28 of the Best Chrome Extensions for SEO, Productivity & More
For all of the greatness that the internet affords — cute animal videos, GIFs, and interesting blogs — I think its biggest downside is how distracting it can be. How many times have you sat down to work and been pulled into a pit of procrastination?
Perhaps you get absorbed in updates on social media, or maybe you click through Wikipedia trying to determine what exactly Gina Rodriguez’s first TV role was (it was on Law & Order). No matter where you click online, it’s easy to be pulled into a black hole of distraction and low productivity.
Enter Google Chrome browser extensions. The Google Chrome web store offers a variety of different tools that help you be more productive with just one click. We can’t guarantee that they will make YouTube videos less tempting to watch, but we recommend them for busy marketers who want to make their time online more efficient. We’ve broken them down into different categories if you want to jump ahead:
Social Media, SEO, Content Sourcing, Blogging, Productivity
Please note: All of these are free tools, but some of the services that they work with have paid features or subscriptions, and those prices are included below.
28 of the Most Useful Google Chrome Extensions for Marketers
Social Media
1) bitly
This extension lets marketers quickly and easily shorten links and share them on social media directly from their browser. This is particularly useful for social media marketers, given that Twitter has a 140-character limit.
Image courtesy of bitly.com
Price: Free; bitly Enterprise pricing varies depending on company size
2) BuzzSumo
BuzzSumo provides insight into how content is performing. When you’re on a web page, click the extension to show metrics such as the number of social shares and backlinks to a piece. This tool provides an easy way to see how much engagement your content is generating. You could also use BuzzSumo to perform competitor analysis to uncover strategies that might make your content more shareable.
Price: Free with limited number of link analyses; BuzzSumo Pro starts at $99/month
3) Pinterest
This extension allows you to easily save items onto your Pinterest boards without navigating away from what you’re doing. What’s neat about this tool is that it shows you multiple pinnable items available on each website so you can save more than one item to your board at a time. (Normally, you would have to click into each blog post or image in order to separately pin each to your boards individually.)
Price: Free
4) Save to Facebook
Facebook’s new “Save” feature lets users aggregate links, images, and videos they find on Facebook in one location in their account. This bookmark allows you to do the same from anywhere on the web, making Facebook a centralized place to save content you’re interested in checking out later. (As you can see, in addition to inbound marketing, I’m also interested in learning more about footwear and vegan recipes.)
Price: Free
5) RiteTag
RiteTag shows you how hashtags are performing on Twitter and Facebook before you post content. Once you log in to RiteTag using your Twitter or Facebook credentials, it checks the hashtags you begin typing in real time and color codes them:
If your hashtag is green, it means the hashtag will help your content be seen now.
If your hashtag is blue, it means the hashtag will help your content be seen over time.
If your hashtag is gray, you should select a new hashtag because it has low levels of engagement.
If your hashtag is red, you should select a new hashtag because it’s so popular, your content will disappear into the crowd.
Price: Free
6) List Builder for Twitter
If you’re following a hashtag or event on Twitter, you may want to make a list of users tweeting about topics you’re interested in, which is time-consuming to do manually. With the List Builder for Twitter, you can navigate to a hashtag or trending topic and build a list of all users tweeting, or you can select which users you want to add to a list. Here’s an example of the tool in action: I built a list of all users tweeting “#INBOUND16.”
If you’re a HubSpot customer, you can easily create lists using the social streams featuring in the HubSpot Social Monitoring tool.
Price: Free
7) Instagram for Chrome
Want to keep tabs on Instagram notifications without having to constantly check your phone? With this extension, users can see what’s happening on their Instagram content directly within their browser.
Price: Free
SEO
8) MozBar
The MozBar is a Chrome extension that allows SEO marketers to easily get insights about different websites without leaving their web browser. With one click, you can find search ranking and link coding information about all of the search results on a Google results page.
Image courtesy of Moz
Price: Moz subscriptions start at $99/month
9) Check My Links
Check My Links does what it says it will: It quickly scans web pages and shows you which links are working properly and which are broken. With this extension, marketers can ensure that their own websites are functioning properly for their visitors. Additionally, marketers can check for broken backlinks to their content on other websites to build backlinks to their content and increase their domain authority.
Price: Free
10) NoFollow
NoFollow quickly indexes web pages and identifies links that are coded with the nofollow metatag. Nofollow links aren’t crawled by search engines and don’t contribute to search engine authority, so SEOers can use this extension to determine if external sites are backlinking to them with followed, or indexed, links. Additionally, you might use nofollow links on web pages you don’t want crawled, such as a landing page or thank you page, and this extension can easily double-check if you’ve coded links correctly. In the example screenshot below, nofollow links are highlighted in red.
Price: Free
11) Impactana
Impactana’s Chrome toolbar offers a wealth of SEO, social media, and content marketing information about any web page. Its two biggest metrics are “Buzz,” which measures a website’s reach on social media, and “Impact,” which measures SEO metrics such as clickthrough rate, backlinks, and time on page. It also shares details like author and publisher contact information that are useful for PR professionals.
Price: Impactana subscriptions start at $99/month
Content Sourcing
12) HubSpot Collect
Whether you’re conducting research for a project or simply reading different articles online, you most likely come across resources that you want to save and return to for later use. That’s where HubSpot Collect will come in. Instead of saving content to another application or document, you can save it directly to your HubSpot software for easy reference when you sit down to write a blog post or web page. Coming soon to HubSpot software, Collect will automatically generate author attributions and citations if you want to cite a link you saved for a blog post.
Price: HubSpot Marketing Software starts at $200/month
13) AwesomeScreenshot
AwesomeScreenshot is a screen capture extension with capabilities for annotation and photo editing while staying in your browser. Once you take a screenshot of a selected area of your screen or an entire web page, you can crop, highlight, draw shapes, and blur sensitive information.
