrics, you may need to let the test run for a few days to ensure you have a good sampling.

Final Takeaway

By leveraging A/B testing, you can support email marketing campaigns that perform better. Looking to learn more about this process? Reach out to our Tinuiti Lifecycle Marketing experts today.

Related Topics:campaigns email Ideas Practices seo test

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MARKETING

Should Your Brand Shout Its AI and Marketing Plan to the World?

Published

16 hours ago

April 24, 2024

Entireweb News Bot

To use AI or not to use AI, that is the question.

Let’s hope things work out better for you than they did for Shakespeare’s mad Danish prince with daddy issues.

But let’s add a twist to that existential question.

CMI’s chief strategy officer, Robert Rose, shares what marketers should really contemplate. Watch the video or read on to discover what he says:

Should you not use AI and be proud of not using it? Dove Beauty did that last week.

Should you use it but keep it a secret? Sports Illustrated did that last year.

Should you use AI and be vocal about using it? Agency giant Brandtech Group picked up the all-in vibe.

Should you not use it but tell everybody you are? The new term “AI washing” is hitting everywhere.

What’s the best option? Let’s explore.

Dove tells all it won’t use AI

Last week, Dove, the beauty brand celebrating 20 years of its Campaign for Real Beauty, pledged it would NEVER use AI in visual communication to portray real people.

In the announcement, they said they will create “Real Beauty Prompt Guidelines” that people can use to create images representing all types of physical beauty through popular generative AI programs. The prompt they picked for the launch video? “The most beautiful woman in the world, according to Dove.”

I applaud them for the powerful ad. But I’m perplexed by Dove issuing a statement saying it won’t use AI for images of real beauty and then sharing a branded prompt for doing exactly that. Isn’t it like me saying, “Don’t think of a parrot eating pizza. Don’t think about a parrot eating pizza,” and you can’t help but think about a parrot eating pizza right now?

Brandtech Group says it’s all in on AI

Now, Brandtech Group, a conglomerate ad agency, is going the other way. It’s going all-in on AI and telling everybody.

This week, Ad Age featured a press release — oops, I mean an article (subscription required) — with the details of how Brandtech is leaning into the takeaway from OpenAI’s Sam Altman, who says 95% of marketing work today can be done by AI.

A Brandtech representative talked about how they pitch big brands with two people instead of 20. They boast about how proud they are that its lean 7,000 staffers compete with 100,000-person teams. (To be clear, showing up to a pitch with 20 people has never been a good thing, but I digress.)

OK, that’s a differentiated approach. They’re all in. Ad Age certainly seemed to like it enough to promote it. Oops, I mean report about it.

False claims of using AI and not using AI

Offshoots of the all-in and never-will approaches also exist.

The term “AI washing” is de rigueur to describe companies claiming to use AI for something that really isn’t AI. The US Securities and Exchange Commission just fined two companies for using misleading statements about their use of AI in their business model. I know one startup technology organization faced so much pressure from their board and investors to “do something with AI” that they put a simple chatbot on their website — a glorified search engine — while they figured out what they wanted to do.

Lastly and perhaps most interestingly, companies have and will use AI for much of what they create but remain quiet about it or desire to keep it a secret. A recent notable example is the deepfake ad of a woman in a car professing the need for people to use a particular body wipe to get rid of body odor. It was purported to be real, but sharp-eyed viewers suspected the fake and called out the company, which then admitted it. Or was that the brand’s intent all along — the AI-use outrage would bring more attention?

This is an AI generated influencer video.
Looks 100% real. Even the interior car detailing.
UGC content for your brand is about to get really cheap. ☠️ pic.twitter.com/2m10RqoOW3
Advertisement

— Jon Elder | Amazon Growth | Private Label (@BlackLabelAdvsr) March 26, 2024

To yell or not to yell about your brand’s AI decision

Should a brand yell from a mountaintop that they use AI to differentiate themselves a la Brandtech? Or should a brand yell they’re never going to use AI to differentiate themselves a la Dove? Or should a brand use it and not yell anything? (I think it’s clear that a brand should not use AI and lie and say it is. That’s the worst of all choices.)

