When it comes to running your business, you’re no doubt an expert on your product or service niche. However, marketing is a completely different field, and possibly unfamiliar to you, and yet it is indispensable to your business success. In order to interact with your target audience and maintain contact with clients, you need a marketing strategy. In this two-part series, we will review some of the most important modern marketing statistics. Consider these when formulating your strategy.
Email Marketing
- According to at least one study, using email to nurture leads results in 50 percent sales-ready prospects (Forrester Research via Hubspot)
- Nurtured leads demonstrate a 20 percent increase in sales opportunities as compared to non-nurtured prospects (Hubspot)
- Personalized messages results in a 29 percent higher open rate and 41 percent more unique clicks (Experian)
- 65 percent of all emails are opened on a mobile device such as a smart phone or tablet, as opposed to laptop and desktop computers (Venture Beat)
- Over 80 percent of consumers said they would delete an email if it did not load correctly on their mobile device (The Social Media Hat)
So what can we learn from these statistics? First, that an email marketing campaign results in far more nurtured leads that are more easily converted to sales. Second, you should use some finesse when sending your emails. As with any other business interaction, customers appreciate an effort toward personal effort. Address them by name, create emails they will want to read, and use intriguing subject lines. And finally, make sure that your emails are mobile-friendly. These devices are only growing in popularity, and a majority of your customers will be using them to read your emails.
Your Website.
- Load time is important. A one-second delay in website loading reduced conversions by 7 percent in one study.
- A loading delay of more than three seconds prompted 40 percent of shoppers to leave the website entirely (Kissmetrics)
- 40 percent of mobile searches focus on local businesses (Think With Google)
- 70 percent of searches from a mobile device result in website action within an hour (IAquire)
- As of April 2015, Google uses mobile friendliness as part of their ranking metrics. If your website does not translate well on mobile devices, you could see your search rankings plummet.
What do these statistics mean? You already know that building and maintaining a business website is essential to performing well in today’s market. But it isn’t enough to just build it and forget it!With mobile devices because increasingly popular, take the time to ensure that your website translates well on smart phones and tablets. Streamline it, so that it loads quickly on any screen, and won’t frustrate your customers. Today’s marketplace is fast-paced and competitive; your website should be, too.
Now that we’ve discussed ways that you should optimize your website and email marketing strategy, the second part of this article will review important statistics relating to social media. You’ve conquered the basics of digital marketing, and now it’s time to step out onto an exciting new frontier.