Price: Free
14) Evernote Web Clipper
Evernote is a note-taking and organization app that can be shared across teams for content collaboration. With the Evernote Web Clipper extension, users can save links onto a clipboard within their Evernote app for later reading and reference.
Price: Free
15) Giphy for Chrome
Everyone loves animated GIFs. They make emails, blogs, and social media posts engaging and funny, and with this extension, you can easily grab a GIF from Giphy’s huge database for whatever content you’re working on without navigating away.
Price: Free
16) Bookmark Manager
Manually bookmarking websites can sometimes be a tedious process, so Google created this extension to organize websites you want to save without having to open a new tab. Save websites to bookmarks, create folders, and add notes for later reference.
Price: Free
17) OneTab
When you conduct research for a piece of content, it’s easy to get swamped in multiple open tabs with great resources you want to cite. The trouble is, once it comes time to write and refer back to the sources, it’s hard to navigate between all of the tabs. Luckily, OneTab lets you put multiple different URLs into a single tab for easy reference.
Price: Free
Blogging
18) Grammarly
Grammarly is my go-to app for reviewing blog posts for proper spelling, grammar, and word use. You can drop large pieces of text into the desktop application for review, or you can use the handy Chrome extension to call out any grammar errors you’re making while typing on the web. Here’s an example of Grammarly pointing out an error I was about to make in a tweet:
Price: Free with subscription upgrades for more in-depth reviewing
19) Google Dictionary
Have you ever come across a word you’re not familiar with while doing research online? Instead of Googling it in a separate tab, quickly highlight the word and click on the Google Dictionary extension to get the definition.
Price: Free
20) Office Editing for Docs, Sheets & Slides
For those times when you and your coworkers are working on computers with different operating systems, or want to collaborate on a live document together, check out Office Editing. This extension lets you easily drop Microsoft Office files into Google Drive to view and edit them without needing the software installed on your hard drive. Here’s an example of an Excel file that I dropped into my Google Drive:
Price: Free
21) QuickWrite Text Editor
Sometimes it’s hard to free yourself of distractions to write productively, especially if you’re writing online. This extension quickly opens a new tab for a clean and neutral text editor that auto-saves while you’re working if you need a break from where you normally write.
Price: Free
Productivity
22) ToDoist
ToDoist is a project management tool that lets you create highly organized and visually appealing to-do lists across all of your devices. What’s neat about the Chrome extension is that you can see your to-do list, or your team’s shared lists, and add tasks to it without having to open a separate tab, app, or device.
Price: Free for Basic; $29/year for Premium
23) Rapportive
Rapportive uses LinkedIn account information to provide details about the recipient of an email you’re drafting. This is a great way to get details about someone you’re trying to connect with and to ensure that you’re contacting someone on their correct email address.
Price: Free
24) Momentum
Momentum is a simple Chrome extension that replaces blank new tabs with beautiful photography, inspiring quotes, weather reports, and a space for you to write down a priority for the day when you open up your browser for the first time. (Don’t worry — the temperature is in Celsius, it’s not that cold in Boston.)
Price: Free
25) StayFocusd
StayFocusd lets you budget your time on specific websites so you can eliminate distractions when you need to buckle down and work. It’s highly customizable — you could set your time limit to 20 minutes on Twitter and only five minutes on Facebook, for example. It also has neat features like the Require Challenge: Once you set time limits on sites, if you want to go back and change your settings, you have to complete a challenge (think: retyping a piece of text without typos or answering questions).
Price: Free
26) LastPass
LastPass is a password manager that auto-fills in passwords for all of the accounts you save with this extension. You only have to remember one password: your LastPass password. This saves you time, headaches, and increases the security of your personal data.
Image courtesy of LastPass
Price: Free
27) Add to Trello
If you use Trello for project management, team collaboration, your content calendar, or just a personal to-do list, this extension lets you easily add links as cards to your Trello boards.
Price: Free; Trello subscriptions start at $9.99/user/month
28) Extensions Manager
We couldn’t give you 27 different extensions to try out without also suggesting Extensions Manager. Try this tool to organize all of your extensions so they don’t take up half of your browser’s screen. It shows you what extensions you have operating on Google Chrome and gives you the option to hide some of the icons to keep your browser better organized.
Price: Free
Now that your browser is loaded with extensions to make marketing easier on a day-to-day basis, test them out to see what time and efficiencies you’re able to save. When you’re ready to work on your next piece of content, try these content curation hacks and tools to make that process simpler, too.
What’s your favorite Google Chrome extension? Share with us in the comments below.
Bringing a virtual Pride parade to students in Bogota, Colombia
Editor’s note: Earlier this year, we launched #prideforeveryone, a global virtual reality Pride parade that anyone, anywhere could join. Since then, we’ve distributed Google Cardboard and the virtual Pride experience to more than 20 groups and nonprofits, worldwide. This is the story of Alba Reyes, founder of the Sergio Urrego Foundation, who brought the parade to students in Bogota, Colombia.
In 2014, my son Sergio took his own life because he was suspended and discriminated by his school for kissing another boy. Unfortunately, neither I nor his friends were able to prevent the harassment and isolation he felt.
Since then, I’ve made it my mission to make sure what happened to Sergio doesn’t happen to any other young person in my country. I started the Fundacion Sergio Urrego to travel to schools across Colombia and lead inclusion workshops with local students. Although LGBTQ children may be more likely to feel isolated, many young people don’t feel accepted by their families, friends or teachers. My workshops create activities and safe spaces that help students understand how it feels to be discriminated against – reinforcing the importance of diversity and inclusion.
An important part of these workshops is helping students put themselves in another person’s shoes. This summer, we used Google Cardboard to give students in my workshops a way to experience Pride parades from across the globe. Most of these students have never seen a LGBTQ Pride parade. But with virtual reality, they can learn more about the global LGBT community, and feel supported by a global community that celebrates diversity.
Celebrating Virtual Pride in Bogotà, Colombia #prideforeveryone
After seeing the impact of my workshop and virtual Pride parade on children in Colombia, institutions like the Ministry of Information and Communication Technologies have have showed their support to scale my workshops to even more children across the country.