I lean far into not-yelling-from-mountaintop camp.

When I see a CEO proudly exclaim that they laid off 90% of their support workforce because of AI, I’m not surprised a little later when the value of their service is reduced, and the business is failing.

I’m not surprised when I hear “AI made us do it” to rationalize the latest big tech company latest rounds of layoffs. Or when a big consulting firm announces it’s going all-in on using AI to replace its creative and strategic resources.

I see all those things as desperate attempts for short-term attention or a distraction from the real challenge. They may get responses like, “Of course, you had to lay all those people off; AI is so disruptive,” or “Amazing. You’re so out in front of the rest of the pack by leveraging AI to create efficiency, let me cover your story.” Perhaps they get this response, “Your company deserves a bump in stock price because you’re already using this fancy new technology.”

But what happens if the AI doesn’t deliver as promoted? What happens the next time you need to lay off people? What happens the next time you need to prove your technologically forward-leaning?

Yelling out that you’re all in on a disruptive innovation, especially one the public doesn’t yet trust a lot is (at best) a business sugar high. That short-term burst of attention may or may not foul your long-term brand value.

Interestingly, the same scenarios can manifest when your brand proclaims loudly it is all out of AI, as Dove did. The sugar high may not last and now Dove has itself into a messaging box. One slip could cause distrust among its customers. And what if AI gets good at demonstrating diversity in beauty?

I tried Dove’s instructions and prompted ChatGPT for a picture of “the most beautiful woman in the world according to the Dove Real Beauty ad.”

It gave me this. Then this. And this. And finally, this.

She’s absolutely beautiful, but she doesn’t capture the many facets of diversity Dove has demonstrated in its Real Beauty campaigns. To be clear, Dove doesn’t have any control over generating the image. Maybe the prompt worked well for Dove, but it didn’t for me. Neither Dove nor you can know how the AI tool will behave.

To use AI or not to use AI?

When brands grab a microphone to answer that question, they work from an existential fear about the disruption’s meaning. They do not exhibit the confidence in their actions to deal with it.

Let’s return to Hamlet’s soliloquy:

Thus conscience doth make cowards of us all;

And thus the native hue of resolution

Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought,

And enterprises of great pith and moment

With this regard their currents turn awry

And lose the name of action.

In other words, Hamlet says everybody is afraid to take real action because they fear the unknown outcome. You could act to mitigate or solve some challenges, but you don’t because you don’t trust yourself.

If I’m a brand marketer for any business (and I am), I’m going to take action on AI for my business. But until I see how I’m going to generate value with AI, I’m going to be circumspect about yelling or proselytizing how my business’ future is better.

Want more content marketing tips, insights, and examples? Subscribe to workday or weekly emails from CMI.

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Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute

MARKETING

How to Use AI For a More Effective Social Media Strategy, According to Ross Simmonds

Published

3 days ago

April 22, 2024

Entireweb News Bot

How to Use AI For a More Effective Social Media Strategy, According to Ross Simmonds

Welcome to Creator Columns, where we bring expert HubSpot Creator voices to the Blogs that inspire and help you grow better.

It’s the age of AI, and our job as marketers is to keep up.

My team at Foundation Marketing recently conducted an AI Marketing study surveying hundreds of marketers, and more than 84% of all leaders, managers, SEO experts, and specialists confirmed that they used AI in the workplace.

If you can overlook the fear-inducing headlines, this technology is making social media marketers more efficient and effective than ever. Translation: AI is good news for social media marketers.

In fact, I predict that the marketers not using AI in their workplace will be using it before the end of this year, and that number will move closer and closer to 100%.

Social media and AI are two of the most revolutionizing technologies of the last few decades. Social media has changed the way we live, and AI is changing the way we work.

