A lot of marketing advice can be confusing or difficult to apply to your business. We’ve taken the time to put together a list of marketing tips that you can start applying today.
We’re sharing tips that will help you write better emails, build your social media presence, improve your website, and more! These tips are practical, and you don’t need to be a marketing wiz to apply them to your business.
15 Tips for Better Email Marketing
Writing email subject lines
1. Fewer than 50 characters. Your subject lines should be fully readable in the preview. The purpose of the subject line is to compel people to open your email, so don’t feel pressured to squeeze your whole message in the subject line.
2. Avoid spam triggers ex. SALE, free, open right away! Most people are flooded with marketing emails every day. You don’t want yours to end up in the spam box because most people will never see it. Remember that people open your emails because there’s something valuable, not necessarily something free.
Email Body
3. Body copy less than 250 words Stick with one goal when you’re writing an email. Most people don’t love hanging out, reading an email for ten minutes. Think about the one thing you want to share with your audience and one action you want them to take. A long wall of text will scare people away, and you can always send another email.
4. Image sizes less than 100kb You don’t want people waiting more than a few seconds for your email to load. Don’t use big images that will take forever to load. You can compress your images for free using a variety of websites.
5. Link to your website Your end goal isn’t to keep sending people emails—you want them to make a purchase. Include links to your website throughout your email. You can link to blog posts, videos, or products related to the email.
6. Include a Call to action Your call to action (CTA) needs to be clear and compelling. Readers will only spend a few seconds skimming through your email. They need to know what your call to action is within 3–4 seconds.
7. Unsubscribe button for marketing emails You don’t want people clicking your unsubscribe button, but it still needs to be there. In the US, the FTC enforces a law that states, “you must include a clear way for subscribers to opt-out of your commercial messages.” Include this at the bottom of your email, and give people the option to limit the emails they receive rather than leaving altogether.
Audience/Sending
8. Average 1.5 or fewer sends per week Even your biggest fans don’t want to hear from you every single day. Most surveys show that 5–6 emails per month is the maximum frequency. You also want to hold people’s attention, so we recommend sending an email to your list at least once a month. If you want to automate the email campaign process, check out how our marketing automation can save you time.
9 .Use a verified sending domain A verified sending domain tells your email provider (Gmail or Microsoft) that you are a verified business. If you’re sending emails to a lot of people, verification helps avoid being marked as spam. Convert Kit suggests verification when you’re sending 50,000+ emails per month.
10. Only send to people who have opted in Sending unwanted emails is a quick way to lose your customers’ trust. Before you begin sending emails, make sure they want to hear from you. Even if they make a purchase and give you their email, it doesn’t mean they want your emails. Unwarranted emails will result in more problems than benefits.
11. Run A/B tests You can read up on email marketing tips all day, but the most important data comes from your audience. Create two duplicate emails and send them at different times to find the best send time for your audience.
20 Tips for Social Media Marketing
Most of the world is active on social media, and there are millions of posts created and posted every day. There are great opportunities to connect with customers on social media, but you’ll need to look your best.
Here are some tips to get the right-sized photos and captions that will position your business as an expert because mediocre content won’t get you very far.
12. Cover image size: 1500x500px Your cover image can include a photo of your business, what you offer, or a special deal. Think of it as a profile picture with more space.
13. Profile image: 400x400px Your profile picture should be your logo or a photo of you if you’re a personal brand.
14. Post image size: 1200x628px Twitter is designed mainly around text, but images can grab people’s attention.
15. Focus on trending topics Twitter moves fast and is full of current events and news. Check out the Trending Topics and look for any that are related to your business.
16. 140 characters per post is ideal; 280 is the maximum
17. Cover image size: 820x312px Think of this as a billboard advertisement for your business.
18. Profile picture size: 180x180px
19. Post image size: 1200x630px
20. 40-80 characters per post is ideal
21. Cover image size: 1192x220px
22. Profile picture size: 300x300px
23. Post image size:1200x627px
24. Encourage engagement When people engage with your posts on LinkedIn, it gives you a significant boost in viewership. Ask questions and encourage your followers to start a conversation in the comments.
25. 50-100 characters per post is ideal; posts will be cut off at 140 characters with a “See more.”
26. Profile picture size: 110x110px
27. Post image size: 1080x1080px You can post rectangular posts, but they will be cut into squares when someone views your profile, so we recommend posting squares.
28. Instagram stories: 1080x1920px Instagram stories are designed to be on the go, less formal content.
29. 138-150 characters per post is ideal Instagram is focused on photos and videos, but your caption can explain the post in more detail.
30. Stop the scroll Your goal on Instagram should be to stop people from scrolling. You can do this with an engaging video, pictures of people, or smaller text.
33 Best practices for your website
You should think of your website as a physical storefront. Just like a store, people come to your website, look around, and decide if they want to make a purchase.