My fight is not just for my child. It’s for all children who have endured discrimination and bullying from their peers, teachers and community.
If you’d like to join Alba, teachers, and community leaders around the world in bringing this virtual reality experience to your group, you can use this discussion guide created by one of our Google Educators. Interested in creating your own #prideforeveryone lesson plan based on the 360 film? Share your lesson on TES, the world’s largest online community of teachers
The Year in Search: 2016
It’s that time of year — when we look back at the last 12 months and reflect on the trends that defined the year in Google Search. From Powerball numbers to Olympic champions, whether making dessert or becoming a mannequin, this year affected us all in different ways. Through all the highs and lows, people came to Search to learn more and understand.
So to celebrate the end of 2016, here’s a peek at some of the trending U.S. topics that caught our attention as especially unique to this year.
Powerball: It may seem like a distant memory now, but back in January a record-breaking jackpot made Powerball a hot topic. Search interest in Powerball spiked more than 166 percent, and it’s the top trending search for all of 2016.
Politicians and athletes: In a year with the Olympics and U.S. Election, it’s not surprising that nine of our 10 top trending people of the year fell into one of these two categories — from Donald Trump to Michael Phelps and Hillary Clinton to Simone Biles. The one outlier? Steven Avery, the subject of Netflix’s “Making a Murderer” documentary.
Pokémon Go: Pokémon Go took our lists — and the world — by storm this year. The addictive game appeared four times in our list of top 10 “How to…” questions, with “How to play Pokémon Go?” at the top. Clearly searchers were eager to learn how to catch ‘em all!
Quinoa and Budweiser: From Big Macs to quinoa, Budweiser to Maui Brewing, Brussels sprouts to Buttercream Frosting, it’s clear from our trending calorie, recipe and beer lists that we’re a country of many tastes. One of the new trending recipes this year? Snow cream, a dessert that’s the perfect winter treat with some fresh snow, sugar, milk and vanilla.
Slime and… mannequins: “How to make slime” isn’t a phrase we hear often — until now. Maybe it was the new “Ghostbusters” movie, but while voting and Pokémon dominated much of this year’s “How to…” list, one green, slimy question made its way up to #4. Meanwhile, on the “What is…?” list, the mannequin challenge is standing proud — and very, very still — at #7.
These are just a few of the trending terms that made up 2016. From remembering past icons like David Bowie and Prince, to searching for current ones like Beyoncé and Alexander Hamilton (a.k.a. Lin-Manuel Miranda), to looking for information on Brexit, Zika, Orlando and Brussels, Search brought us together in dozens of ways this year. Dive into google.com/2016 to see lists from around the world.
Here’s to finding what we’re searching for in 2017.
(Google) Home for the Holidays
It’s that time of year. Holiday music, sweet treats, classic movies — all the reasons to cozy up and spend time at home with the ones you love. And with Google Home, there are countless ways to spread the holiday cheer.
Play Netflix on your TV with the magic words “Ok Google”
Serve up the holiday classics that make your season bright, hands-free, right to your TV — when Google Home is paired with a Chromecast device. Now, in addition to YouTube videos, you can stream any movie or TV series from Netflix to the TV, using just your voice*. Start with “Ok Google, play Stranger Things from Netflix on my TV” or “Ok Google, play Love Actually on Netflix on my TV”. You can even control your media with commands like “Pause this episode”, without lifting a finger. Here’s how to link your Netflix account to the Google Assistant from the Google Home app (make sure you’re running the latest version). Netflix linking in the Google Home app is available now for iOS and rolling out to Android this week.
Enjoy your Google Photos on the big screen, hands-free.
The holidays is the perfect time to gather around and relive memories from the year. Google Photos now works with Google Home, so you can share your photos on your Chromecast-connected TV, using just your voice. Simply say, “Ok Google, show my photos of Lake Tahoe on my TV” to see your beautiful pictures bigger. Even if you can’t remember the name of the album, you can search for pictures. Try “Ok Google, show my photos of selfies at Christmas on my TV” or “Ok Google, show my photos of Brazil sunsets on Chromecast”. You can even use your voice to search for your places, things and people.
Learn how to link your Photos account to the Google Assistant here.
Enjoy holiday music from your favorite apps
Fill your home with festive tunes from your favorite music apps like Google Play Music, Spotify, Pandora, or YouTube Music with just a simple voice command. Say, “Ok Google, play Hanukkah music” or “Ok Google, play Christmas music” and you’ll get into the spirit in no time.
Keep track of Santa
Whether he’s preparing his sleigh or already in flight, your Assistant keeps you informed of Santa’s latest whereabouts (tracked by Google Maps). Just say “Ok Google, where’s Santa right now?”
Get YouTube Red FREE for six months
Keep the holiday glow going well into the new year as you enjoy a premium music experience — more songs, more versions, no ads — with YouTube Red. Get six months free of YouTube Red when you buy a Google Home before December 31, 2016**.
Make your holidays truly magical with Google Home.
*Netflix streaming membership required
**Offer expires 12/31/16. Terms apply. New subscribers only.
How to Increase Conversion Rates with Better Product Content
If you’ve been reading our blog for awhile, you likely already know that a good product description can help sell a customer on your product or service. But too often, we put too much emphasis on the description itself while blissfully ignoring the other aspects of a product’s presentation.
According to a recent study from SurveyMonkey available through Salsify, fully 94% of customers will abandon a site if they can’t find the information they need to make an informed purchase. And 88% of shoppers said that product content plays an extremely or very important role in their purchase.
So what kind of content makes the biggest difference in sales? You may be surprised.
Price Isn’t Everything When it Comes to Motivating the Customer to Buy
Image Source
Price is understandably a big factor in making shopping decisions. But it is not the biggest or most pivotal reason in the customer’s mind. Customers who were surveyed for the study indicated that product features – particularly bullets, images, videos and reviews were much more likely to convince them than price alone.