So, I’m going to condense and share the data, research, tools, and strategies that the Foundation Marketing Team and I have been working on over the last year to help you better wield the collective power of AI and social media.

Let’s jump into it.

What’s the role of AI in social marketing strategy?

In a recent episode of my podcast, Create Like The Greats, we dove into some fascinating findings about the impact of AI on marketers and social media professionals. Take a listen here:

Let’s dive a bit deeper into the benefits of this technology:

Benefits of AI in Social Media Strategy

AI is to social media what a conductor is to an orchestra — it brings everything together with precision and purpose. The applications of AI in a social media strategy are vast, but the virtuosos are few who can wield its potential to its fullest.

AI to Conduct Customer Research

Imagine you’re a modern-day Indiana Jones, not dodging boulders or battling snakes, but rather navigating the vast, wild terrain of consumer preferences, trends, and feedback.

This is where AI thrives.

Using social media data, from posts on X to comments and shares, AI can take this information and turn it into insights surrounding your business and industry. Let’s say for example you’re a business that has 2,000 customer reviews on Google, Yelp, or a software review site like Capterra.

Leveraging AI you can now have all 2,000 of these customer reviews analyzed and summarized into an insightful report in a matter of minutes. You simply need to download all of them into a doc and then upload them to your favorite Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT) to get the insights and data you need.

But that’s not all.

You can become a Prompt Engineer and write ChatGPT asking it to help you better understand your audience. For example, if you’re trying to come up with a persona for people who enjoy marathons but also love kombucha you could write a prompt like this to ChatGPT:

The response that ChatGPT provided back is quite good:

Below this it went even deeper by including a lot of valuable customer research data:

Demographics
Psychographics
Consumer behaviors
Needs and preferences

And best of all…

It also included marketing recommendations.

The power of AI is unbelievable.

Social Media Content Using AI

AI’s helping hand can be unburdening for the creative spirit.

Instead of marketers having to come up with new copy every single month for posts, AI Social Caption generators are making it easier than ever to craft catchy status updates in the matter of seconds.

Tools like HubSpot make it as easy as clicking a button and telling the AI tool what you’re looking to create a post about:

The best part of these AI tools is that they’re not limited to one channel.

Your AI social media content assistant can help you with LinkedIn content, X content, Facebook content, and even the captions that support your post on Instagram.

It can also help you navigate hashtags:

With AI social media tools that generate content ideas or even write posts, it’s not about robots replacing humans. It’s about making sure that the human creators on your team are focused on what really matters — adding that irreplaceable human touch.

Enhanced Personalization

You know that feeling when a brand gets you, like, really gets you?

AI makes that possible through targeted content that’s tailored with a level of personalization you’d think was fortune-telling if the data didn’t paint a starker, more rational picture.

What do I mean?

Brands can engage more quickly with AI than ever before. In the early 2000s, a lot of brands spent millions of dollars to create social media listening rooms where they would hire social media managers to find and engage with any conversation happening online.

Thanks to AI, brands now have the ability to do this at scale with much fewer people all while still delivering quality engagement with the recipient.

Analytics and Insights

Tapping into AI to dissect the data gives you a CSI-like precision to figure out what works, what doesn’t, and what makes your audience tick. It’s the difference between guessing and knowing.

The best part about AI is that it can give you almost any expert at your fingertips.

If you run a report surrounding the results of your social media content strategy directly from a site like LinkedIn, AI can review the top posts you’ve shared and give you clear feedback on what type of content is performing, why you should create more of it, and what days of the week your content is performing best.

This type of insight that would typically take hours to understand.

Now …

Thanks to the power of AI you can upload a spreadsheet filled with rows and columns of data just to be met with a handful of valuable insights a few minutes later.

Improved Customer Service

Want 24/7 support for your customers?

It’s now possible without human touch.

Chatbots powered by AI are taking the lead on direct messaging experiences for brands on Facebook and other Meta properties to offer round-the-clock assistance.

The fact that AI can be trained on past customer queries and data to inform future queries and problems is a powerful development for social media managers.