You want your website to be enjoyable to interact with, easy to navigate, and compelling. Here are a few tips you can apply to make your website go from good to great.
SEO
31. Write at a 9th-grade reading level Unless you’re selling people a doctorate program, you don’t need to sound overly educated. People enjoy reading content that is easy to understand. The Hemingway App can help you edit your text to be more readable.
32. Write at least 500 words per page You want to give people a reason to stay on your page and let Google know what that page of your website is about, so it’s shown to the right people.
33. Keep your page titles short Use less than 50 characters. When people see a sign for Men’s Shoes, they know exactly what to expect.
34. Write useful meta descriptions These are the descriptions that show up in Google search results. Includes keywords in the description and keep it between 120-150 characters.
35. Use image alt text for your images The image alt text will show up when an image fails to load, or for people with a visual impairment. This should describe the image in 2-3 words.
36. Include keywords in the body text This should happen naturally as you write about the topic. When you’re editing the content, double-check to ensure it’s staying on target.
37. Interlink your web pages together 2-3 Internal links to other pages on your website on each page. This makes your website easier to navigate and keeps people on your website for longer periods.
38. Keep your URLs short Aim for 50-60 characters and get rid of the extra numbers, words, or dates.
39. Submit your sitemap to Google Search Console This is especially helpful if you have a new website. Your sitemap gives Google a full layout of your website so they can include all of the pages in search results. To check, you can Google search “Site:YourWebsite.com” and you should see every page on your website.
Improve your website speed
No one likes waiting in long lines, or waiting for websites to load. Take these steps to improve your website and give your visitors a better experience.
40. Use image file sizes less than 100kb
41. Website page size less than 3MB You can check the size of your web pages at SiteChecker.pro.
42. Compressed Java and CSS If you’re unsure of how to do this, we suggest hiring an expert, or testing out some plugins.
43. Images served in JPG format Compared to a PNG or SVG, JPG images are better for load times.
Blogs
There are a lot of statistics out there about the benefits of blogging. A blog gives your website a big boost because blogs provide value to people, and they answer the questions that people are asking Google. If you need some help generating ideas for your blog, check out Answer The Public.
44. Write a minimum of 500 words Your blog posts need to have some depth to them, but remember you’re not writing a novel. Blogs are ideally 1,000+ words. You can post some longer or shorter blogs, but a 5-minute read is best.
45. Include internal links Internal links are designed to keep your readers on your website. Think about what other pages are related to what they’re reading.
46. Include outbound links Outbound links can be used to give people other helpful resources that are complementary. You don’t want to send your readers to your direct competitors.
47. Use target keywords Your blogs need to answer questions that people are searching into Google. You can use AnswerThePublic or UberSuggest to find new content ideas.
48. Match your URL and title
Website Pages
There are millions of websites that are all competing for attention. Here are a few tips that will help your website stand out from the crowd.
49. Make it easy to navigate The best way to test this is to have friends and family visit your website. Most people visiting your site will be first-time visitors, unlike you and your team, who have spent hours building and managing the site.
50. Use descriptive link text When you include links to other pages, use link text that describes the linked page. ie: check out our post about generating more leads versus, check out our post about generating more leads.
51. Use a readable font size Every year, more people are visiting websites on their phones. And most websites are built on computers. Make sure to check that your text is easily readable on a phone.
52. Use legible font type You can have a creative website that’s still practical. Avoid using more than two different fonts, and make sure they’re easy for other people to read.
53. Avoid using bright images or colors behind text Some color shades and hues may make text difficult to read.
54. Be consistent Your website should have a level of consistency on every page. It shouldn’t look like you’re on a different website.
Landing Pages
A landing page is a single web page that has one distinct purpose. If you’ve created a course or are releasing a new product or service, you can build a landing page for it. This is where you want to send people who want to learn more about your offer.
55. Remove navigation Your landing page should stick to one purpose. People can get distracted if you link to other pages.
56. Keep your form above the fold You want your sign-up form to be impossible to miss. Keeping it above the fold ensures every visitor will see it.
57. Simplify your form:Keep your form as simple as possible while still getting the info you need to take the next step.
58. Include a preview of what’s inside: Be sure to communicate what the value is. Why should people take your offer?
59. Provide the next step People are great at following simple directions. Don’t be afraid to be bold with your call to action and compel people to take the next step.
60. Redirect to a thank you page When people complete your form, send them to a thank you page with a button to download their content or offer.
61. Use a descriptive button Instead of a button that says “Sign Up” or “Download,” use descriptive wording for what they’re getting, like “Get My Buyer’s Guide.”
We know that you can’t apply all of these tips right away. Depending on your marketing plan, some will be more important than others. We suggest saving this post in your bookmarks and tackling one section at a time.
To go along with these marketing tips, be sure to get our 30+ Lead Generation Tips and Tricks!