When asked about the underlying reasoning behind their decision, the customers explained that these points were the only way they could know exactly what they were getting. The closer the item comes to fulfilling their needs, the better their overall experience.
Oftentimes, e-commerce sites have so many products or so many variations that they simply put up whatever the manufacturer has written about the item and hope that it’s enough to seal the deal. But manufacturers aren’t in the business of selling to end users, therefore their product details are usually bland, boring and highly technical.
If this is the case for items in your e-commerce catalog, it’s worth doing a content audit to determine which of the most in-demand items aren’t getting the conversions you’d hoped for, and then taking a closer look at what’s actually being presented to the customer.
Customers Want to See Things in “3’s”
Image Sources (Top & Bottom)
According to the study, the vast majority of customers wanted to see at last three images of the item, and read at least three reviews about it. What may surprise you here, however, is that around 75% of them said that they would rather see the image itself against a plain background or being used, rather than photos from users that bought the item.
What’s wrong with user-submitted photos? While “user generated content” is often promoted as another branch to your existing content marketing efforts, in this case it can backfire. Oftentimes they may include accessories or add-ons that don’t come with the original standalone item, or they may already have used the item, so it’s not an accurate representation of what’s in the box.
Here, it’s the responsibility of the brand to make sure the images they submit of the product are crisp, clear and show precisely what the customer is getting.
Even after you have crisp, clear images of the product, solid reviews and a competitive price, there’s still the question of catering to mobile shoppers. Do mobile shoppers carry the same priorities in mind as their more traditional desktop-shopping counterparts?
Mobile Shopping Still Has Some Growing Up to Do
Consumers shopping on mobile devices have their own issues to contend with, and scant product descriptions don’t help here either. Oftentimes, in a rush to make sure they can attract mobile-browsing consumers, companies make the mobile version as bare bones as possible. But, as you might imagine, there’s a major trade-off between fast-loading sites on a phone or tablet, and getting all of the information you need.
Here were some of the complaints, according to the study:
Image Source
And if you thought not having enough images, a lack of reviews, or boring technical data about a product were conversion rate crushers, just look at what mobile users have to contend with! Things like not being able to read the fine print (what are they hiding in there, anyway?), buggy websites, and even product fulfillment issues all considerably dampen the customer experience.
Fortunately, these are all things that can be remedied with a more thorough look inside the mobile shopping process. Don’t look at your mobile e-commerce as a branch off from your desktop-friendly version, but rather treat them as one and the same. Is it just as easy for a mobile user to find information on a product as it is browsing from a tablet or laptop?
If not, take steps to remedy that, as Google and other search engines are a prime spot for mobile users to begin their research – and the better prepared you are to accommodate mobile users, the more you could earn in revenues.
Targeting Moms or Millennials? Then Pay Close Attention…
As we gear up for the holiday shopping season, there’s no better time to carefully analyze your product descriptions. But there are two groups in particular that advertisers are keenly looking to attract: moms and millennials. Although product content is just as important to these two groups as all of the other demographics, there are specific approaches that need to be kept in mind if you’re targeting them.
First, millennials were 40% more likely to report that product content influenced their decisions to buy. They were also 50% more likely to rank ratings and reviews as having the biggest impact on deciding which site to buy from. Social and user-generated content are important to them as well, and unlike most shoppers, they are 72% more likely to buy an item based on photos from other users.
Moms, on the other hand (to the surprise of absolutely no one) don’t have a lot of time. They were nearly a third more likely to shop on their phones than others, and tend to only visit one or two sites before making a decision. That’s why it pays to invest in making sure your site’s mobile shopping experience is just as easy and thorough as regular desktop-based online shopping.
Making Your Product Content Shine
So what insights can you take away from these findings? First, if you’re focusing too much on your product description to the exclusion of everything else (reviews, images and even social content), you’re doing a major disservice to your users. Every aspect of your product detail page should be looked at – from bullet points to image selection to even unboxing videos and so forth.
Look for ways to integrate social and user content in ways that lend to – but not overshadow – brand-powered content. And above all, take the time to ensure that mobile shoppers can access the same kinds of details, swatches, photos and other information as regular online shoppers. Too often we pour our attention into making a site’s product and checkout flow as seamless as possible – leaving mobile as more of an afterthought hastily tacked on to the process than the integral part it should be.
What are your thoughts on getting the most out of product descriptions? Have you ever read a product detail page so irresistible you couldn’t help but buy? For many of us, the description is the make or break point of a conversion – so take the time to make sure yours is the best it can be, starting right now.
About the Author: Sherice Jacob helps business owners improve website design and increase conversion rates through compelling copywriting, user-friendly design and smart analytics analysis. Learn more at iElectrify.com and download your free web copy tune-up and conversion checklist today!
14 Scientific Reasons to Disconnect This Weekend [Infographic]
So. Any exciting plans for this weekend? I bet you’re looking forward to spending some time with your family, or catching up with friends. Maybe there’s a new recipe or restaurant you’ve wanted to try. And, of course, there are those countless minutes of checking your work email.
Wait. What? That doesn’t sound like a relaxing way to spend the Saturday. Or Sunday. Or both.
And yet, so many of us do it. In fact, 81% of American workers say they are required to be in contact outside of working hours — that includes weekends. 
The thing is, we know better. There’s plenty of research out there on the negative impact of screentime on our health, especially when it comes to our sleep cycles. But there’s even more science to support the art of unplugging, which our friends at NetCredit compiled into this helpful infographic.
So have a look. And then — please — disconnect for the weekend.
How to Plan a Seasonal Marketing Campaign: A 5-Step Guide
Seasonal events and celebrations present different opportunities for different business sectors. For many brands, seasonal opportunities are huge and often the most commercially critical times of the financial year.
But planning an effective seasonal campaign not only takes a lot of organisation, it also takes a considerable amount of time. For this reason, smaller brands tend to let these opportunities come and go without making the most of them.