Advertising on Social Media with AI

The majority of ad networks have used some variation of AI to manage their bidding system for years. Now, thanks to AI and its ability to be incorporated in more tools, brands are now able to use AI to create better and more interesting ad campaigns than ever before.

Brands can use AI to create images using tools like Midjourney and DALL-E in seconds.

Brands can use AI to create better copy for their social media ads.

Brands can use AI tools to support their bidding strategies.

The power of AI and social media is continuing to evolve daily and it’s not exclusively found in the organic side of the coin. Paid media on social media is being shaken up due to AI just the same.

How to Implement AI into Your Social Media Strategy

Ready to hit “Go” on your AI-powered social media revolution?

Don’t just start the engine and hope for the best. Remember the importance of building a strategy first. In this video, you can learn some of the most important factors ranging from (but not limited to) SMART goals and leveraging influencers in your day-to-day work:

The following seven steps are crucial to building a social media strategy:

Identify Your AI and Social Media Goals
Validate Your AI-Related Assumptions
Conduct Persona and Audience Research
Select the Right Social Channels
Identify Key Metrics and KPIs
Choose the Right AI Tools
Evaluate and Refine Your Social Media and AI Strategy

Keep reading, roll up your sleeves, and follow this roadmap:

1. Identify Your AI and Social Media Goals

If you’re just dipping your toes into the AI sea, start by defining clear objectives.

Is it to boost engagement? Streamline your content creation? Or simply understand your audience better? It’s important that you spend time understanding what you want to achieve.

For example, say you’re a content marketing agency like Foundation and you’re trying to increase your presence on LinkedIn. The specificity of this goal will help you understand the initiatives you want to achieve and determine which AI tools could help you make that happen.

Are there AI tools that will help you create content more efficiently? Are there AI tools that will help you optimize LinkedIn Ads? Are there AI tools that can help with content repurposing? All of these things are possible and having a goal clearly identified will help maximize the impact. Learn more in this Foundation Marketing piece on incorporating AI into your content workflow.

Once you have identified your goals, it’s time to get your team on board and assess what tools are available in the market.

Recommended Resources:

2. Validate Your AI-Related Assumptions

Assumptions are dangerous — especially when it comes to implementing new tech.

Don’t assume AI is going to fix all your problems.

Instead, start with small experiments and track their progress carefully.

3. Conduct Persona and Audience Research

Social media isn’t something that you can just jump into.

You need to understand your audience and ideal customers. AI can help with this, but you’ll need to be familiar with best practices. If you need a primer, this will help:

Once you understand the basics, consider ways in which AI can augment your approach.

4. Select the Right Social Channels

Not every social media channel is the same.

It’s important that you understand what channel is right for you and embrace it.

The way you use AI for X is going to be different from the way you use AI for LinkedIn. On X, you might use AI to help you develop a long-form thread that is filled with facts and figures. On LinkedIn however, you might use AI to repurpose a blog post and turn it into a carousel PDF. The content that works on X and that AI can facilitate creating is different from the content that you can create and use on LinkedIn.

The audiences are different.

The content formats are different.

So operate and create a plan accordingly.

Recommended Tools and Resources:

5. Identify Key Metrics and KPIs

What metrics are you trying to influence the most?

Spend time understanding the social media metrics that matter to your business and make sure that they’re prioritized as you think about the ways in which you use AI.

These are a few that matter most:

Reach: Post reach signifies the count of unique users who viewed your post. How much of your content truly makes its way to users’ feeds?
Clicks: This refers to the number of clicks on your content or account. Monitoring clicks per campaign is crucial for grasping what sparks curiosity or motivates people to make a purchase.
Engagement: The total social interactions divided by the number of impressions. This metric reveals how effectively your audience perceives you and their readiness to engage.

Of course, it’s going to depend greatly on your business.

But with this information, you can ensure that your AI social media strategy is rooted in goals.

6. Choose the Right AI Tools

The AI landscape is filled with trash and treasure.

Pick AI tools that are most likely to align with your needs and your level of tech-savviness.

For example, if you’re a blogger creating content about pizza recipes, you can use HubSpot’s AI social caption generator to write the message on your behalf:

The benefit of an AI tool like HubSpot and the caption generator is that what at one point took 30-40 minutes to come up with — you can now have it at your fingertips in seconds. The HubSpot AI caption generator is trained on tons of data around social media content and makes it easy for you to get inspiration or final drafts on what can be used to create great content.

Consider your budget, the learning curve, and what kind of support the tool offers.

7. Evaluate and Refine Your Social Media and AI Strategy

AI isn’t a magic wand; it’s a set of complex tools and technology.

You need to be willing to pivot as things come to fruition.

If you notice that a certain activity is falling flat, consider how AI can support that process.

Did you notice that your engagement isn’t where you want it to be? Consider using an AI tool to assist with crafting more engaging social media posts.

Make AI Work for You — Now and in the Future

AI has the power to revolutionize your social media strategy in ways you may have never thought possible. With its ability to conduct customer research, create personalized content, and so much more, thinking about the future of social media is fascinating.

We’re going through one of the most interesting times in history.

Stay equipped to ride the way of AI and ensure that you’re embracing the best practices outlined in this piece to get the most out of the technology.

MARKETING

Advertising in local markets: A playbook for success

Published

3 days ago

April 21, 2024

Entireweb News Bot

Advertising in local markets: A playbook for success

Many brands, such as those in the home services industry or a local grocery chain, market to specific locations, cities or regions. There are also national brands that want to expand in specific local markets.

Regardless of the company or purpose, advertising on a local scale has different tactics than on a national scale. Brands need to connect their messaging directly with the specific communities they serve and media to their target demo. Here’s a playbook to help your company succeed when marketing on a local scale.

1. Understand local vs. national campaigns

Local advertising differs from national campaigns in several ways:

Audience specificity: By zooming in on precise geographic areas, brands can tailor messaging to align with local communities’ customs, preferences and nuances. This precision targeting ensures that your message resonates with the right target audience.
Budget friendliness: Local advertising is often more accessible for small businesses. Local campaign costs are lower, enabling brands to invest strategically within targeted locales. This budget-friendly nature does not diminish the need for strategic planning; instead, it emphasizes allocating resources wisely to maximize returns. As a result, testing budgets can be allocated across multiple markets to maximize learnings for further market expansion.
Channel selection: Selecting the correct channels is vital for effective local advertising. Local newspapers, radio stations, digital platforms and community events each offer advantages. The key lies in understanding where your target audience spends time and focusing efforts to ensure optimal engagement.
Flexibility and agility: Local campaigns can be adjusted more swiftly in response to market feedback or changes, allowing brands to stay relevant and responsive.

Maintaining brand consistency across local touchpoints reinforces brand identity and builds a strong, recognizable brand across markets.

2. Leverage customized audience segmentation

Customized audience segmentation is the process of dividing a market into distinct groups based on specific demographic criteria. This marketing segmentation supports the development of targeted messaging and media plans for local markets.

For example, a coffee chain might cater to two distinct segments: young professionals and retirees. After identifying these segments, the chain can craft messages, offers and media strategies relating to each group’s preferences and lifestyle.

To reach young professionals in downtown areas, the chain might focus on convenience, quality coffee and a vibrant atmosphere that is conducive to work and socializing. Targeted advertising on Facebook, Instagram or Connected TV, along with digital signage near office complexes, could capture the attention of this demographic, emphasizing quick service and premium blends.

Conversely, for retirees in residential areas, the chain could highlight a cozy ambiance, friendly service and promotions such as senior discounts. Advertisements in local print publications, community newsletters, radio stations and events like senior coffee mornings would foster a sense of community and belonging.

Dig deeper: Niche advertising: 7 actionable tactics for targeted marketing

3. Adapt to local market dynamics

Various factors influence local market dynamics. Brands that navigate changes effectively maintain a strong audience connection and stay ahead in the market. Here’s how consumer sentiment and behavior may evolve within a local market and the corresponding adjustments brands can make.