Rather than miss out on an opportunity to connect with you audience and leverage the ongoing conversation during any given season, we put together some tips designed to help you get your campaign off the ground. Let’s walk through them below.
How to Plan a Seasonal Marketing Campaign: A 5-Step Guide
Step #1: Choose a seasonal opportunity.
When choosing a season to serve as the jumping off point for your campaign, it’s important that you’re being strategic. In simple terms, one of the key routes to success with seasonal campaigns is using an opportunity that engages your audience. If your audience doesn’t engage with the season itself, you can’t expect to see results from a campaign centred around it.
That said, if you have conducted research into your audience, then you’ll likely know their attitudes around these big seasonal events and should be able to pair that with an event that suits your product or service.
Audit Existing Seasonal Campaigns
Once you have decided on a seasonal event to utilise for a campaign, have a look at some of the last few years’ most successful content campaigns for this occasion — Ahrefs and BuzzSumo are great places to start with this. When evaluating existing, successful campaigns, spend some time thinking about how each piece approached content format, distribution, messaging, and emotion.
When validating a campaign, you might find that it’s helpful to ask yourself the following questions:
How has this piece used multiple content types and distribution platforms?
Is the messaging clear and if so, what is it?
What emotion does this campaign evoke in the user?
This type of analysis makes it easier for you to uncover common denominators that may inspire the ideation for your own campaign and contribute to your strategy when planning.
Gather Insights via External Outreach
If you’re looking for an outsider’s opinion, try doing some outreach to journalists or various digital publications that have previously covered some of the campaigns you analyzed above.
By sending out some feelers to see what kind of content they like to post around your chosen season, and when they like to receive press releases for these pieces, is a valuable way to spend a couple of hours or so.
That isn’t to say you must take the feedback you get as gospel, but it is good to bear in mind when you are planning your seasonal campaign.
Step #2: Nail down the messaging.
As with any marketing campaign, your seasonal campaign messaging is so important. To help you get started, you should be thinking the following:
The customer journey and the story you want to tell
The emotions you want to evoke in your audience
A call-to-action or the desired next steps you want to encourage
In 2013, MegaRed — a company that sells a type of krill oil supplement that is good for your heart — launched a noteworthy digital Valentine’s Day campaign.
The basis of the campaign was simple: ‘Whose Heart do you Love?’ consisted of a video piece that urged viewers to give the gift of a healthy heart to someone they love on Valentine’s Day by applying for a free sample of MegaRed via its Facebook Page. To return the love, MegaRed would send the user a free sample, too.
To add an additional tug on the old heart strings, MegaRed also promised that once 100,000 free samples has been claimed, it would donate $100,000 to the National Coalition for Women With Heart Disease.
When it comes to messaging, this campaign hit on all the points mentioned above:
The customer journey and the story you want to tell: The messaging focused on new customer acquisition, and pushed the universal importance of hearth health.
The emotions you want to evoke in your audience: In this case, it was love. MegaRed promoted its product by urging those watching to help their loved ones take care of themselves and their heart.
A call-to-action or the desired next steps you want to encourage: Request a free sample.
Step #3: Establish a schedule.
With seasonal campaigns, timing is of the essence. This means not only scheduling time to plan well in advance of the event, but also planning the execution of each stage of the campaign at the right time.
With today’s journalists, editors, and site owners receiving hundreds of content pitches and press releases each and every day, you can imagine the influx they receive around peak seasonal times. That said, you need to have your content prepared, built, planned and ready to be sent to sites at least two months before the big event — preferably sooner.
When creating a schedule for your campaign, don’t forget about your audience. When is the best time to contact them? When will they be most willing to share the content or engage with the campaign? Plan around that, too.
Step #4: Organise your assets.
You should consider all marketing platforms — email, social, PR, blogging, SEO — when planning your seasonal content campaign, as incorporating different platforms in your campaign allows for an effective content flow, increased reach, and increased engagement.
One of Zazzle’s most successful seasonal campaigns was one done for AO.com, a retailer specialising in household appliances. This simple idea — ‘A Guide to the Ultimate Christmas Dinner’ — manifested into a truly successful campaign that spanned many different content formats and platforms.
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The hero piece was a content hub that sat on the AO.com blog. This interactive piece greeted the user with 12 of the staple ingredients that make up a Christmas dinner that, when clicked on, lead to a simple recipe on how to cook them — including both an ingredients list and a methodology. This recipe could then be downloaded by clicking a ‘download recipe’ CTA.
Outside of the content hub, we created an infographic that detailed step-by-step instructions for cooking a Christmas dinner. This was distributed via our blogger relations team to help AO.com’s campaign gain traction on related websites.
Then it came down to outreach. And with the help of an organized press release and PR push, this campaign was featured in three different articles — including spots on Daily Mail, The Huffington Post, and 50 Connect.
Finally, due to the useful nature of the content, it shared well on social platforms, adding to the overall success and visibility of the campaign.
The lesson? Think big picture when planning your campaign assets. By distributing your campaign’s message across different mediums and placements, it’s easier for folks to find it and share it with their following.
Pro Tip: Having an effective, up-to-date campaign plan document is absolutely essential during this part of the process. It will enable you to better organize the timing and frequency of content release, and keep your messaging consistent by serving as a home for all of your campaign assets and communications. Check out these content marketing planning templates to get started.
Step #5: Report and remain agile.
Something that is imperative when managing and planning a marketing campaign is the ability to be agile. Report and review the campaign’s performance as you go along and adjust your strategy if you feel it’s necessary.
Where is the majority of traffic coming from? Which pages have the best bounce rate? Which ones are converting the best? Use these simple metrics, and other campaign success measurements, to inform your strategy moving forward.
Don’t be afraid to make alterations to the original plans. If the changes you are going to make will ultimately improve the campaign’s success, why wouldn’t you make them? Remember: It doesn’t matter that this plan isn’t what you started with.