Cultural shifts, such as changes in demographics or societal norms, can alter consumer preferences within a local community. For example, a neighborhood experiencing gentrification may see demand rise for specific products or services.
- Respond by updating your messaging to reflect the evolving cultural landscape, ensuring it resonates with the new demographic profile.
Economic conditions are crucial. For example, during downturns, consumers often prioritize value and practicality.
- Highlight affordable options or emphasize the practical benefits of your offerings to ensure messaging aligns with consumers’ financial priorities. The impact is unique to each market and the marketing message must also be dynamic.
Seasonal trends impact consumer behavior.
- Align your promotions and creative content with changing seasons or local events to make your offerings timely and relevant.
New competitors. The competitive landscape demands vigilance because new entrants or innovative competitor campaigns can shift consumer preferences.
- Differentiate by focusing on your unique selling propositions, such as quality, customer service or community involvement, to retain consumer interest and loyalty.

4. Apply data and predictive analytics

Data and predictive analytics are indispensable tools for successfully reaching local target markets. These technologies provide consumer behavior insights, enabling you to anticipate market trends and adjust strategies proactively.

Price optimization: By analyzing consumer demand, competitor pricing and market conditions, data analytics enables you to set prices that attract customers while ensuring profitability.
Competitor analysis: Through analysis, brands can understand their positioning within the local market landscape and identify opportunities and threats. Predictive analytics offer foresight into competitors’ potential moves, allowing you to strategize effectively to maintain a competitive edge.
Consumer behavior: Forecasting consumer behavior allows your brand to tailor offerings and marketing messages to meet evolving consumer needs and enhance engagement.
Marketing effectiveness: Analytics track the success of advertising campaigns, providing insights into which strategies drive conversions and sales. This feedback loop enables continuous optimization of marketing efforts for maximum impact.
Inventory management: In supply chain management, data analytics predict demand fluctuations, ensuring inventory levels align with market needs. This efficiency prevents stockouts or excess inventory, optimizing operational costs and meeting consumer expectations.

Dig deeper: Why you should add predictive modeling to your marketing mix

5. Counter external market influences

Consider a clothing retailer preparing for a spring collection launch. By analyzing historical weather data and using predictive analytics, the brand forecasts an unseasonably cool start to spring. Anticipating this, the retailer adjusts its campaign to highlight transitional pieces suitable for cooler weather, ensuring relevance despite an unexpected chill.

Simultaneously, predictive models signal an upcoming spike in local media advertising rates due to increased market demand. Retailers respond by reallocating a portion of advertising budgets to digital channels, which offer more flexibility and lower costs than traditional media. This shift enables brands to maintain visibility and engagement without exceeding budget, mitigating the impact of external forces on advertising.

6. Build consumer confidence with messaging

Localized messaging and tailored customer service enhance consumer confidence by demonstrating your brand’s understanding of the community. For instance, a grocery store that curates cooking classes featuring local cuisine or sponsors community events shows commitment to local culture and consumer interests.

Similarly, a bookstore highlighting local authors or topics relevant to the community resonates with local customers. Additionally, providing service that addresses local needs — such as bilingual service and local event support — reinforces the brand’s values and response to the community.

Through these localized approaches, brands can build trust and loyalty, bridging the gap between corporate presence and local relevance.

7. Dominate with local advertising

To dominate local markets, brands must:

Harness hyper-targeted segmentation and geo-targeted advertising to reach and engage precise audiences.
Create localized content that reflects community values, engage in community events, optimize campaigns for mobile and track results.
Fine-tune strategies, outperform competitors and foster lasting relationships with customers.

These strategies will enable your message to resonate with local consumers, differentiate you in competitive markets and ensure you become a major player in your specific area.

Dig deeper: The 5 critical elements for local marketing success

Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily MarTech. Staff authors are listed here.