Getting Started
With 2017 coming at us full steam ahead, begin to think about which seasonal events your brand could benefit from over the next 12 months. After all, nailing these seasonal campaigns could be the key to your best financial year yet.
What are your best tips for planning a seasonal campaign? Share them below.
User-Generated Content: The Secret Weapon for Your Next Email Campaign
Today’s economy is all about social proof.
User-generated content (UGC) is one way to showcase why your brand matters. Moreover, email combined with UGC is a chance for ecommerce businesses to connect with consumers and generate revenue.
Olapic found that “user-generated content in email sees a 43% increase in click-through rates and a 2-3X conversion rate.” Visualization and authenticity accelerates consumers’ desires to purchase.
“UGC creates an opportunity to transition customers into brand advocates and provides customers with instant feedback about the product that doesn’t appear as a list of features,” says Kimberlee Morrison, a SocialTimes columnist.
Let’s explore how to integrate UGC into your next email campaign.
Earn Credibility
Integrity remains a cornerstone in the business sector. If you can’t prove that your company has the trust and respect of your customers, the market will question your influence and services.
That’s why social proof is an effective tool for earning consumer’s confidence. Having others speak on your behalf means people are willing to vouch for your brand’s quality. In essence, it shows potential customers that your business deserves their attention.
“The purpose of user-generated content is to humanize your brand. And with 51% of consumers trusting user-generated content over information on your brand’s website, you can build better relationships with this content stream,” says Alex York, a writer and SEO specialist.
Email is one of the best methods to exhibit your UGC. This communication channel gives your subscribers an intimate perspective on how your company can serve their needs.
In addition, research shows that “77% of consumers prefer email for marketing communications.” Customers can read your messages when and where they prefer, unlike a phone call.
UGC lets your audience see real-life testimonials about your products. Below is an example email from Foot Locker. The footwear retailer displays selfies from customers wearing its sneakers. The brand also encourages others to participate with the opportunity to be featured in the next email campaign.
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To earn extra credibility with your consumers, publish the first name of the individual beside the UGC. Or link the person’s social media account to his or her submitted photo. This tactic reassures the email subscriber that you’re highlighting real people in your emails.
Validate your brand’s worth with user-generated content. It’ll uncover more value to your customers.
Create Commerce
At the end of the day, your purpose is to bring sales to your company. And your team’s marketing efforts must possess a connection to revenue. If not, you risk losing sight of business goals.
Salesforce Marketing Cloud reports that “20% of marketers say that their business’ primary revenue source is directly linked to email operations.” Email is more than just informing your subscribers about product releases or sending the occasional thank you note.
“Email is one of the most popular channels retailers use to engage with new and returning shoppers. Triggered emails are especially powerful to re-engage shoppers who have abandoned some type of action on your site,” states Liz Bedor, a senior content marketing manager for Bluecore.
Use email to bridge your UGC to the sales funnel. For instance, consumers in the awareness stage may benefit from content that displays multiple products sold by your brand. This exhibition will show off what you can offer interested buyers.
On the other hand, when consumers are ready to buy, focus on adding a call-to-action to your UGC that leads people directly to your product pages. GlamGlow places UGC alongside the product with a link.
Another approach is to tie your sales to a notable charity. Studies reveal that “at least 70% of millennials have purchased a product that supports a cause.”
ONA, a retailer of fine bags and accessories, teamed up with charity: water to donate a portion of its sales to the nonprofit. Customers were sent an email motivating them to buy a specific product and to show their support with hashtag #GivingTuesday on social media.
It’s possible to attach user-generated content to your sales strategy. Experiment with different options to find what works for your business.
Host Contests
Your team recognizes the benefits of UGC combined with email. However, how can you inspire consumers to actually create it?
Hosting contests and giveaways is a simple technique to acquire UGC and spread the word about your brand. People want the chance to really engage with your culture.
Decide what type of campaign you want to run. What will be the theme? How will consumers enter the contest?
Be specific on what is acceptable UGC. Some companies prefer photos featuring their products, while others desire text describing their services. A good tip is to focus on how the customer experiences your brand, rather than emphasizing your products.
Also, think about what prizes will be suitable for your participants. It must be enticing enough to get them involved, but not too extravagant that your business is struggling to make payroll.
“To give your subscribers an extra push to submit, you can hold a contest, with a gift certificate or other prize going to the most creative submission,” writes Amber Humphrey, a VerticalResponse contributor.
JewelMint promoted its #FestivalFashion giveaway via email. The message persuaded consumers to snap photos of themselves wearing the brand’s products during Coachella. Tagged pictures on Instagram gave the entire community the ability to see the entries. Winners received four pieces from JewelMint’s collection.
As always, check with your legal department when initiating contests. You need consumer permission to use content, and it’s vital that you adhere to all your local laws.
Make submitting UGC a fun-filled experience. It’s time to host your very own contest.
Build Community
The power of UGC lies in its capacity to amplify the voices of your consumers.
Just a couple of decades ago, companies controlled how they crafted messaging around their brands. Now, customers can post content, positive or negative, about their experiences.
Your business can help narrate UGC by building a community of advocates. These brand ambassadors are engaged individuals who emulate your company culture and speak highly of your brand amongst their peers.
“By utilizing UGC, brands give real users the opportunity to tell real stories – something that may be inherently missing from brand generated content,” says Brian Peters, social media at Buffer.
With email, you can talk directly with consumers and build camaraderie through customer anecdotes. Your subscribers receive a personal view of how others interact with your brand.
Fashion retailer Revolve sends emails with photos spotlighting its clothing worn by brand advocates. It’s unique and strengthens the company’s credibility in the marketplace.
Image Source
Shape how your brand is presented to the public. Enlist influencers to move UGC in a favorable direction.
Did you know? With Kissmetrics, you can track the effectiveness of your online advertising. Optimize your marketing by knowing which campaigns perform and which don’t. Check out our infographic to learn more.
Try UGC & Email Together
Leverage user-generated content to build trust with your email subscribers. Demonstrate your brand’s uniqueness and build real consumer connections.
Earn credibility by adding customer testimonials to your emails. Host contests to excite consumers about submitting their content. And link UGC to your sales funnel to add revenue to your bottom line.
UGC is your secret weapon for your next email campaign.
About the Author: Shayla Price lives at the intersection of digital marketing, technology and social responsibility. Connect with her on Twitter @shaylaprice.
Campus Exchange in Korea inspires start-ups’ minds, hearts and “Seoul”
Campus Exchange is a start-up exchange program hosted by Google for Entrepreneurs. We recently invited four start-ups from Korea and another four from Brazil, Ireland, Mexico, and Poland to join us at Campus Seoul for a week. We gave them access to Startup:Con 2016, and hosted workshops on the topic of going global with their businesses. Two founders — Byungik Choi, CEO of CoolJam, the Korean start-up behind “Hum On!”, an app which transforms hummed melodies into musical soundtracks, and Pedro Matsumura Kayatt, co-founder of VRMonkey, a virtual reality start-up based in Brazil — share their insights from the exchange.
What are some of the differences between running a start-up in your countries and elsewhere?
Byungik of Cool Jamm (Korea): I’ve realized just how supportive the Korean government is of start-ups compared to some other countries. Mentors are readily available here—though I do think there’s always room for more role models who are open to sharing advice about their entrepreneurial journey.
Pedro of VRMonkey (Brazil): Korea has a very tech-friendly environment that helps companies to perform better and even attract more investments. Brazil’s still an emerging country when it comes to technology—there aren’t many big tech players, and many people with a technical background end up going abroad.
How do you think your experience at the Google Seoul Campus Exchange will shape your company?
Pedro: First thing we learned is to focus. Our VR studio has been doing a lot of things, and we should really focus on doing more in one particular area. We also learned how we can collaborate better with so many content providers to create really amazing VR experiences that’ll hopefully go mainstream.
Second, we now understand how important it is for our projects to be accessible in other languages. English is not enough. People in Korea and other countries want to play games in their own language. Plus, we understand that we can launch games and experiences that can also impact other regions, so we are exploring more themes—including Asian themes—to create more content.
Byungik: First, it reminded me of the importance of English. For a global start-up, having fluent English skills are mandatory. Second, the dogfooding session taught us that we could get a lot of meaningful feedback from Googlers and other start-up members who are from different cultures. It was really helpful. We’ve now decided to do dogfooding sessions frequently.
Who was one of the most memorable entrepreneurs or people you met during this trip?
Pedro: Wow, that is hard! I met so many amazing people during the program, but one guy who made me feel at home was Junsoo Kim, Chief Operating Officer of Reality Reflection. He invited me to their office and we spent a night there talking about the future of VR and sharing our companies’ projects over a pizza! It was a great time and made us rethink a lot of things about VRMonkey.
Byungik: All the participating start-ups are wonderful. FanFootage from Ireland was most impressive to me. I think it was a good example where a great idea and great technology are well-combined. And the Brazilian guys of VRMonkey were cool and friendly.
The week-long Campus Exchange in Seoul featured participants from all around the world, icnlduing FanFootage from Ireland, FEAT Sp. z o.o. from Poland, Machina Wearable Technology from Mexico, VRMonkey from Brazil, and 1DAY1SONG, Cool Jamm, Maverick Co. and Busking TV all from Korea.
A panel on fundraising in Korea featuring Tim Chae of 500startups and Kihong Bae of Strong Ventures
What’s your advice to entrepreneurs seeking to expand their business?
Byungik: Staying humble. It is I who must ask for advice from other entrepreneurs because I just started my first start-up. Everything is new to me.
Pedro: My strongest advice would be to share. Be honest about what you are doing, do it in the best way you can imagine, and share your work with anyone interested in it. There are few secrets and almost no competitors when it comes to markets like mobile and VR because basically, the whole world is your client.
PPC Advertising Hack: Super-Targeted Live Chat Prompts
How do I get potential customers to engage on my site?
If you’re trying to run a business online, this is a critically important question to answer—especially if you’re running any sort of pay-per-click (PPC) advertising.
Clicks and site traffic simply aren’t enough. If you want your business to succeed, you need conversions and sales.
Now, hopefully, since you’re here on the Kissmetrics blog, you already know that. You’re constantly improving your PPC traffic and optimizing your landing pages for maximum conversion rate.
But still, you want more out of your site. Wouldn’t it be great if there was an easy way to get even more people to engage on your site and convert?
Well, fortunately, at Disruptive, we’ve come up with a PPC advertising hack that uses live chat prompts to quadruple chats and increase conversion rates by up to 20%.
Here’s how it works:
People Love to Talk
Whenever someone visits your site, it’s because they need something. Maybe they have a problem they need fixed. Maybe they have a question they need answered. Maybe they simply want to feel understood.
No matter what the reason, people come to your site because they need something. If you can get them to talk about what they need, they are much more likely to feel connected to and engage with your business.
In fact, if you can get people talking, you’re much more likely to win their business—half of leads choose the first company they speak with.
The good news is, people love to talk and they especially like to talk about their problems, concerns and frustrations—the exact things that brought them to your site! All you have to do is find a good way to start the conversation.
Vanilla Chat Prompts
To better understand this, pretend you’re a guy who’s going to propose to his girlfriend soon. You enter a local jewelry store and start looking at the diamond engagement rings. A salesperson walks up and greets you with a cheerful, “It’s a pleasure to see you today! What can I help you with?”
How would you respond? Odds are, if you didn’t already have a specific question in mind, you’d probably just shrug and say “Oh nothing, I’m just looking.”
That’s not very helpful to either of you, is it?
Well, guess what? Most chat prompts start with generic questions like, “Can I help?” For example, check out the chat prompt below:
This doesn’t really do much for them or you, unless you show up on their site with a burning question you’re dying to ask.
Now, don’t get me wrong, this sort of chat prompt is great if you’re in the customer service department, but we’re marketers. We’re trying to start a conversation, not fill a troubleshooting queue.
Useful Chat Prompts
So, what sort of chat prompt start a conversation? Let’s go back to our engagement ring example.
After a somewhat underwhelming experience at the first jewelry store, you check out a second place and a new salesperson appears. This guy, however, asks you a specific question that relates to what you’re looking at, like “Is there specific cut you’re looking for?”
This is a much better conversation starter now isn’t it? It’s an open-ended, specific question that shows the salesperson’s interest in helping you.
Let’s apply this to chat prompts.
Instead of leading with “Can I help you with anything?” consider leading with something more directly relevant to your business. For our answering service, that might look like this:
A chat prompt like this uses something the answering service knows about their visitors (they are probably there because they need a high-quality answering service) to try and start a conversation.
After all, if you want to prove that you’re a high-quality answering service, what better way than to let people try before they buy?
It’s a great idea, but the problem with this prompt is that it still doesn’t really draw people into a conversation. If someone is seriously considering this service, they’re probably going to chat in, but a lot of those people probably would have converted anyways.
Engaging Chat Prompts
Truly engaging chat prompts aren’t just focused on meeting customer needs—they actually get people to talk about those needs, wants and desires.
Back to our engagement ring salesperson example. You still weren’t sold in store #2, so you head to jeweler #3. Here, the salesperson came up to you and said, “I noticed you’re checking out our engagement rings. When are you popping the question?”
The answer to that question will give the salesperson everything he needs to get a conversation started, steer you to your ideal ring and close the sale.
For example, if you answer, “I want to ask her in a couple of weeks, but I wanted to see what my ring options are,” he might respond with:
“Great! Congratulations! I asked my wife to marry me in December, too. Do you have any idea what sort of cut she likes?”
Look at that! You’re only a few sentences into the conversation, but the salesperson has already identified your needs, made a connection with you and shown that he’s on your team.
Assuming each salesperson has a ring and a price that fits your needs, which store are you more likely to buy from? If you’re like most people, the answer is jeweler #3!
Crafting a Conversation Starter
Now, all of this is great advice for jewelry salespeople, but how do you start a conversation like this online?
Well, the secret to salesperson #3’s success was the fact that he used what he knew about you and why you were there to draw you into a conversation. Your PPC ads tell you the exact same information—all you have to do is use it!
For example, let’s take a look at how I ended up on that call answering service page. I found their page by searching for “virtual answering service” on Google.
The search term I used and the ad I clicked tells them a couple of important things about me:
I’m looking for a virtual answering service. The fact that I typed in “virtual answering service” means I know what a virtual answering service is, what it does and I think I might need one.
Their ad resonated with me in some way. Quite a few selling points appear in this ad (call recording, price, family owned, etc), but the main message seems to be “24/7- Never Miss Another Call!” Clicking on their ad tells them that this idea probably resonated with me.
Taken together, these two points tell a story about me that the answering service can use to create a great conversation starter—possible something like this?
Odds are, if I’m looking for a virtual answering service and clicking on an ad that tells me “never miss another call,” missing calls is a real problem for my business. I’m probably frustrated, angry and would love to vent to someone about it.
What better way to get me talking than to ask me about the very thing that brought me to their site in the first place?
Not only will this start a conversation, it will also tell the chat operator a lot about what I am looking for in an answering service, which will allow the operator to emphasize the selling points I really care about.
For example, if I talk about a valuable prospective customer that I lost because no one was there to answer the phone at 3 in the morning, then the operator can emphasize that their service can respond to calls at all hours of the day.
See how powerful starting a conversation can be?
How To Customize Chat Prompts
Now, at this point, you may be thinking something like, “Well, that’s all great, Jake, but how would I ever even start customizing my chats like this?”
It’s actually pretty simple. All you have to do is use your UTM parameters.
Setting Up UTM Parameters
Hopefully, you’re already using UTM parameters to track marketing performance in Google Analytics.
If you’re not, don’t worry, it’s easy. Google has an online URL builder that’s quite easy to use. All you need to do is enter your landing page’s URL, put in the info that you need tracked and then Google will generate the UTM parameters for you:
In addition to helping you track your PPC results, UTM parameters also create a unique URL you can use to customize your chat prompts.
Using Your UTM Parameters
Personally, I find that the easiest way to set up custom, highly targeted chat prompts is using Olark (note, I don’t have any financial relationship with Olark, they just have a great tool). So, for the purposes of this article, I’ll show you how to set things up in Olark.
To set up customized chat prompts, all you have to do is log into your Olark account and choose Settings, then Targeted Chat, then +New Rule.
Once you’ve done that, add a UTM parameter that’s specific to your ad to the “Current URL contains” section and change “Expand the Olark chat box” to “Send this message to your visitor” as follows:
Last of all, add your conversation starter and hit “Save Rule.” You’re good to go!
Once you’ve got this in place, when someone clicks on your PPC ad and arrives on a page with your UTM parameters, your custom, targeted conversation starter will pop up and get them talking!
Conclusion
Remember, as you’re getting used to this, you may not get a ton of chats right off the bat. As with site optimization, you’ll probably need to test a bunch of different prompts until you find one that really catches your traffic’s attention.
Still, in our experience, creating targeted, conversation-starting chats can be a tremendous way to boost the conversion rate of your page.
So, take a bit of time, come up with some chat prompts that address the real reasons why people are on your site and start testing!
What do you think of this strategy? Does it make sense to you?
Once you’ve tried this tactic, let me know what your results were in the comments!
About the Author: Jacob Baadsgaard is the CEO and fearless leader of Disruptive Advertising, an online marketing agency dedicated to using PPC advertising and website optimization to drive sales. His face is as big as his heart and he loves to help businesses achieve their online potential. Connect with him on LinkedIn or Twitter.